Functioning of terrestrial ecosystems of the Maritime Antarctic in a warmer climate

Functioning of terrestrial ecosystems of the Maritime Antarctic in a warmer climate Printing: PrintPartners Ipskamp B.V. 1 General introduction 2 External nutrient inputs into terrestrial ecosystems of the Falkland Islands and the Maritime Antarctic region 3 Food choice of Antarctic soil arthropods clarified by stable isotope signatures. 4 The effect of environmental change on soil arthropod communities along a latitudinal gradient from the Falkland Islands to the southern Maritime Antarctic 5 The effect of environmental change on vascular plant and cryptogam communities along a latitudinal gradient from the Falkland Islands to the southern Maritime Antarctic 6 Climate change effects on organic matter decomposition rates in ecosystems from the Maritime Antarctic and Falkland Islands 7 General discussion Summary Nederlandse samenvatting Dankwoord 6 7 Chapter 1 General introduction Predictions for future climate change indicate increases in temperature, changes in precipitation and the occurrence of more 'extreme' weather events (IPCC, 2001, Tebaldi et al., 2006). These changes will have a large impact on ecosystems. However, these changes will not be similar across the planet and, due to the present climate, may not always affect ecosystems to the same extent. World wide, the polar regions are predicted to show the highest increases in temperature (IPCC, 2001). The Arctic has received much attention with regard to climate change effects on ecosystems received far less attention. This work focuses on the possible effects of temperature increase on Antarctic terrestrial ecosystems. Antarctica is the coldest, highest, driest and windiest place on earth. As such, the Antarctic climate places severe limits on life. Furthermore, Antarctica is an isolated continent permanently covered with ice and snow. Less than 1% of this land mass is free of snow and ice during the summer period, and most of these snow free areas can be found at low altitudes close to sea. The Antarctic Peninsula region and islands along the Scotia Arc are usually divided into three vegetation zones: the sub-Antarctic comprising the islands near to the Polar Front (in this region, South Georgia), the Maritime Antarctic comprising the western part of the Peninsula and, including the outlying 8 With increasing latitude, there is a decrease in the number and diversity of vascular plants and cryptogams (Peat et al., 2007). The dominant Antarctic vegetation consists of cryptogams (Convey, 2001). The only two vascular plants are Antarctic hair grass, Deschampsia antarctica, and Antarctic pearlwort, Colobanthus quitensis (Smith, 2003). The trophic food web structure …