The reproductive ecology of vascular plants on subantarctic Macquarie Island ...

• Main Author: Shaw, JD
• Format: Thesis
• Language: unknown
• Published: University Of Tasmania 2023
• Subjects: Southern Ocean; Macquarie Island
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.25959/23245100.v1; https://figshare.utas.edu.au/articles/thesis/The_reproductive_ecology_of_vascular_plants_on_subantarctic_Macquarie_Island/23245100/1

Southern Ocean islands have long been sites of scientific interest, due to their isolation, climate, geology and biology. This study investigated reproductive ecology of vascular plants on subantarctic Macquarie I. The persistence of plant species in a community relies on life history strategies which ensure population growth and sustainability. This can be via either vegetative or sexual reproduction. Many studies have shown that for alpine and high latitude plants sexual reproduction is not an important life history trait. The study identified that 26 species flowered, 22 dispersed seed and 12 produced seedlings over the study period on Macquarie I. This represents 72%, 61 % and 33% of the angiosperm flora of the island, respectively. There was a strong seasonality with almost all species flowering and fruiting in spring and summer. Overall sexual reproduction coincided with an increase in day length in summer. Seed rain of several plant communities was measured across eight sites of differing ...