Wind as a climatic driver of biotic communities in the sub-Antarctic
Thesis (PhD (Plant Science))--University of Pretoria, 2021. The effects of temperature and precipitation, and the impacts of changes in these climatic conditions, on biological communities have been investigated extensively. The roles of other climatic factors are, however, comparatively poorly unde...
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ftunivpretoria:oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/83917 2023-10-25T01:30:46+02:00 Wind as a climatic driver of biotic communities in the sub-Antarctic Le Roux, Peter Christiaan Momberg, Mia 2022-05-11 application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/2263/83917 en eng University of Pretoria * A2023 http://hdl.handle.net/2263/83917 © 2022 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. Plant Science Ecology UCTD Thesis 2022 ftunivpretoria 2023-09-26T00:30:00Z Thesis (PhD (Plant Science))--University of Pretoria, 2021. The effects of temperature and precipitation, and the impacts of changes in these climatic conditions, on biological communities have been investigated extensively. The roles of other climatic factors are, however, comparatively poorly understood, despite potentially also strongly structuring community patterns. Wind, for example, is seldom considered when forecasting species responses to climate change, despite having direct physiological and mechanical impacts on plants, soil, and animals. It is, therefore, important to understand the magnitude of the potential impacts of changing wind conditions on biological communities. This has become increasingly relevant given that wind speeds have accelerated globally over the past decade, with the largest changes taking place in the Southern Ocean. Therefore, the aim of this thesis was to examine the role of wind in shaping biological systems in the sub-Antarctic, testing the influence of wind, across multiple spatial and organizational levels, on: 1) island-scale vegetation distribution, and the occurrence of vegetation types; 2) plant species richness, vegetation cover and composition at a community scale; 3) the fine-scale distribution and cover of individual vascular plant species; and 4) nest site selection by a surface-nesting seabird across an entire island. At the broadest scale, across the whole of Marion Island, wind velocity was the second most important predictor (after elevation) driving the occurrence of vegetation types on the island, and the fourth most important predictor of total vegetation cover. Wind also affected a highly mobile species, the Wandering Albatross, at the island-scale. The nest-site selection of the world’s largest pelagic bird was most strongly influenced by elevation, distance from the coast, terrain ruggedness and wind velocity. Nests had the highest probability of occurring in areas with intermediate wind velocities, which present favourable conditions for take-off and ... Thesis Antarc* Antarctic Marion Island Southern Ocean Wandering Albatross University of Pretoria: UPSpace Antarctic Southern Ocean |
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Open Polar |
collection |
University of Pretoria: UPSpace |
op_collection_id |
ftunivpretoria |
language |
English |
topic |
Plant Science Ecology UCTD |
spellingShingle |
Plant Science Ecology UCTD Wind as a climatic driver of biotic communities in the sub-Antarctic |
topic_facet |
Plant Science Ecology UCTD |
description |
Thesis (PhD (Plant Science))--University of Pretoria, 2021. The effects of temperature and precipitation, and the impacts of changes in these climatic conditions, on biological communities have been investigated extensively. The roles of other climatic factors are, however, comparatively poorly understood, despite potentially also strongly structuring community patterns. Wind, for example, is seldom considered when forecasting species responses to climate change, despite having direct physiological and mechanical impacts on plants, soil, and animals. It is, therefore, important to understand the magnitude of the potential impacts of changing wind conditions on biological communities. This has become increasingly relevant given that wind speeds have accelerated globally over the past decade, with the largest changes taking place in the Southern Ocean. Therefore, the aim of this thesis was to examine the role of wind in shaping biological systems in the sub-Antarctic, testing the influence of wind, across multiple spatial and organizational levels, on: 1) island-scale vegetation distribution, and the occurrence of vegetation types; 2) plant species richness, vegetation cover and composition at a community scale; 3) the fine-scale distribution and cover of individual vascular plant species; and 4) nest site selection by a surface-nesting seabird across an entire island. At the broadest scale, across the whole of Marion Island, wind velocity was the second most important predictor (after elevation) driving the occurrence of vegetation types on the island, and the fourth most important predictor of total vegetation cover. Wind also affected a highly mobile species, the Wandering Albatross, at the island-scale. The nest-site selection of the world’s largest pelagic bird was most strongly influenced by elevation, distance from the coast, terrain ruggedness and wind velocity. Nests had the highest probability of occurring in areas with intermediate wind velocities, which present favourable conditions for take-off and ... |
author2 |
Le Roux, Peter Christiaan Momberg, Mia |
format |
Thesis |
title |
Wind as a climatic driver of biotic communities in the sub-Antarctic |
title_short |
Wind as a climatic driver of biotic communities in the sub-Antarctic |
title_full |
Wind as a climatic driver of biotic communities in the sub-Antarctic |
title_fullStr |
Wind as a climatic driver of biotic communities in the sub-Antarctic |
title_full_unstemmed |
Wind as a climatic driver of biotic communities in the sub-Antarctic |
title_sort |
wind as a climatic driver of biotic communities in the sub-antarctic |
publisher |
University of Pretoria |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/2263/83917 |
geographic |
Antarctic Southern Ocean |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Southern Ocean |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Marion Island Southern Ocean Wandering Albatross |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Marion Island Southern Ocean Wandering Albatross |
op_relation |
* A2023 http://hdl.handle.net/2263/83917 |
op_rights |
© 2022 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. |
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