de Korte, J.

Hacquebord, L.

Prins, H. H. T.

English

Proceedings - University of Groningen

   University of GroningenIntroduction: Life in the Polar Winter - Strategies of Survivalde Korte, J.; Hacquebord, L.; Prins, H. H. T.Published in:ArcticIMPORTANT NOTE: You are advised to consult the publisher's version (publisher's PDF) if you wish to cite fromit. Please check the document version below.Document VersionPublisher's PDF, also known as Version of recordPublication date:1991Link to publication in University of Groningen/UMCG research databaseCitation for published version (APA):de Korte, J., Hacquebord, L., & Prins, H. H. T. (1991). Introduction: Life in the Polar Winter - Strategies ofSurvival. Arctic, 44(2), R3-R4.CopyrightOther than for strictly personal use, it is not permitted to download or to forward/distribute the text or part of it without the consent of theauthor(s) and/or copyright holder(s), unless the work is under an open content license (like Creative Commons).The publication may also be distributed here under the terms of Article 25fa of the Dutch Copyright Act, indicated by the “Taverne” license.More information can be found on the University of Groningen website: https://www.rug.nl/library/open-access/self-archiving-pure/taverne-amendment.Take-down policyIf you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediatelyand investigate your claim.Downloaded from the University of Groningen/UMCG research database (Pure): http://www.rug.nl/research/portal. For technical reasons thenumber of authors shown on this cover page is limited to 10 maximum.Download date: 04-06-2022Introduction: Life in  the Polar Winter - Strategies of Survival The  perception  of the polar  winter as a period  in  which  organisms  have to struggle for survival is  common among people  living almost exclusively outside the polar  regions,  even  if  sometimes in  areas  with  winters  resembling the polar winter. It is not surprising that such  people  have this perception,  because humans, by origin, are a tropical species that, although often living in  cold  climates, can hardly  survive outside the tropics without the protection of clothes and housing.  For arctic organisms,  endemic to  and wintering in the far North,  the polar winter possibly  has a different  significance.  For  these  organisms it is often a period of rest, during which  they  conserve  energy and prepare for reproduction in the coming  feeding  season.  Until the last  decades of this century, we knew little about the significance  of the polar  winter for organisms that live  there  year-round.  For  migratory  species it is  obviously a rather intolerable season, but how  resident  species  survive and live through the winter was unknown. A great  deal  of the research  in  polar  regions  has  been  focused on the  summer  season  because, until recently, that was the only  period  in  which  scientists  regularly  worked  in  these  regions. Due to harsh conditions, logistic and organizational difficulties and low interest  in  organisms that are  scarce and often difficult to observe, few studies were done during the polar winter. Information  about life  in the polar regions  was  mostly  gathered  in the summer,  when con- ditions are more  equable  for  people  and  when  most  arctic  life  propagates.  Only  very few scientists could afford to spend the period  between  two  successive  summers in the Arctic.  Of  course, indigenous  peoples,  such  as Inuit, Nentsi and Samojeeds, were acquainted  with  life  in the polar winter, but they  were not in a position to communicate  with  peoples outside the Arctic. Long after the Inuit and other northern peoples  successfully  developed  their  arctic  subsistence strategies, the Vikings  arrived in the Arctic.  They  probably  were the first Europeans who,  as a routine,  successfully  lived through the polar winter. In the  16th and 17th  centuries  Europeans frequently  sailed into  the Arctic to search for a  northern passage to  China, and they were forced to winter there several times. During the whaling period that followed, volunteers attempted to winter, but information about plants and animals in the polar winter  from those expeditions is scarce.  In  the  era  of polar expeditions  aiming to reach the  North Pole,  winterings in  the  second  half  of  the  19th  century and the first  decades  of  this  century  became  more  frequent. The  expedition  teams  often  included  scientists  who  collected information about many different aspects of the polar winter. This mostly pertained to late winter,  when the sun  had returned, because  in the polar  night  people  usually  stayed indoors. It is  only  in the most  recent  decades that scientific work  in the polar winter  has  been  carried out systematically and  that long-term studies have been done. The  series  of  eight  papers  presented  here  represents  such  studies  conducted by scholars  from different  disciplines;  they  stem from a multidisciplinary  symposium  organized by the Arctic Centre  of  the  University of Groningen on the occasion  of  the  375th  anniversary  of  this  university in  1989. This  Arctic  Centre  is a platform for polar research in the Netherlands and has a long- term  multidisciplinary  program  in the polar regions.  The  multidisciplinary character of the centre  provided the background for organizing this symposium,  where  scholars  of  different disciplines  could  meet and where  winter  survival  strategies  of  organisms on different levels of production could  be  related to each  other.  This  created a unique opportunity  to exchange information among scientists of a variety  of  disciplines. The guiding question of this symposium was:  How do humans and their  living  resources survive the polar winter? As these  resources  are both terrestrial and marine, both are  discussed when  presenting  organisms  from  different  trophic  levels. The proceedings  began  with  terrestrial primary production, when the characteristics  of  arctic plants in Lapland are  discussed, and with a study of the adaptations of the willow ptarmigan Lugopus  lugopus of northern Siberia, a plant eater,  representing terrestrial secondary production. A paper about winter  survival  of zooplankton and fish  in an arctic fjord in  Spitsbergen  highlights  marine  secondary  production. Marine tertiary production is  illustrated by the winter  ecology  of the ringed  seal Phoca  hispida in Canada and Spitsbergen. A contribution about the  arctic fox Alopex lagopus of Spitsbergen, a mammal living  off marine and terrestrial production at different trophic levels, concludes the living  resources  of  people. A paper about the physiological and psychological adaptations of  people  (a tropical species) to intense  cold and long periods of  darkness introduces the challenges  posed by a hostile environment to humans both to survive and  to thrive. This series  of  papers  concludes  with iii a study of the successes and misfortunes of  western  Europeans  wintering in  the High  Arctic in  the 16th and 17th centuries and  an article about Russian trappers during the 18th and 19th centuries wintering in Spitsbergen. We hope that  our symposium and this series  of papers will stimulate scientists from different disciplines and countries to communicate and cooperate with  each other as they continue to do their research in  the Arctic. .l de Korte, L. Hacquebord  and H.HX Prins The Amtic Centre University of Groningen Groningen, The Netherlands iv 

Introduction: Life in the Polar Winter - Strategies of Survival

https://pure.rug.nl/ws/files/66572067/Arctic44_2_iii.pdf

Introduction: Life in the Polar Winter - Strategies of Survival

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

Proceedings - University of Groningen