Skip to main content
Log in

Influence of soil properties on the distribution of Deschampsia antarctica on King George Island, Maritime Antarctica

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Polar Biology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The extremely cold and infertile Antarctic is one of the harshest terrestrial ecosystems for the growth of vegetation, except for the grass species Deschampsia antarctica. We examined the main soil variables that determine the distribution of D. antarctica in King George Island by using Bayesian analysis of variance and regression methods. This study compared the density of D. antarctica between 2 sites; the density remained relatively stable at site 1, whereas it severely decreased in site 2 over a period of 3 years. Although site 2 showed better soil conditions for the growth of D. antarctica such as organic matter content, available phosphorus, NO3-N, and extractable cations, its poor drainage and low soil pH may affected the survival of D. antarctica by altering nutrition availability and inhibiting root respiration. Poisson analysis of covariance showed that the early melting of snow was also an important factor in the distribution of D. antarctica. The results also showed that seabirds and mammals might have greatly influenced the distribution of the grass species in King George Island by transferring nutrients from the sea onto land; thus, changing the chemical characteristics of the soil.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Alberdi M, Bravo LA, Gutierrez A, Gidekel M, Corcuera LJ (2002) Ecophysiology of Antarctic vascular plants. Physiol Plant 115:479–486

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bray RH, Kurtz L (1945) Determination of total, organic, and available forms of phosphorus in soils. Soil Sci 59:39–45

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Broady P (1989) Broadscale patterns in the distribution of aquatic and terrestrial vegetation at three ice-free regions on Ross Island, Antarctica. Hydrobiologia 172:77–95

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burkins MB, Virginia RA, Chamberlain CP, Wall DH (2000) Origin and distribution of soil organic matter in Taylor Valley, Antarctica. Ecology 81:2377–2391

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Culver DC, Beattie AJ (1983) Effects of ant mounds on soil chemistry and vegetation patterns in a Colorado montane meadow. Ecology 64:485–492

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Day T, Ruhland C, Grobe C, Xiong F (1999) Growth and reproduction of Antarctic vascular plants in response to warming and UV radiation reductions in the field. Oecologia 119:24–35

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Edwards J (1972) Studies in Colobanthus quitensis (Kunth) Bartl. and Deschampsia antarctica Desv.: V. Distribution, ecology and vegetative performance on Signy Island. Br Antarct Surv Bull 28:11–28

    Google Scholar 

  • Elith RJ (2002) Predicting the distribution of plants. Dissertation. University of Melbourne, Parkville

    Google Scholar 

  • Ellis JC (2005) Marine birds on land: a review of plant biomass, species richness, and community composition in seabird colonies. Plant Ecol 181:227–241

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ellison AM (2004) Bayesian inference in ecology. Ecol Lett 7:509–520

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Garcia LV, Maranon T, Ojeda F, Clemente L, Redondo R (2002) Seagull influence on soil properties, chenopod shrub distribution, and leaf nutrient status in semi-arid Mediterranean Islands. Oikos 98:75–86

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gerighausen U, Bräutigam K, Mustafa O, Peter HU (2003) Expansion of vascular plants on an Antarctic island-a consequence of climate change?. Antarctic Biology in a Global Context Blackhuys Publishers, Leiden, pp 79–83

    Google Scholar 

  • Greene DM, Holtom A (1971) Studies in Colobanthus quitensis (Kunth) Bartl. and Deschampsia antarctica Desv. III. Distribution, habitats and performance in the Antarctic botanical zone. Br Antarct Sur Bull 26:1–29

    Google Scholar 

  • Hogg EH, Morton JK (1983) The effects of nesting gulls on the vegetation and soil of islands in the Great Lakes. Can J Bot 61:3240–3254

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hopkins DW, Sparrow AD, Novis PM, Gregorich EG, Elberling B, Greenfield LG (2006) Controls on the distribution of productivity and organic resources in Antarctic dry valley soils. Proc R Soc B 273:2687–2695

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hopkins DW, Sparrow AD, Gregorich EG, Greenfield LG, Novis P, Fraser F, Scrimgeour C, Dennis PG, Meier-Augenstein W, Elberling B (2009) Isotopic evidence for the provenance and turnover of organic carbon in Antarctic dry valley soils. Environ Microbiol 11:597–608

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Inoue M (1989) Factors influencing the existence of lichens in the ice-free areas near Syowa station, East Antarctica. Proc NIPR Symp Polar Biol 4:167–180

    Google Scholar 

  • Jenny H (1941) Factors of soil formation. McGraw-Hill, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Jeong G, Yoon H (2001) The origin of clay minerals in soils of King George Island, South Shetland Islands, West Antarctica, and its implications for the clay-mineral compositions of marine sediments. J Sediment Res 71:833–842

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • John B (2004) A comparison of two methods for estimating the organic matter content of sediments. J Paleolimnol 31:125–127

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kappen L (1985) Vegetation and ecology of ice-free areas of northern Victoria Land, Antarctica. 2. Ecological conditions in typical microhabitats of lichens at Birthday Ridge. Polar Bio 4:227–236

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kennedy AD (1993) Water as a limiting factor in the Antarctic terrestrial environment: a biogeographical synthesis. Arch Antarct Alp Res 25:308–315

