Terrestrial habitats on sub-Antarctic Marion Island: Their vegetation, edaphic attributes, distribution and response to climate change

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dc.contributor.authorSmith V.R.
dc.contributor.authorSteenkamp M.
dc.contributor.authorGremmen N.J.M.
dc.date.accessioned2011-05-15T15:54:53Z
dc.date.available2011-05-15T15:54:53Z
dc.date.issued2001
dc.description.abstractThe vegetation, soil chemistry characteristics and altitudinal distributions of 23 habitats in 7 habitat complexes on sub-Antarctic Marion Island (47°S, 38°E) are described. The habitat complexes (number of habitats in complex) are: Coastal Salt-spray Complex (2); Fellfield Complex (2); Slope Complex (6); Biotic Grassland Complex (3); Biotic Herbfield Complex (3); Mire Complex (6); Polar Desert Complex (1). The habitat classification closely reflects the between-habitat variation in the relative magnitudes of the main forcing variables that determine ecological succession on the island (moisture, exposure, parent soil material, salt-spray and manuring and trampling by seals and seabirds). Hence, it can serve as a framework against which to detect and evaluate ecological responses to the marked climatic change currently occurring in the sub-Antarctic. Suggestions are made on how the habitats might respond to climatic change (warming, drying) and other perturbations (increasing or decreasing influences of salt-spray and manuring).
dc.description.versionArticle
dc.identifier.citationSouth African Journal of Botany
dc.identifier.citation67
dc.identifier.citation4
dc.identifier.issn2546299
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/9456
dc.subjectaltitude
dc.subjectclimate change
dc.subjecthabitat type
dc.subjectsoil chemistry
dc.subjectterrestrial ecosystem
dc.subjectvegetation
dc.subjectIndian Ocean
dc.subjectPhocidae
dc.titleTerrestrial habitats on sub-Antarctic Marion Island: Their vegetation, edaphic attributes, distribution and response to climate change
dc.typeArticle
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