- E-mailOystein.Varpe@uib.no
- Phone+47 55 58 44 53+47 977 62 645
- Visitor AddressThormøhlensgt. 53 A/B
- Postal AddressPostboks 78035020 Bergen
I am an evolutionary ecologist with broad interests, including life history theory, behaviour, population biology, trophic interactions, and marine ecology. Much of my research is on why we observe variation in life histories and behaviour, both within and between species, and how this variation influences population dynamics, interactions and ecosystems. I am also deeply fascinated by seasonality and aim to understand how seasonal environments shape ecological processes and evolutionary adaptations. Most of my work is in marine ecosystems, and on birds, fish and zooplankton, but I also collaborate on projects on terrestrial organisms. In relation to my new position at the University of Bergen I am currently starting several projects in coastal systems and on human impacts on organisms and ecological interactions. I combine investigations in the field (including experiments) with mathematical models and statistical analyses of data. My main position is with BIO, with adjunct position at the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA).
For more, visit the Seasonal Ecology Group or my Research Gate profile.
Via Google Scholar
or via Seasonal Ecology Group
Three recent publications:
Cusa M, Berge J, Varpe Ø. 2019. Seasonal shifts in feeding patterns: individual and population realized specialization in a high Arctic fish. abstract and full text
Descamps et al 2019. Diverging phenological responses of Arctic seabirds to an earlier spring. Global Change Biology abstract
Bandara et al. 2019. Artificial evolution of behavioral and life history strategies of high-latitude copepods in response to bottom-up and top-down selection pressures. Progress in Oceanography abstract
And some "classics":
Varpe Ø, Daase M, Kristiansen T. 2015. A fish-eye view on the new Arctic lightscape. ICES Journal of Marine Science 72: 2532-2538 abstract pdf
Ji R, Jin M, Varpe Ø. 2013. Sea ice phenology and timing of primary production pulses in the Arctic Ocean. Global Change Biology 19: 734-741 abstract pdf
Varpe Ø. 2012. Fitness and phenology: annual routines and zooplankton adaptations to seasonal cycles. Journal of Plankton Research 34: 267-276 full text
Varpe Ø. et al. 2007. Early is better: seasonal egg fitness and timing of reproduction in a zooplankton life-history model. Oikos 116: 1331-1342 pdf
Academic article
- 2020. Pelagic occurrences of the ice amphipod Apherusa glacialis throughout the Arctic. Journal of Plankton Research. 73-86.
- 2019. Seasonal shifts in feeding patterns: Individual and population realized specialization in a high Arctic fish. Ecology and Evolution. 11112-11121.
- 2019. Reindeer turning maritime: Ice-locked tundra triggers changes in dietary niche utilization. Ecosphere. 1-11.
- 2019. Potential Effect of Migration Strategy on Pollutant Occurrence in Eggs of Arctic Breeding Barnacle Geese (Branta leucopsis). Environmental Science and Technology. 5427-5435.
- 2019. Mechanistic model identifies increasing light availability due to sea ice reductions as cause for increasing macroalgae cover in the Arctic. Limnology and Oceanography. 330-341.
- 2019. Effects of Maternal Reproductive Investment on Sex-Specific Pollutant Accumulation in Seabirds: A Meta-Analysis. Environmental Science and Technology. 7821-7829.
- 2019. Diverging phenological responses of Arctic seabirds to an earlier spring. Global Change Biology. 4081-4091.
- 2019. Artificial evolution of behavioral and life history strategies of high-latitude copepods in response to bottom-up and top-down selection pressures. Progress in Oceanography. 134-164.
- 2018. Trade-offs between storage and survival affect diapause timing in capital breeders. Evolutionary Ecology. 623-641.
- 2018. Pelagic food-webs in a changing Arctic: a trait-based perspective suggests a mode of resilience. ICES Journal of Marine Science. 1871-1881.
- 2018. New brominated flame retardants and dechlorane plus in the Arctic: Local sources and bioaccumulation potential in marine benthos. Chemosphere. 1193-1202.
- 2018. Interannual phenological variability in two North-East Atlantic populations of Calanus finmarchicus. Marine Biology Research. 752-767.
- 2018. Gradients of season length and mortality risk cause shifts in body size, reserves and reproductive strategies of determinate growers. Functional Ecology. 2395-2406.
- 2018. Copepod diapause and the biogeography of the marine lipidscape. Journal of Biogeography. 2238-2251.
- 2018. A high-resolution modeling study on diel and seasonal vertical migrations of high-latitude copepods. Ecological Modelling. 357-376.
- 2017. The role of local and regional environmental factors for Calanus finmarchicus and C. hyperboreus abundances in the Nordic Seas. Polar Biology. 2363-2380.
