Bokhorst, Stef; Huiskes, Ad H L; Convey, Peter; Aerts, Raf (2007): Soil characteristics and decomposition of organic matter on Anchorage, Signy and Falkland Islands [dataset publication series]. PANGAEA, https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.807660, Supplement to: Bokhorst, S et al. (2007): Climate change effects on organic matter decomposition rates in ecosystems from the Maritime Antarctic and Falkland Islands. Global Change Biology, 13(12), 2642-2653, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2007.01468.x
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Abstract:
Antarctic terrestrial ecosystems have poorly developed soils and currently experience one of the greatest rates of climate warming on the globe. We investigated the responsiveness of organic matter decomposition in Maritime Antarctic terrestrial ecosystems to climate change, using two study sites in the Antarctic Peninsula region (Anchorage Island, 67°S; Signy Island, 61°S), and contrasted the responses found with those at the cool temperate Falkland Islands (52°S). Our approach consisted of two complementary methods: (1) Laboratory measurements of decomposition at different temperatures (2, 6 and 10 °C) of plant material and soil organic matter from all three locations. (2) Field measurements at all three locations on the decomposition of soil organic matter, plant material and cellulose, both under natural conditions and under experimental warming (about 0.8 °C) achieved using open top chambers. Higher temperatures led to higher organic matter breakdown in the laboratory studies, indicating that decomposition in Maritime Antarctic terrestrial ecosystems is likely to increase with increasing soil temperatures. However, both laboratory and field studies showed that decomposition was more strongly influenced by local substratum characteristics (especially soil N availability) and plant functional type composition than by large-scale temperature differences. The very small responsiveness of organic matter decomposition in the field (experimental temperature increase <1 °C) compared with the laboratory (experimental increases of 4 or 8 °C) shows that substantial warming is required before significant effects can be detected.
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Coverage:
Median Latitude: -60.615800 * Median Longitude: -58.264200 * South-bound Latitude: -67.600000 * West-bound Longitude: -68.200000 * North-bound Latitude: -52.200000 * East-bound Longitude: -45.630000
Date/Time Start: 2003-11-01T00:00:00 * Date/Time End: 2006-02-28T00:00:00
Comment:
Data extracted in the frame of a joint ICSTI/PANGAEA IPY effort, see http://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.150150
License:
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC-BY-3.0)
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5 datasets
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Datasets listed in this publication series
- Bokhorst, S; Huiskes, AHL; Convey, P et al. (2007): (Table 2) Mass loss, CO2 production, and C/N ratio of plant types obtained from Anchorage, Signy and Falkland Islands after 120 days. https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.807653
- Bokhorst, S; Huiskes, AHL; Convey, P et al. (2007): (Table 4) Characteristics of soils of experimental and control plots on Anchorage, Signy and Falkland Islands after two years of warming. https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.807655
- Bokhorst, S; Huiskes, AHL; Convey, P et al. (2007): (Table 5) Mass loss and C/N ratio of litter after 1 and 2 years in experimental and control plots on Anchorage, Signy and Falkland Islands. https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.807657
- Bokhorst, S; Huiskes, AHL; Convey, P et al. (2007): (Table 3) Mean soil temperature of control and experimental plots on Anchorage, Signy and Falkland Islands. https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.807654
- Bokhorst, S; Huiskes, AHL; Convey, P et al. (2007): (Table 1) Soil characteristics of cores from Anchorage, Signy and Falkland Islands. https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.807652