Soil properties of an Antarctic inland site: implications for ecosystem development
Inland Antarctic nunataks typically have simple physically weathered soils and limited ecosystem complexity. In this paper we present quantitative measurements of soil physical and chemical properties at one Antarctic nunatak. We measured pH, grain size, field capacity, soil organic carbon, phosphat...
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ftnerc:oai:nora.nerc.ac.uk:11461 2023-05-15T13:45:10+02:00 Soil properties of an Antarctic inland site: implications for ecosystem development Engelen, Andreas Convey, Peter Hodgson, Dominic A. Worland, M. Roger Ott, Sieglinde 2008 http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/11461/ http://www.springerlink.com/content/93602l0v86u87n83/fulltext.html unknown Springer Engelen, Andreas; Convey, Peter orcid:0000-0001-8497-9903 Hodgson, Dominic A. orcid:0000-0002-3841-3746 Worland, M. Roger; Ott, Sieglinde. 2008 Soil properties of an Antarctic inland site: implications for ecosystem development. Polar Biology, 31 (12). 1453-1460. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-008-0486-0 <https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-008-0486-0> Meteorology and Climatology Agriculture and Soil Science Biology and Microbiology Publication - Article PeerReviewed 2008 ftnerc https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-008-0486-0 2023-02-04T19:27:21Z Inland Antarctic nunataks typically have simple physically weathered soils and limited ecosystem complexity. In this paper we present quantitative measurements of soil physical and chemical properties at one Antarctic nunatak. We measured pH, grain size, field capacity, soil organic carbon, phosphate, nitrate, ammonium and the cations magnesium, calcium and potassium along two transects. The data obtained indicated that very low levels of nutrients were present/available to biota, and that liquid water was absent, at least from the surface depths of soil, except during periods of active snow melt. Consequently, biological activity is severely limited. We conclude that, due to the climatic and microclimatic conditions at this location, the development of biological communities and soils is maintained in an extremely simple but still apparently stable 'quasi climax' state. Increased soil development and biological complexity can be expected if the contemporary rapid regional warming in the Antarctic Peninsula region continues. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Polar Biology Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula The Antarctic Polar Biology 31 12 1453 1460 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive |
op_collection_id |
ftnerc |
language |
unknown |
topic |
Meteorology and Climatology Agriculture and Soil Science Biology and Microbiology |
spellingShingle |
Meteorology and Climatology Agriculture and Soil Science Biology and Microbiology Engelen, Andreas Convey, Peter Hodgson, Dominic A. Worland, M. Roger Ott, Sieglinde Soil properties of an Antarctic inland site: implications for ecosystem development |
topic_facet |
Meteorology and Climatology Agriculture and Soil Science Biology and Microbiology |
description |
Inland Antarctic nunataks typically have simple physically weathered soils and limited ecosystem complexity. In this paper we present quantitative measurements of soil physical and chemical properties at one Antarctic nunatak. We measured pH, grain size, field capacity, soil organic carbon, phosphate, nitrate, ammonium and the cations magnesium, calcium and potassium along two transects. The data obtained indicated that very low levels of nutrients were present/available to biota, and that liquid water was absent, at least from the surface depths of soil, except during periods of active snow melt. Consequently, biological activity is severely limited. We conclude that, due to the climatic and microclimatic conditions at this location, the development of biological communities and soils is maintained in an extremely simple but still apparently stable 'quasi climax' state. Increased soil development and biological complexity can be expected if the contemporary rapid regional warming in the Antarctic Peninsula region continues. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Engelen, Andreas Convey, Peter Hodgson, Dominic A. Worland, M. Roger Ott, Sieglinde |
author_facet |
Engelen, Andreas Convey, Peter Hodgson, Dominic A. Worland, M. Roger Ott, Sieglinde |
author_sort |
Engelen, Andreas |
title |
Soil properties of an Antarctic inland site: implications for ecosystem development |
title_short |
Soil properties of an Antarctic inland site: implications for ecosystem development |
title_full |
Soil properties of an Antarctic inland site: implications for ecosystem development |
title_fullStr |
Soil properties of an Antarctic inland site: implications for ecosystem development |
title_full_unstemmed |
Soil properties of an Antarctic inland site: implications for ecosystem development |
title_sort |
soil properties of an antarctic inland site: implications for ecosystem development |
publisher |
Springer |
publishDate |
2008 |
url |
http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/11461/ http://www.springerlink.com/content/93602l0v86u87n83/fulltext.html |
geographic |
Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula The Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula The Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Polar Biology |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Polar Biology |
op_relation |
Engelen, Andreas; Convey, Peter orcid:0000-0001-8497-9903 Hodgson, Dominic A. orcid:0000-0002-3841-3746 Worland, M. Roger; Ott, Sieglinde. 2008 Soil properties of an Antarctic inland site: implications for ecosystem development. Polar Biology, 31 (12). 1453-1460. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-008-0486-0 <https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-008-0486-0> |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-008-0486-0 |
container_title |
Polar Biology |
container_volume |
31 |
container_issue |
12 |
container_start_page |
1453 |
op_container_end_page |
1460 |
_version_ |
1766214578827427840 |