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kéry M (2010) Introduction to WinBUGS for ecologists: bayesian approach to regression, ANOVA, mixed models and related analyses. Academic Press, Amsterdam, pp 167–236

    Google Scholar 

  • Kim JH, Chung H (2004) Distribution pattern of Deschampsia antarctica, a flowering plant newly colonized around King Sejong Station in Antarctica. Ocean Polar Res 26:23–32

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kim JH, Ahn IY, Hong SG, Andreev M, Lim KM, Oh MJ, Koh YJ, Hur JS (2006) Lichen flora around the Korean Antarctic scientific station, King George Island, Antarctic. J Microbiol 44:480–491

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kim JH, Ahn IY, Lee KS, Chung H, Choi HG (2007) Vegetation of Barton Peninsula in the neighbourhood of King Sejong Station (King George Island, maritime Antarctic). Polar Biol 30:903–916

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee YI, Lim HS, Yoon HI (2004) Geochemistry of soils of King George Island, South Shetland Islands, West Antarctica: implications for pedogenesis in cold polar regions. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 68:4319–4333

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Leishman MR, Wild C (2001) Vegetation abundance and diversity in relation to soil nutrients and soil water content in Vestfold Hills, East Antarctica. Antarct Sci 13(2):126–134

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Levine E, Knox R, Lawrence W (1994) Relationships between soil properties and vegetation at the northern experimental forest, Howland, Maine. Remote Sens Environ 47:231–241

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCarthy MA (2007) Bayesian methods for ecology. Cambridge University, New York, pp 119–157

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Parnikoza IY, Maidanuk D, Kozeretska I (2007) Are Deschampsia antarctica Desv. and Colobanthus quitensis (Kunth) Bartl. migratory relicts? Cytol Genet 41:226–229

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Plummer M, Best N, Cowles K, Vines K (2006) CODA: convergence diagnosis and output analysis for MCMC. R News 6:7–11

    Google Scholar 

  • Qian SS, Shen Z (2007) Ecological applications of multilevel analysis of variance. Ecology 88:2489–2495

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Robinson SA, Wasley J, Tobin AK (2003) Living on the edge–plants and global change in continental and maritime Antarctica. Glob Change Biol 9:1681–1717

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith V (1978) Animal-plant-soil nutrient relationships on Marion Island (Subantarctic). Oecologia 32:239–253

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith RIL (1984) Terrestrial plant biology of the sub-Antarctic and Antarctic. In: Laws RM (ed) Antarctic ecology, vol 1. Academic Press, London, pp 61–162

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith RIL (1994) Vascular plants as bioindicators of regional warming in Antarctica. Oecologia 99:322–328

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith RIL (1995) Colonization by lichens and the development of lichen-dominated communities in the maritime Antarctic. Lichenologist 27:473–483

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith RIL (2003) The enigma of Colobanthus quitensis and Deschampsia antarctica in Antarctica. Antarctic biology in a global context. Backhuys Publishers, Leiden, pp 234–239

    Google Scholar 

  • Smykla J, Wolek J, Barcikowski A (2007) Zonation of vegetation related to penguin rookeries on King George Island, Maritime Antarctic. Arch Antarct Alp Res 39:143–151

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Solorzano L (1969) Determination of ammonia in natural waters by the phenolhypochlorite method. Limnol Oceanogr 14:799–801

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Spiegelhalter DJ, Thomas A, Best NG, Lunn D (2003) WinBUGS Version 1.4. Imperial College & MRC Biostatistics Unit, UK

    Google Scholar 

  • Sturtz S, Ligges U, Gelman A (2005) R2WinBUGS: a package for running WinBUGS from R. J Stat Softw 12:1–16

    Google Scholar 

  • Tatur A, Myrcha A, Nieodzisz J (1997) Formation of abandoned penguin rookery ecosystems in the Maritime Antarctic. Polar Biol 17:405–417

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tiessen H, Cuevas E, Chacon P (1994) The role of soil organic matter in sustaining soil fertility. Nature 371:783–785

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • U.S. Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service (1983) National soils handbook. U.S. Gov Printing Office, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Vera ML (2011) Colonization and demographic structure of Deschampsia antarctica and Colobanthus quitensis along an altitudinal gradient on Livingston Island, South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. Polar Res 30:1–10

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wait DA, Aubrey DP, Anderson WB (2005) Seabird guano influences on desert islands: oil chemistry and herbaceous species richness and productivity. J Arid Environ 60:681–695

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walther GR, Post E, Convey P, Menzel A, Parmesan C, Beebee TJC, Fromentin JM, Hoegh-Guldberg O, Bairlein F (2002) Ecological responses to recent climate change. Nature 416:389–395

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We are very grateful to all the staff of the King Sejong Station for their cooperation and hospitality. We thank Jeong-Hoon Kim for his valuable comments about the distribution of D. antarctica. We are grateful to Namyi Chae and Bang Yong Lee for providing the weather information. Finally, we thank Dr. Dieter Piepenburg and anonymous referees for their helpful comments. This research was supported by Korea Polar Research Institute (Grant No. PE10040). The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Eun Ju Lee.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Park, J.S., Ahn, IY. & Lee, E.J. Influence of soil properties on the distribution of Deschampsia antarctica on King George Island, Maritime Antarctica. Polar Biol 35, 1703–1711 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-012-1213-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-012-1213-4

Keywords

Navigation