Biological soil crusts of Arctic Svalbard and of Livingston Island, Antarctica
Biological soil crusts of Arctic Svalbard and of Livingston Island, Antarctica
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DOI：
10.1007/s00300-016-1967-1
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发表时间：
2017-02-01
期刊：
影响因子：
1.7
通讯作者：
Buedel, Burkhard
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Williams, Laura;Borchhardt, Nadine;Buedel, Burkhard
生物土壤结皮（BSC）发生在世界各地的干旱和半干旱地区，包括极地地区。它们是重要的生态系统工程师，在评估当前关键的功能问题，如它们在生态地球化学营养循环和可能的气候变化情景中的作用之前，应了解它们的组成和面积覆盖。我们的目的是调查的变化，从北极斯瓦尔巴群岛和南极岛屿，利文斯顿，使用植被调查的基础上分类的功能组的BSC。另一个目的是描述生物多样性干细胞的结构，并代表一个分类系统，可用于未来的研究，以提供一个快速和有效的方式来定义植被类型和面积覆盖。首先，这项研究表明，在北极斯瓦尔巴群岛，生物多样性占据了巨大的面积，高达90%的土壤表面被覆盖，主要是硅藻和蓝藻，并在许多地区显示出意想不到的高变异性。利文斯顿岛的覆盖率较低，高达55%，但以地衣为主。我们的研究结果表明，这两个极地地区有不同的BSC覆盖范围内的网站和它们之间，特别是考虑到他们的恶劣气候和纬度位置。其次，我们已经将这两个地区的生物多样性分类成一个系统，描述了主导功能组和当地地理，创建一个简单的计划，可以很容易地识别主要的植被类型。我们的研究结果代表了第一个贡献的描述的基础上，他们的功能团组成在极地地区的BSC。
Biological soil crusts (BSCs) occur in arid and semi-arid regions worldwide including the Polar Regions. They are important ecosystem engineers, and their composition and areal coverage should be understood before assessing key current functional questions such as their role in biogeochemical nutrient cycles and possible climate change scenarios. Our aim was to investigate the variability of BSCs from Arctic Svalbard and the Antarctic Island, Livingston, using vegetation surveys based on classification by functional group. An additional aim was to describe the structure of BSCs and represent a classification system that can be used in future studies to provide a fast and efficient way to define vegetation type and areal coverage. Firstly, this study demonstrates huge areas occupied by BSCs in Arctic Svalbard, with up to 90 % of soil surface covered, dominated by bryophytes and cyanobacteria, and showing an unexpectedly high variability in many areas. Livingston Island has lower percentage coverage, up to 55 %, but is dominated by lichens. Our findings show that both Polar Regions have varied BSC coverage, within the sites and between them, especially considering their harsh climates and latitudinal positions. Secondly, we have classified the BSCs of both areas into a system that describes the dominant functional groups and local geography, creating a simple scheme that allows easy identification of the prevailing vegetation type. Our results represent the first contribution to the description of BSCs based on their functional group composition in Polar Regions.