Research centre West Fjords

Coastal regions play an important ecological role. Primary production is generally high, habitats are diverse and these regions create an important link between fresh water and the ocean, and the land and the sea. Due to proximity to inhabited areas and good access to littoral waters, these regions are often more affected by human activity than offshore waters.

It could be said that mobility is the defining characteristic of coastal regions, since the organisms living there must deal with the tides, surf, spring thaws and other regular changes to the environment. Even in slightly deeper waters where the impact of the tides is smaller, larger organisms are generally very mobile. Many species of fish caught in coastal regions and in littoral waters inhabit this area only temporarily during their life cycles. Shallow sea, for example, is home to the nursery grounds of many gadiforms and flatfishes, spawning grounds, and salmonids often visit coastal waters to feed in the summer. These movements of fish between coastal waters, offshore waters and fresh water play a large part in transporting organic material and nutrients between these regions. This makes the ecosystem more stable and, in the same vein, disruptions to these routes can threaten stability.

The centre's research projects in this area focus on, for example: the ecology and habitat use of juvenile cod in their breeding grounds; the origins of primary production at fish nurseries; the impact of environmental changes in coastal regions on fish populations; the movements of salmonids and flounder between fresh water and the sea.

The study of evolutionary ecology is about researching and understanding the impact of the environment on the evolution of organisms. Evolutionary changes can happen in populations and species due to the impact of the natural environment, e.g. the type of habitat or relationships between species, but also due to human structures and activities, e.g. fishing.

Evolutionary ecology therefore always assumes that the power of selection is at work on the individual and that the varying fitness of individuals can trigger changes to phenotype frequency within populations or species. These changes in phenotype frequency may be temporary, providing that genetic variation remains the same within the population, but may also become permanent so that changes to life cycle or traits continue to intensify and do not revert. In this way, new species may even emerge. Within some species, the genetic basis for more than one variation, e.g. variable migration types, is maintained without the types becoming genetically separate or ever evolving into different species. In recent years, people have become more aware of the importance of using evolutionary ecology in their approach to research on exploitable marine stock. For example, it has been demonstrated that pressures from fishing can cause evolutionary changes to the life cycle of fish, such as size at sexual maturity in common commercial marine species, and that sea lice can cause salmonids to spend shorter periods at sea.

The Centre's research projects in this area include a study into the flexibility of migratory behaviour in cod, looking at whether environmental factors in coastal regions can encourage changes to the frequency of migration types.  A study into the impact of low species diversity on the chances for new species in Iceland, e.g. the flounder, to occupy a wider niche and undergo rapid evolutionary changes. The impact of man-made environments in littoral waters on the life cycles of fish and the impact of combinations of behaviour types within populations on the breadth of ecological niche.

The Centre's archaeological research is first and foremost in the field of maritime archaeology. This covers research into remains that are linked to the sea somehow, e.g. fishing stations, whaling stations, trading stations, and shipwrecks. So far, research has mainly been focused on cod fishing in the Middle Ages, whaling by foreigners in Icelandic waters since 1600, and trading with the Dutch in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Iceland's marine resources have always been an important part of the nation's economy and since the late Middle Ages, cod has been one of our main exports. In the early 16th century, foreigners, including the English, Dutch, French, and Spanish, began to visit Icelandic waters to fish and whale. This continued right up to the late 20th century.

The aim of the Centre's archaeological research is to gain a better insight into the role of marine products in trading and the Icelandic economy from the Middle Ages to the present day. Particular emphasis is placed on the importance of marine products in the development of Icelandic society and our ability to survive and thrive in the face of environmental changes as well as social and political changes.  

Publications can be found in the University of Iceland Research Portal. 

Edvardsson, Ragnar, publications

Ólafsdóttir, Guðbjörg Ásta, publications