| Title | Terrestrial Antarctic ecosystems in the changing world; an overview |
| Author | Chwedorzewska, K. |
| Author Affil | Chwedorzewska, K., Polska Akademia Nauk, Zaklad Biologii Antarktyki, Warsaw, Poland |
| Source | Polish Polar Research, 30(3), p.263- 276, . Publisher: Panstwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, Warsaw, Poland. ISSN: 0138- 0338 |
| Publication Date | 2009 |
| Notes | In English. 82 refs. Ant. Acc. No: 87479. GeoRef Acc. No: 297069 |
| Index Terms | climatic change; ecology; ecosystems; human activity; migration; plant ecology; Antarctica; arctic environment; climate change; communities; invasive taxa; Plantae; terrestrial environment |
| Abstract | Although the Antarctic has avoided the worst effects of alien species, its future seems endangered due to increasing natural and man-made pressures. Rapid changes in three major environmental variables have occurred in the Antarctic region during the last decades. In the short term terrestrial biota are likely to benefit from reduced environmental stresses, but in the long run the colonization of the region by lower latitude species with greater competitive ability will become increasingly important and can lead to large-scale changes in biological composition and trophic complexity in some existing Antarctic terrestrial ecosystems. Moreover, the recent dynamic climate changes combined with human activities in the Antarctic region might modify the status of several alien species which have hitherto been considered transient or persistent and could, therefore, become naturalized and threaten the native communities on a larger scale than today, or influence the status of naturalized species. |
| URL | http://hdl.handle.net/10.4202/ppres.2009.13 |
| Publication Type | journal article |
| Record ID | 64002156 |