Floral and faunal characteristics and content of photosynthetic pigment in soils of northern Victoria Land, Antarctica ...
Although soil algae are among the main primary producers in most terrestrial ecosystems of continental Antarctica, there are very few quantitative studies on their relative proportion in the main algal groups and on how their distribution is affected by biotic and abiotic factors. Such knowledge is...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
PANGAEA
2009
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://dx.doi.org/10.1594/pangaea.786524 https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.786524 |
| Summary: | Although soil algae are among the main primary producers in most terrestrial ecosystems of continental Antarctica, there are very few quantitative studies on their relative proportion in the main algal groups and on how their distribution is affected by biotic and abiotic factors. Such knowledge is essential for understanding the functioning of Antarctic terrestrial ecosystems. We therefore analyzed biological soil crusts from northern Victoria Land to determine their pH, electrical conductivity (EC), water content (W), total and organic C (TC and TOC) and total N (TN) contents, and the presence and abundance of photosynthetic pigments. In particular, the latter were tested as proxies for biomass and coarse-resolution community structure. Soil samples were collected from five sites with known soil algal communities and the distribution of pigments was shown to reflect differences in the relative proportions of Chlorophyta, Cyanophyta and Bacillariophyta in these sites. Multivariate and univariate models ... : Data extracted in the frame of a joint ICSTI/PANGAEA IPY effort, see http://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.150150 ... |
|---|