Responses of Antarctic Tundra Ecosystem to Climate Change and Human Activity

Abstract Over the last couple of years the Antarctic Peninsula region has been one of the fastest warming regions on the Earth. Rapidly proceeding deglaciation uncovers new areas for colonisation and formation of Antarctic tundra communities. The most evident dynamics, i.e. changes in both biodivers...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Papers on Global Change IGBP
Main Author: Olech, Maria
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:unknown
Published: Walter de Gruyter GmbH 2010
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Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.2478/v10190-010-0004-4
https://www.degruyter.com/view/j/igbp.2010.17.issue-1/v10190-010-0004-4/v10190-010-0004-4.pdf
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Summary:Abstract Over the last couple of years the Antarctic Peninsula region has been one of the fastest warming regions on the Earth. Rapidly proceeding deglaciation uncovers new areas for colonisation and formation of Antarctic tundra communities. The most evident dynamics, i.e. changes in both biodiversity and structure of tundra communities, are observed in the forefields of retreating glaciers. This paper presents examples of changes in biodiversity and in the direction and rate of succession changes taking place due to climate warming compounded by synanthropization in the maritime Antarctic