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Dronning Maud Land and Its Environments

  • Chapter
Geoecology of Antarctic Ice-Free Coastal Landscapes

Part of the book series: Ecological Studies ((ECOLSTUD,volume 154))

Abstract

Dronning Maud Land is located in the southern ('continental ') Antarctic, ranging between the Stancom-Wills Glacier at 20 °00'W, and Shinnan Glacier at 44 °38'E (Fig. 5.1). The climatic regime is comparable to that of the vicinities of the Australian Casey Station, Wilkes Land (Seppelt, Chap. 4). Precipitation occurs only as snow and plant growth is thus restricted to the melting process. The growing season in the Antarctic is short, lasting for 120 to 150 days in the northern ('maritime ') Antarctic (El-Sayed and Fryxell 1993). In the area of the Japanese Syowa Station, at East Ongul Island (69°00'S, 39 °35'E), the southern Antarctic, just 40 days allow growth in the moss habitats depending on smallscale snowdrift (Kanda 1986). In Yukidori Valley, also near Syowa Station, the growing season is considered to be about 60 days in the prominently moss vegetation. This climatic regime hampers the development of vascular plants, and vegetation is dominated by cryptogamic organisms, i.e. algae, lichens and mosses, where meltwater provides sufficient moisture. This chapter introduces geographical and climatic features in Dronning Maud Land focusing on environmental factors surrounding moss and algal habitats.

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Authors
  1. S. Ohtani
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  2. H. Kanda
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Polarökologie, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, Wischhofstr. 1-3, 24148, Kiel, Germany

    Lothar Beyer  & Manfred Bölter  & 

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Ohtani, S., Kanda, H. (2002). Dronning Maud Land and Its Environments. In: Beyer, L., Bölter, M. (eds) Geoecology of Antarctic Ice-Free Coastal Landscapes. Ecological Studies, vol 154. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-56318-8_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-56318-8_5

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-62674-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-56318-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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