Life sciences - Terrestrial ecosystems in the Antarctic
The composition of the terrestrial Antarctic flora and fauna and the distribution patterns of a number of species and of the principal vegetation types is now reasonably well established, at least in outline, for the Antarctic Peninsula region and the areas about McMurdo Sound as well as for some ar...
Published in: | Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. B, Biological Sciences |
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rstb.1977.0068 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rstb.1977.0068 |
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crroyalsociety:10.1098/rstb.1977.0068 2024-06-02T07:57:36+00:00 Life sciences - Terrestrial ecosystems in the Antarctic 1977 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rstb.1977.0068 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rstb.1977.0068 en eng The Royal Society https://royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/data-sharing-mining/ Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. B, Biological Sciences volume 279, issue 963, page 5-25 ISSN 0080-4622 2054-0280 journal-article 1977 crroyalsociety https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.1977.0068 2024-05-07T14:16:43Z The composition of the terrestrial Antarctic flora and fauna and the distribution patterns of a number of species and of the principal vegetation types is now reasonably well established, at least in outline, for the Antarctic Peninsula region and the areas about McMurdo Sound as well as for some areas around the coastal ranges of East Antarctica. Detailed research at Signy Island has provided information concerning the biomass and productivity of certain vegetation types, decomposer organisms, microbivores, and invertebrate herbivores and predators. The main pathways of energy and nutrient within the terrestrial study sites can be regarded as reasonably established. Net annual production locally reaches very high levels (up to 800 g m -2 ). Only a tiny part of this productivity is consumed by herbivores, the greater part passing to the decomposers or persisting as peat. Most of the animals are microbivores, or graze on fungi, and in turn sustain the small number of invertebrate predators. Analysis of the range of habitats even on Signy Island indicates however that the sites for which detailed ecological information is available represent only a part of the range of environmental and ecological variation. The island is in fact characterized by a very high level of within-site diversity, some of it on a very small scale. Similarly, recent research which permits ecological comparisons with the sub-Antarctic islands of South Georgia and Macquarie, and with the McMurdo area, confirms that Signy Island displays only a small part of the very large range of diversity within the Antarctic regions as a whole. It is a reasonably representative sample of the maritime Antarctic zone in the Antarctic Peninsula region where conditions are particularly favourable for terrestrial life. Its ecological features resemble most closely those of the South Shetland Islands (except over permeable volcanic rocks) and the Palmer Archipelago on the western side of the Antarctic Peninsula. Very different plant and animal communities occur ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Antarctica East Antarctica McMurdo Sound Palmer Archipelago Signy Island South Shetland Islands The Royal Society Antarctic The Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula East Antarctica South Shetland Islands McMurdo Sound Signy Island ENVELOPE(-45.595,-45.595,-60.708,-60.708) Palmer Archipelago ENVELOPE(-62.833,-62.833,-64.250,-64.250) Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. B, Biological Sciences 279 963 5 25 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
The Royal Society |
op_collection_id |
crroyalsociety |
language |
English |
description |
The composition of the terrestrial Antarctic flora and fauna and the distribution patterns of a number of species and of the principal vegetation types is now reasonably well established, at least in outline, for the Antarctic Peninsula region and the areas about McMurdo Sound as well as for some areas around the coastal ranges of East Antarctica. Detailed research at Signy Island has provided information concerning the biomass and productivity of certain vegetation types, decomposer organisms, microbivores, and invertebrate herbivores and predators. The main pathways of energy and nutrient within the terrestrial study sites can be regarded as reasonably established. Net annual production locally reaches very high levels (up to 800 g m -2 ). Only a tiny part of this productivity is consumed by herbivores, the greater part passing to the decomposers or persisting as peat. Most of the animals are microbivores, or graze on fungi, and in turn sustain the small number of invertebrate predators. Analysis of the range of habitats even on Signy Island indicates however that the sites for which detailed ecological information is available represent only a part of the range of environmental and ecological variation. The island is in fact characterized by a very high level of within-site diversity, some of it on a very small scale. Similarly, recent research which permits ecological comparisons with the sub-Antarctic islands of South Georgia and Macquarie, and with the McMurdo area, confirms that Signy Island displays only a small part of the very large range of diversity within the Antarctic regions as a whole. It is a reasonably representative sample of the maritime Antarctic zone in the Antarctic Peninsula region where conditions are particularly favourable for terrestrial life. Its ecological features resemble most closely those of the South Shetland Islands (except over permeable volcanic rocks) and the Palmer Archipelago on the western side of the Antarctic Peninsula. Very different plant and animal communities occur ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
title |
Life sciences - Terrestrial ecosystems in the Antarctic |
spellingShingle |
Life sciences - Terrestrial ecosystems in the Antarctic |
title_short |
Life sciences - Terrestrial ecosystems in the Antarctic |
title_full |
Life sciences - Terrestrial ecosystems in the Antarctic |
title_fullStr |
Life sciences - Terrestrial ecosystems in the Antarctic |
title_full_unstemmed |
Life sciences - Terrestrial ecosystems in the Antarctic |
title_sort |
life sciences - terrestrial ecosystems in the antarctic |
publisher |
The Royal Society |
publishDate |
1977 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rstb.1977.0068 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rstb.1977.0068 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-45.595,-45.595,-60.708,-60.708) ENVELOPE(-62.833,-62.833,-64.250,-64.250) |
geographic |
Antarctic The Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula East Antarctica South Shetland Islands McMurdo Sound Signy Island Palmer Archipelago |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic The Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula East Antarctica South Shetland Islands McMurdo Sound Signy Island Palmer Archipelago |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Antarctica East Antarctica McMurdo Sound Palmer Archipelago Signy Island South Shetland Islands |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Antarctica East Antarctica McMurdo Sound Palmer Archipelago Signy Island South Shetland Islands |
op_source |
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. B, Biological Sciences volume 279, issue 963, page 5-25 ISSN 0080-4622 2054-0280 |
op_rights |
https://royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/data-sharing-mining/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.1977.0068 |
container_title |
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. B, Biological Sciences |
container_volume |
279 |
container_issue |
963 |
container_start_page |
5 |
op_container_end_page |
25 |
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1800740767497453568 |