The effect of environmental change on vascular plant and cryptogam communities from the Falkland Islands and the Maritime Antarctic.
Background. Antarctic terrestrial vegetation is subject to one of the most extreme climates on Earth. Currently, parts of Antarctica are one of the fastest warming regions on the planet. During 3 growing seasons, we investigated the effect of experimental warming on the diversity and abundance of co...
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2007
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ftvuamstcris:oai:research.vu.nl:publications/bf1f000b-db50-4267-bb6c-783f48257244 2023-05-15T13:25:03+02:00 The effect of environmental change on vascular plant and cryptogam communities from the Falkland Islands and the Maritime Antarctic. Bokhorst, S.F. Huiskes, A. Convey, P. Aerts, R. 2007 application/pdf https://research.vu.nl/en/publications/bf1f000b-db50-4267-bb6c-783f48257244 https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6785-7-15 https://research.vu.nl/ws/files/2301914/205981.pdf eng eng info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Bokhorst , S F , Huiskes , A , Convey , P & Aerts , R 2007 , ' The effect of environmental change on vascular plant and cryptogam communities from the Falkland Islands and the Maritime Antarctic. ' , BMC Ecology , vol. 7 , no. 15 , pp. 1-13 . https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6785-7-15 article 2007 ftvuamstcris https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6785-7-15 2022-01-17T13:19:28Z Background. Antarctic terrestrial vegetation is subject to one of the most extreme climates on Earth. Currently, parts of Antarctica are one of the fastest warming regions on the planet. During 3 growing seasons, we investigated the effect of experimental warming on the diversity and abundance of coastal plant communities in the Maritime Antarctic region (cryptogams only) and the Falkland Islands (vascular plants only). We compared communities from the Falkland Islands (51°S, mean annual temperature 7.9°C), with those of Signy Island (60°S, -2.1°C) and Anchorage Island (67°S, -2.6°C), and experimental temperature manipulations at each of the three islands using Open Top Chambers (OTCs). Results. Despite the strong difference in plant growth form dominance between the Falkland Islands and the Maritime Antarctic, communities across the gradient did not differ in total diversity and species number. During the summer months, the experimental temperature increase at 5 cm height in the vegetation was similar between the locations (0.7°C across the study). In general, the response to this experimental warming was low. Total lichen cover showed a non-significant decreasing trend at Signy Island (p < 0.06). In the grass community at the Falkland Islands total vegetation cover decreased more in the OTCs than in adjacent control plots, and two species disappeared within the OTCs after only two years. This was most likely a combined consequence of a previous dry summer and the increase in temperature caused by the OTCs. Conclusion. These results suggest that small temperature increases may rapidly lead to decreased soil moisture, resulting in more stressful conditions for plants. The more open plant communities (grass and lichen) appeared more negatively affected by such changes than dense communities (dwarf shrub and moss). © 2007 Bokhorst et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. Article in Journal/Newspaper Anchorage Island Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Signy Island Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU): Research Portal Anchorage Anchorage Island ENVELOPE(-68.214,-68.214,-67.605,-67.605) Antarctic Signy Island ENVELOPE(-45.595,-45.595,-60.708,-60.708) BMC Ecology 7 1 15 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU): Research Portal |
op_collection_id |
ftvuamstcris |
language |
English |
description |
Background. Antarctic terrestrial vegetation is subject to one of the most extreme climates on Earth. Currently, parts of Antarctica are one of the fastest warming regions on the planet. During 3 growing seasons, we investigated the effect of experimental warming on the diversity and abundance of coastal plant communities in the Maritime Antarctic region (cryptogams only) and the Falkland Islands (vascular plants only). We compared communities from the Falkland Islands (51°S, mean annual temperature 7.9°C), with those of Signy Island (60°S, -2.1°C) and Anchorage Island (67°S, -2.6°C), and experimental temperature manipulations at each of the three islands using Open Top Chambers (OTCs). Results. Despite the strong difference in plant growth form dominance between the Falkland Islands and the Maritime Antarctic, communities across the gradient did not differ in total diversity and species number. During the summer months, the experimental temperature increase at 5 cm height in the vegetation was similar between the locations (0.7°C across the study). In general, the response to this experimental warming was low. Total lichen cover showed a non-significant decreasing trend at Signy Island (p < 0.06). In the grass community at the Falkland Islands total vegetation cover decreased more in the OTCs than in adjacent control plots, and two species disappeared within the OTCs after only two years. This was most likely a combined consequence of a previous dry summer and the increase in temperature caused by the OTCs. Conclusion. These results suggest that small temperature increases may rapidly lead to decreased soil moisture, resulting in more stressful conditions for plants. The more open plant communities (grass and lichen) appeared more negatively affected by such changes than dense communities (dwarf shrub and moss). © 2007 Bokhorst et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Bokhorst, S.F. Huiskes, A. Convey, P. Aerts, R. |
spellingShingle |
Bokhorst, S.F. Huiskes, A. Convey, P. Aerts, R. The effect of environmental change on vascular plant and cryptogam communities from the Falkland Islands and the Maritime Antarctic. |
author_facet |
Bokhorst, S.F. Huiskes, A. Convey, P. Aerts, R. |
author_sort |
Bokhorst, S.F. |
title |
The effect of environmental change on vascular plant and cryptogam communities from the Falkland Islands and the Maritime Antarctic. |
title_short |
The effect of environmental change on vascular plant and cryptogam communities from the Falkland Islands and the Maritime Antarctic. |
title_full |
The effect of environmental change on vascular plant and cryptogam communities from the Falkland Islands and the Maritime Antarctic. |
title_fullStr |
The effect of environmental change on vascular plant and cryptogam communities from the Falkland Islands and the Maritime Antarctic. |
title_full_unstemmed |
The effect of environmental change on vascular plant and cryptogam communities from the Falkland Islands and the Maritime Antarctic. |
title_sort |
effect of environmental change on vascular plant and cryptogam communities from the falkland islands and the maritime antarctic. |
publishDate |
2007 |
url |
https://research.vu.nl/en/publications/bf1f000b-db50-4267-bb6c-783f48257244 https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6785-7-15 https://research.vu.nl/ws/files/2301914/205981.pdf |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-68.214,-68.214,-67.605,-67.605) ENVELOPE(-45.595,-45.595,-60.708,-60.708) |
geographic |
Anchorage Anchorage Island Antarctic Signy Island |
geographic_facet |
Anchorage Anchorage Island Antarctic Signy Island |
genre |
Anchorage Island Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Signy Island |
genre_facet |
Anchorage Island Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Signy Island |
op_source |
Bokhorst , S F , Huiskes , A , Convey , P & Aerts , R 2007 , ' The effect of environmental change on vascular plant and cryptogam communities from the Falkland Islands and the Maritime Antarctic. ' , BMC Ecology , vol. 7 , no. 15 , pp. 1-13 . https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6785-7-15 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6785-7-15 |
container_title |
BMC Ecology |
container_volume |
7 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
15 |
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1766383319917789184 |