- 2017. Spring phenology shapes the spatial foraging behavior of Antarctic petrels. Marine Ecology Progress Series. 203-215.
- 2017. Sea-ice loss boosts visual search: fish foraging and changing pelagic interactions in polar oceans. Global Change Biology. 5318-5330.
- 2017. Rapid climate-driven loss of breeding habitat for Arctic migratory birds. Global Change Biology. 1085-1094.
- 2017. Life history adaptations to seasonality. Integrative and Comparative Biology. 943-960.
- 2017. Effects of reproductive strategies on pollutant concentrations in pinnipeds: a meta-analysis. Oikos. 772-781.
- 2017. Cratering behaviour and faecal C:N ratio in relation to seasonal snow-pack characteristics in a High-Arctic ungulate. Polar Research. 12 pages.
- 2016. Seasonal vertical strategies in a high-Arctic coastal zooplankton community. Marine Ecology Progress Series. 49-64.
- 2016. Later at higher latitudes: Large-scale variability in seabird breeding timing and synchronicity. Ecosphere.
- 2016. Large-scale oceanographic fluctuations drive Antarctic petrel survival and reproduction. Ecography. 496-505.
- 2016. Flexible flight response to challenging wind conditions in a commuting Antarctic seabird: do you catch the drift? Animal Behaviour. 99-112.
- 2016. Experimental icing affects growth, mortality, and flowering in a high Arctic dwarf shrub. Ecology and Evolution. 2139-2148.
- 2016. Ecosystem model intercomparison of under-ice and total primary production in the Arctic Ocean. Journal of Geophysical Research (JGR): Oceans. 934-948.
- 2016. At-sea distribution and prey selection of antarctic petrels and commercial krill fisheries. PLOS ONE.
- 2015. Unexpected levels of biological activity during the polar night offer new perspectives on a warming Arctic. Current Biology. 2555-2561.
- 2015. Seasonality in offspring value and trade-offs with growth explain capital breeding. American Naturalist. E111-E125.
- 2015. Moonlit swimming: vertical distributions of macrozooplankton and nekton during the polar night. Polar Biology. 75-85.
- 2015. Is ambient light during the high Arctic polar night sufficient to act as a visual cue for zooplankton? PLOS ONE. 12 pages.
- 2015. In the dark: a review of ecosystem processes during the Arctic polar night. Progress in Oceanography. 258-271.
- 2015. Demographic effects of extreme weather events: snow storms, breeding success, and population growth rate in a long-lived Antarctic seabird. Ecology and Evolution. 314-325.
- 2015. A fish-eye view on the new Arctic lightscape. ICES Journal of Marine Science. 2532-2538.
- 2014. Warmer and wetter winters: characteristics and implications of an extreme weather event in the High Arctic. Environmental Research Letters. 10 pages.
- 2014. The importance of tidewater glaciers for marine mammals and seabirds in Svalbard, Norway. Journal of Marine Systems. 452-471.
- 2014. Seasonal ecology and life-history strategy of the high-latitude predatory zooplankter Parasagitta elegans. Marine Ecology Progress Series. 77-88.
- 2014. Polar night ecology of a pelagic predator, the chaetognath Parasagitta elegans. Polar Biology. 87-98.
- 2014. Non-consumptive mortality in copepods: occurrence of Calanus spp. carcasses in the Arctic Ocean during winter. Journal of Plankton Research. 129-144.
- 2014. Inter- and intra-specific diurnal habitat selection of zooplankton during the spring bloom observed by Video Plankton Recorder. Marine Biology. 1931-1941.
- 2014. Gender specific reproductive strategies of an arctic key species (Boreogadus saida) and implications of climate change. PLOS ONE.
- 2014. Differences in lens optical plasticity in two gadoid fishes meeting in the Arctic. Journal of Comparative Physiology A. Sensory, neural, and behavioral physiology. 949-957.
- 2014. Capital versus income breeding in a seasonal environment. American Naturalist. 466-476.
- 2014. Arctic complexity: A case study on diel vertical migration of zooplankton. Journal of Plankton Research. 1279-1297.
- 2013. Timing of reproductive events in the marine copepod Calanus glacialis: a pan-Arctic perspective. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. 871-884.
- 2013. Sea ice phenology and timing of primary production pulses in the Arctic Ocean. Global Change Biology. 734-741.
- 2013. Feeding in Arctic darkness: mid-winter diet of thepelagic amphipods Themisto abyssorum and T. libellula. Marine Biology. 241-248.
- 2013. Feeding in Arctic darkness: mid-winter diet of the pelagic amphipods Themisto abyssorum and T-libellula. Marine Biology. 241-248.
