The protein and amino acid metabolism of thermophilic bacteria has been a neglected aspect of their physiology despite its biotechnological potential. Under anaerobic conditions, the metabolism of many proteogenic amino acids requires the presence of ...

Climate warming in sub-Arctic regions leads to shifts in plant communities and retreating glaciers. Mosses and lichens contribute to important ecosystem processes in these environments, including nitrogen fixation via their microbiome. The first objective ...

Individuals within a population often differ predictably in their behaviour compared to other members across time and/or context, often termed personality, which can have major implications for ecology and evolution. Personality includes variation ...

This PhD thesis explores what can be considered a sustainable energy system on a global scale and what methods and tools can help sustainable energy policy design and assessment. Energy system modelling and sustainable energy system narratives are the ...

Krill are an important component of the Icelandic marine ecosystem. Given their important ecological niche, as conveyors of biological production between phytoplankton and higher trophic levels, fluctuations in krill abundance can have large impacts ...

Innate immunity of the lung epithelium provides efficient defenses against pathogens or other stress factors by secretion of antimicrobial peptides, presence of cellular junction proteins and autophagy. Upon activation through epithelial cell receptors ...

Biodiversity is declining globally, primarily driven by anthropogenic changes and alterations of natural habitats. In lowland Iceland, human impact has increased considerably in the past decades, often involving an increase in numbers of anthropogenic ...

Surtsey is a volcanic island located on the south-east offshore extension of the Icelandic rift zone. It was formed during successive eruptions from the seafloor in 1963-1967 and has been officially protected and studied ever since. It represents ...

The four morphs of Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus) in Lake Þingvallavatn, Iceland, which differ in many phenotypic traits related to morphology, life history, and feeding ecology, are believed to have evolved locally within the lake after the retreat ...

For most of the Holocene the main driver of vegetation and environmental change in Iceland was climate, although intermittent volcanic events had short term impacts. This changed with the Norse colonisation in the late 9th century AD, from when land ...