|
June 10, 2026
Successful Master’s thesis defense – congratulations to Viktor F. Aðalsteinsson!
The Department of Aquaculture and Fish Biology is delighted to congratulate Viktor F. Aðalsteinsson on the successful defense of his Master’s thesis, which took place on 27 May. This achievement marks an important milestone in his academic journey and reflects his dedication and hard work throughout his studies. The thesis, supervised by Bjarni K. Kristjánsson, is entitled “Asynchrony in the dynamics of chironomids across six locations in Northeast Iceland.” Without further ado, we are pleased to share the abstract of his thesis: Simultaneously studying population dynamics at multiple locations can provide insights into the ecological processes shaping changes in the abundances of species. Here, I examine 18-year time series of abundances of non-biting midges (Diptera: Chironomidae) from window trap samples at five lakes in northeastern Iceland: Miklavatn, Sílalækjarvatn, Skjálftavatn, Víkingavatn, and Mývatn. The largest lake, Mývatn, consists of two distinct basins which I treat as separate locations. Fluctuations in aggregate midge abundance show little correlation among locations, with even neighboring locations exhibiting asynchronous patterns. Such spatial asynchrony suggests that regional environmental forcing and inter-lake movement are insufficient to synchronize midge dynamics across sites. Instead, the observed patterns are consistent with the importance of lake-specific ecological processes, which may include differences in habitat structure, resource dynamics, species interactions, or local consumer-resource dynamics. The results have implications for conservation management of species such as insectivorous birds that can migrate between locations and take advantage of episodic, localized peaks in midge abundance. Congratulations to Viktor on this significant achievement and on the successful completion of his Master's degree. We wish him every success in his future academic and professional endeavors! If you would like to learn more about Viktor’s research, the full thesis is available online: https://hdl.handle.net/1946/53443 By M. Delbasty Study abstract by Viktor F. Aðalsteinsson |
|
|
|