- 2012. Retention of ice-associated amphipods: possible consequences for an ice-free Arctic Ocean. Biology Letters. 1012-1015.
- 2012. Potential misidentifications of two climate indicator species of the marine arctic ecosystem: Calanus glacialis and C. finmarchicus. Polar Biology. 1621-1628.
- 2012. Mass Fluctuations Suggest Different Functions of Bimodal Foraging Trips in a Central-place Forager. Behavioral Ecology. 1372-1378.
- 2012. Is the poleward expansion by Atlantic cod and haddock threatening native polar cod, Boreogadus saida? Polar Biology. 401-412.
- 2012. Fishing-induced evolution of growth: concepts, mechanisms and the empirical evidence. Marine Ecology. 1-25.
- 2010. Stealing bivalves from common eiders: kleptoparasitism by glaucous gulls in spring. Polar Biology. 359-365.
- 2010. Seasonal plankton-fish interactions: light regime, prey phenology, and herring foraging. Ecology. 311-318.
- 2010. Lipid sac area as a proxy for individual lipid content of arctic calanoid copepods. Journal of Plankton Research. 1471-1477.
- 2010. Annual routines and life history of the amphipod Onisimus litoralis: seasonal growth, body composition and energy budget. Marine Ecology Progress Series. 115-U135.
- 2009. The adaptive value of energy storage and capital breeding in seasonal environments. Oikos. 363-370.
- 2009. Individual quality and reproductive effort mirrored in white wing plumage in both sexes of south polar skuas. Behavioral Ecology. 961-966.
- 2009. Diel vertical migration of Arctic zooplankton during the polar night. Biology Letters. 69-72.
- 2009. Changes in the decapod fauna of an Arctic fjord during the last 100 years (1908-2007). Polar Biology. 953-961.
- 2009. Changes in the decapod fauna of an Arctic fjord during the last 100 years (1908-2007). Polar Biology. 953-961.
- 2007. Reproductive performance and organochlorine pollutants in an Antarctic marine top predator: The south polar skua. Environment International. 911-918.
- 2007. Reproductive performance and organochlorine pollutants in an Antarctic marine top predator: The south polar skua. Environment International.
- 2007. Early is better: seasonal egg fitness and timing of reproduction in a zooplankton life-history model. Oikos. 1331-1342.
- 2007. Copepod mating: chance or choice? Journal of Plankton Research. 1023-1030.
- 2006. Organochlorines in antarctic and arctic avian top predators: a comparison between the South Polar Skua and two species of northern hemisphere gulls. Environmental Science and Technology. 2826-2831.
- 2006. Organochlorines in Antarctic and Arctic avian top predators: A comparison between the south polar skua and two species of northern hemisphere gulls. Environmental Science and Technology. 2826-2831.
- 2006. Organochlorines in Antarctic and Arctic Avian Top Predators: A Comparison between the South Polar Skua and Two Species of Northern Hemisphere Gulls. Environmental Science and Technology. 2826-2831.
- 2005. Meta-ecosystems and biological energy transport from ocean to coast: the ecological importance of herring migration. Oecologia. 443-451.
- 2005. Chick survival in relation to nest site: is the Antarctic petrel hiding from its predator? Polar Biology. 388-394.
- 2004. State-dependent parental care in the Antarctic petrel: responses to manipulated chick age during early chick rearing. Oikos. 479-488.
- 2004. State-dependent parental care in the Antarctic petrel: responses to manipulated chick age during early chick rearing. Oikos. 479-488.
Report
- 2019. Towards rainy Arctic winters: effects of experimental icing on tundra plants and their soil conditions. . 08/2019. 08/2019. .
- 2018. Investigation of new brominated and organophosphorous flame retardants in Svalbard benthic marine food web; FlammePlank. 7261. 7261. .
- 2017. Klimaeffektar på svalbardreinens kalvingstidspunkt. 1311. 1311. .
- 2015. Warmer and wetter Svalbard winters. 20. 20. .
- 2014. Adventdalsdeltaet og fjæreplyttens sesongmessige bruk av det marine habitat. .
Lecture
- 2015. Towards a process-based understanding of climate change consequences on ecosystems.
- 2014. Varmere, våtere, villere svalbardvintre? Konsekvenser for samfunn og dyreliv.
Academic lecture
- 2019. Multi-locus DNA metabarcoding of diet provides new insights into the ecology and trophic interactions of a keystone herbivore species.
- 2019. Effects of changes in species composition and distribution on contaminant accumulation in an Arctic marine food web.
- 2018. Migration effects on pollutants in eggs of Arctic - breeding geese.
- 2018. Exploring life-cycle adaptations in a declining sea-ice environment: are sympagic amphipods truly sympagic? .
