Geomorphic and ambient environmental impacts on lichen distribution on two inland Nunataks in western Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica

Dwight, Rosemary Anne

Title: Geomorphic and ambient environmental impacts on lichen distribution on two inland Nunataks in western Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica
Creator: Dwight, Rosemary Anne
Subject: Lichens -- Antarctica -- Queen Maud Land
Subject: Lichen communities -- Antarctica -- Queen Maud Land
Subject: Lichens -- Climatic factors -- Antarctica -- Queen Maud Land
Subject: Lichens -- Effect of environment on -- Antarctica -- Queen Maud Land
Subject: Biotic communities -- Antarctica -- Queen Maud Land
Subject: Biotic communities -- Climatic factors -- Antarctica -- Queen Maud Land
Subject: Biodiversity -- Climatic factors -- Antarctica -- Queen Maud Land
Date Issued: 2015
Date: 2015
Type: Thesis
Type: Masters
Type: MSc
Identifier: vital:4889
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018189
Description: Feedbacks between abiotic variables and community structure in Antarctica are poorly understood. Research is, therefore, required to elucidate the patterns of biodiversity that exist and the factors that influence them, particularly under changing climates. Landscape processes affect environmental heterogeneity, which in turn affect patterns of biodiversity. Two inland Antarctic nunataks, Robertskollen and the Northern Buttress of Vesleskarvet, were selected for investigation to determine the potential impact of selected environmental factors on lichen distribution and abundance, at the intra- and inter-nunatak scales. Lichens were found to prefer rock faces with dips between 1° and 45°, and northern/southern aspects. Lichen colonisation was mostly in microtopographical features that result from rock weathering. The distribution of lichens was found to be regular at the intra- and inter-nunatak scale, whereas lichen abundance was found to be mostly influenced by temperature. On the Northern Buttress, rock hardness displays a similar pattern to lichen abundance, both of which are suggested to be a function of exposure time, which is dependent on deglaciation. The two nunataks serve as excellent laboratories that can potentially be used as proxies for investigating the possible impacts of climate change
Format: 114 leaves
Format: pdf
Publisher: Rhodes University
Publisher: Faculty of Science, Geography
Language: English
Rights: Dwight, Rosemary Anne

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