Soil–landform–plant-community relationships of a periglacial landscape on Potter Peninsula, maritime Antarctica

Abstract

Abstract. Integrated studies on the interplay between soils, periglacial geomorphology and plant communities are crucial for the understanding of climate change effects on terrestrial ecosystems of maritime Antarctica, one of the most sensitive areas to global warming. Knowledge on physical environmental factors that influence plant communities can greatly benefit studies on the monitoring of climate change in maritime Antarctica, where new ice-free areas are being constantly exposed, allowing plant growth and organic carbon inputs. The relationship between topography, plant communities and soils was investigated on Potter Peninsula, King George Island, maritime Antarctica. We mapped the occurrence and distribution of plant communities and identified soil-landform-vegetation relationships. The vegetation map was obtained by classification of a QuickBird image, coupled with detailed landform and characterization of 18 soil profiles. The sub-formations were identified and classified, and we also determined the total elemental composition of lichens, mosses and grasses. Plant communities on Potter Peninsula occupy 23 % of the ice-free area, at different landscape positions, showing decreasing diversity and biomass from the coastal zone to inland areas where sub-desert conditions prevail. There is a clear dependency between landform and vegetated soils. Soils that have greater moisture or are poorly drained, and with acid to neutral pH, are favourable for moss sub-formations. Saline, organic-matterrich ornithogenic soils of former penguin rookeries have greater biomass and diversity, with mixed associations of mosses and grasses, while stable felsenmeers and flat rocky cryoplanation surfaces are the preferred sites for Usnea and Himantormia lugubris lichens at the highest surface. Lichens sub-formations cover the largest vegetated area, showing varying associations with mosses.

The role of sexual vs. asexual recruitment of <i>Artemisia wudanica</i> in transition zone habitats between inter-dune lowlands and active dunes in Inner Mongolia, China

“…In our study, recruitment from different reproduction modes showed different responses to environmental factors. It is well known that individuals coming from asexual reproduction are nourished by soil resources obtained via their mother plants (Pitelka and Ashmun, 1985;Marshall, 1990;de Kroon et al, 1996), and that these plants can absorb more water and nutrients from the soil through their flourishing roots. These studies might help explain why SM and OM depicted a negative effect on surviving ramet density in our study.…”

“…Soil and vegetation are key components in the earth system (Raven et al, 1986;Poelking et al, 2015). In spite of this, abusive exploitation (e.g.…”

Tropical forest refuge in peripheral soils of slags in Caatinga

“…Understood soil diversity is a relevant task, especially considering that plant distribution is conditionate by soil properties [8,9]. Soil influences plant physiognomies in Brazilian Savanna (Cerrado) [10], Restinga forest [11], Amazonia rainforest [12,13], Tundra [14] and other biomes around the world [15,16]. However, species diversity in Caatinga is poorly know [17] and strictly attributed to climatic conditions [18–20].…”

Vegetation greenness response to water availability in northern China from 1982 to 2006

“…Plants are important in the Earth system (Lieskovsky and Kenderessy, 2014;Berendse et al, 2015;Cassinari et al, 2015;Poelking et al, 2015;Beyene, 2015;Zhao et al, 2015). The weaker correlation between NDVI and soil moisture for the entire year might be explained by the large column depth (1.6 m) used to model soil moisture data (Fan and van den Dool, 2004).…”