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Fungal hyphal length in litter ofDryas octopetala in a high-Arctic polar semi-desert, Svalbard

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Abstract

Mean fungal hyphal length was estimated in the surface horizons of a lithosol underDryas octopetala in a polar semi-desert ecosystem at Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard (78°56′N, 11°50′E). This site is the most northerly from which such values have been collected and provides the only record from polar semi-desert sites in the Eurasian high Arctic. Although mean (± SE) fungal hyphal length was the lowest recorded in surface horizons of northern tundra (23±1 mg−1), it was of the same order as results from a Canadian high-Arctic soil and Antarctic soils of high pH and low moisture and organic matter content, with little vegetation cover.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sheffield Centre for Arctic Ecology, Department of Animal and Plant Science, University of Sheffield, S10 2UQ, Sheffield, UK

    C. H. Robinson, O. B. Borisova, T. V. Callaghan & J. A. Lee

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  1. C. H. Robinson
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  2. O. B. Borisova
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  3. T. V. Callaghan
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  4. J. A. Lee
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Robinson, C.H., Borisova, O.B., Callaghan, T.V. et al. Fungal hyphal length in litter ofDryas octopetala in a high-Arctic polar semi-desert, Svalbard. Polar Biol 16, 71–74 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02388737

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02388737

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