- 2018. Building the Research Teaching Nexus in Ecology: Three Courses to Get There.
- 2016. Timing of reproducton in seabirds: large-scale comparisons, and links to population dynamics, climate and lower trophic levels (SEATIME) - a project in the Fjord and Coast Flagship.
- 2016. At-sea distribution and prey selection of Antarctic petrels and commercial fisheries.
- 2015. Warmer and Wetter Winters: Characteristics and Implications of an Extreme Weather Event in the High Arctic.
- 2015. Functional responses to snow and ice conditions and variation in a diet quality proxy during winter in a high-Arctic ungulate.
- 2014. Gender specific reproductive strategies of an Arctic key species (Boreogadus saida) and implications of climate change.
- 2014. Gender specific reproductive strategies of an Arctic key species (Boreogadus saida) and implications of climate change.
- 2014. Breeding later at higher latitudes: seabird phenology along a latitudinal gradient from the Norwegian to the Barents Sea.
- 2014. An ecosystem-based modeling system for predicting oil spill impacts in the marine environment.
- 2009. Phenology as part of life-history strategies: annual routines of zooplankton.
Editorial
- 2008. Evolution of growth in Gulf of St Lawrence cod? Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Biological Sciences. 1111-1112.
Reader opinion piece
- 2004. Reply to Horizons Article "Some ideas about the role of lipids in the life cycle of Calanus finmarchicus" Irigoien (2004): II. Journal of Plankton Research. 981-981.
Masters thesis
- 2019. Stochastic rain events increase NDVI through moss water content: a High-Arctic field experiment.
- 2016. Climate trends, weather fluctuations and calving phenology in Svalbard reindeer (Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus).
- 2015. Marine Biomass Consumption by Wild Svalbard Reindeer: Fecal Stable Isotope Analysis as a Tool to Detect Climate Change Effects.
- 2015. Causes and Consequences of Breeding Synchrony in the Snow Bunting (Plectrophenax nivalis).
- 2015. Causes and Consequences of Breeding Synchrony in the Snow Bunting (Plectrophenax nivalis).
- 2014. Feeding behaviour and diet quality of high-Arctic wild reindeer in response to changes in snow-ice conditions during winter.
Popular scientific article
- 2019. In the Arctic Ocean and on the shoulders of giants. sciencenorway.no.
- 2019. I Polhavet og på skuldrene til giganter. Forskning.no.
- 2009. Polartorsken - vil den bli utkonkurrert av sørlige fiskearter? Svalbardposten. 20-21.
Feature article
- 2018. Vinteren 2017–18 er den varmeste noensinne registrert i Arktis. Aftenposten Viten.
- 2016. Forskerkulturen inn i undervisningen! Morgenbladet.
- 2014. Warm, wet and wild. Svalbardposten.
- 2014. Varmere, våtere, villere svalbardvintre. Svalbardposten. 20-21.
Doctoral dissertation
- 2019. Light and visual foraging in the pelagic: Opportunities and constraints along gradients of seasonality.
- 2007. Life history adaptations to seasonality.
Academic chapter/article/Conference paper
- 2016. The Fulbright Arctic Initiative: An Innovative Model for Policy Relevant Research & Public Outreach. 14 pages.
Poster
- 2019. Seasonal variation of energy and pollutants in the Barents Sea pelagic food web.
- 2019. Sea-ice loss is bad news for large copepods.
- 2018. bioST@TS, a Learning Platform for Statistical Analysis and Management of Biological Data.
- 2018. Lack of synchrony between seabird breeding phenology at two colonies in the Norwegian and Barents Seas.
- 2018. Functional changes in sub-Arctic benthos following macroalgae expansions.
- 2017. Timing of reproduction in seabirds: large-scale comparisons, and links to population dynamics, climate and lower trophic levels.
- 2017. The TerrACE project: Effects of terrestrial inputs on contaminant dynamics in Arctic coastal ecosystems.
- 2017. Pan-Arctic distribution of the sympagic amphipod Apherusa glacialis elucidates life-cycle characteristics.
- 2016. Timing of reproduction in seabirds: large-scale comparisons, and links to population dynamics, climate and lower trophic levels (SEATIME) - a project in the Fjord and Coast Flagship.
- 2015. Later at higher latitudes: large-scale variability in seabird breeding timing and synchronity.
- 2015. Functional responses to snow and ice conditions and variation in a diet quality proxy during winter in a high-Arctic ungulate.
- 2015. Expect the unexpected - a new perspective and understanding of marine life at high latitudes.
- 2014. Breeding later at higher latitudes: explaining seabird phenology along a latitudinal gradient from the Norwegian to the Barents Sea.
More information in national current research information system (CRIStin)