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This book is dedicated to professor emeritus Bengt Forkman (Nuclear Physics, Lund University) who in 1979 took the initiative to arrange an environmental radioactivity research program for the Ymer-80 expedition. He engaged his old friend Bertil Persson whom he during the 1960th inspired to university studies in Lund and who 1980 has been promoted to professor of Radioecology at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in Uppsala, Sweden. Bertil Persson was tutor for Elis Holm at Lund University, who for his thesis was engaged in radiochemical analysis of plutonium isotopes in the environment. Elis Holm became deeply involved in Ymer-80 and management of all the following expeditions as well. We found a superior talent for the logistics in Kjell-Åke Carlsson (who was mechanical engineer at the department of radiation physics at Lund University). Without him, we would not have been able to solve all the thousands of practical issues and contacts with authorities and sponsors. He also contributed with the diaries extensive photographic and video documentation of all the expeditions. Unfortunately he died in October 2016 just as we finished the first draft of the manuscript to this book, that here is published to his memory.

This book is a report of investigations of several small ponds on the arctic tundra near Barrow, Alaska. The main study, which ran from 1971 through 1973, was funded from three sources: The National Science Foundation, the State of Alaska through the University of Alaska, and individual companies and members of the petroleum industry. The NSF funding was under the joint sponsorship of the U.S. Arctic Research Program (Division of Polar Programs) and the U.S. International Biological Program (Ecosystem Analysis Program). The U.S. Tundra Biome Program was under the overall direction of Jerry Brown of the U .S. Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory and consisted of aquatic and terrestrial sections.

From the Foreward: This book is one of a series of volumes reporting results of research by U. S. scientists participating in the International Biological Program (IBP). As one of the 58 nations taking part in the IBP during the period July 1967 to June 1974 , the United States organized a number of large, multidisciplinary studies pertinent to the central IBP theme of "the biological basis of productivity and human welfare.", Direct financial support of the Biome-wide program was derived from three major sources: the National Science Foundation, the State of Alaska and the petroleum industry through the University of Alaska. The NSF funding was under the joint sponsorship of the U. S. Arctic Research Program (Division of Polar Programs) and the U. S. International Biological Program (Ecosystem Analysis). The Army Research Office and the Department of Energy (previously AEC and ERDA) both contributed funded projects to the Program. Industry support was provided through unrestricted grants from: Atlantic Richfield Company, Alyeska Pipeline Service Company, BP Alaska, Inc. Cities Service Company, Exxon Company, USA (Humble Oil and Refining Company), Gulf Oil Corporation , Marathon Oil Company, Mobil Oil Company, Prudhoe Bay Environmental Subcommittee of the Alaska Oil and Gas Association, Shell Oil Company, Standard Oil Company of California, Standard Oil (Indiana) Foundation Inc., and Sun Oil Company.

The acid phosphomonoesterase activity associated with two major rooting strategies in arctic tundra plants was examined: that of Eriophorum vagina tum, a dominant plant in tussock tundra ecosystems, with its predominantly non-mycorrhizal root system; and that of ectomycorrhizal roots. Eriophorum has phosphatase activity which is evenly distributed along its root surface, has a pH optimum at soil pH (3.5-4.0), and continues at substantial rates at 1 °C. Inorganic phosphorus inhibits activity only 7 to 19%. In addition, Eriophorum has phosphatase activity associated with all the "below-ground" components of its tussock growth form: dead roots, leaf sheaths, and soil. Plants with higher tissue phosphorus growing in soils with higher available phosphate in general had higher live and dead root, leaf sheath, and soil phosphatase activity in both natural and manipulated sites of higher plant productivity. Yearly and seasonal variation sometimes exceeded differences among treatments, suggesting that enzyme activity would not provide a reliable measure of plant or soil phosphorus levels. Experiments with radiolabeled inositol hexaphosphate showed that Eriophorum is able to hydrolyze and absorb inorganic phosphate from an organic phosphate source. A comparison of enzyme hydrolysis rates with inorganic phosphate assimilation rates indicates that organic phosphate hydrolysis may occur as rapidly as inorganic phosphate absorption. Inorganic phosphate released by root surface phosphatase activity could satisfy approximately 65% of the annual phosphate demand of Eriophorum. Phosphatases of two ectomycorrhizal fungi (Cenococcum geophilum and Entoloma sericeum) responded similarly to growth in axenic culture at 2 or 50 micromolar KH₂PO₄ or sodium inositol hexaphosphate: surface Vmax estimates were significantly greater for 2 micromolar- than for 50 micromolar-grown isolates. The presence of constitutive extracellular soluble phosphatase activity resulted in the appearance of inorga