With the publication of this special issue of Circumpolar Journal, the Arctic Centre of the University of Groningen would like to honour Piet Oosterveld as the driving force behind biological research on Edgeøya, Spitsbergen. He invested large amounts of time and energy in this research and he was an inspiration for many students.

The book starts with an article about Piet Oosterveld's Arctic activities written by Louwrens Hacquebord. After some fieldwork in Iceland Piet Oosterveld's Arctic career really started with a wintering spent on Edgeøya in 1968-1969. In this book Piet Oosterveld's companion Ko de Korte reports on this wintering. Some years later Piet Oosterveld was the instigator of the Reindeer Environment Expedition to Edgeøya in 1977. The most important product of this expedition, the ecological landscape map, was never published. In our opinion this ecological landscape map merits publication and fortunately Ies Zonneveld was willing to revise the article accompanying the map which is to be found at the back of the book. In this article the results of the ecological survey are presented.

The articles of Arend J. van Dijk and Hester D. Heinemeijer also deal with the ornithological and botanical results of the Reindeer Environment Expedition Svalbard.

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Contents

Preface   vii

Permanence in diversity
A life in the service of Arctic Biological Research
Louwrens Hacquebord   1

Netherlands Spitsbergen Expedition 1968-1969
A winter with polar bears
Ko de Korte   15

Birds observed in Edgeøya summer 1977
Arend J. van Dijk   29

Rosenbergdalen, green valley in the barren land of Edgeøya, Spitsbergen
Hester D. Heinemeijer & Arend J. van Dijk   45

Interplay between peat formation and animal behaviour in the Spitsbergen archipelago, recorded in peat sections
W.O. van der Knaap (Pim) and J.F.N. van Leeuwen (Jacqueline)   71

Mushrooms in Spitsbergen
Leo M. Jalink and Marijke M. Nauta   87   

Landscape ecology (‘land unit') map of Edgeøya, Spitsbergen with emphasis on vegetation
I.S. Zonneveld, M. Lebouille & N. de Nies with the cooperation of A. van Dijk, H. Heinemeijer & P. Oosterveld   103
Appendix A  Landscape ecology (map) of Edgeøya, Svalbard, 1977  
Appendix B Ample sheets for soil, landform and vegetation   157
Appendix C Table of musci and lichens   159
Appendix D  Presence table with sociological groups and communities   160
Appendix E Vegetation table of the Trachyophytes (Herbs and mini dwarf shrubs)   162.