FUNGAL HYPHAL LENGTH IN LITTER OF DRYAS-OCTOPETALA IN A HIGH-ARCTIC POLAR SEMI DESERT, SVALBARD

Mean fungal hyphal length was estimated in the surface horizons of a l ithosol under Dryas octopetala in a polar semi-desert ecosystem at Ny- Alesund, Svalbard (78 degrees 56'N, 11 degrees 50'E). This site is the most northerly from which such values have been collected and provide s the only record from polar semi-desert sites in the Eurasian high Ar ctic. Although mean (+/- SE) fungal hyphal length was the lowest recor ded in surface horizons of northern tundra (23 +/- 1 m g(-1)), it was of the same order as results from a Canadian high-Arctic soil and Anta rctic soils of high pH and low moisture and organic matter content, wi th little vegetation cover.