Biological soil crusts of Arctic Svalbard and of Livingston

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TitleBiological soil crusts of Arctic Svalbard and of Livingston Island, AntarcticaAbstractBiological soil crusts (BSCs) occur in arid and semi-arid regions worldwide including the Polar Regions. They are important ecosystem engineers, and their composition and areal coverage should be understood before assessing key current functional questions such as their role in biogeochemical nutrient cycles and possible climate change scenarios. Our aim was to investigate the variability of BSCs from Arctic Svalbard and the Antarctic Island, Livingston, using vegetation surveys based on classification by functional group. An additional aim was to describe the structure of BSCs and represent a classification system that can be used in future studies to provide a fast and efficient way to define vegetation type and areal coverage. Firstly, this study demonstrates huge areas occupied by BSCs in Arctic Svalbard, with up to 90 percent of soil surface covered, dominated by bryophytes and cyanobacteria, and showing an unexpectedly high variability in many areas. Livingston Island has lower percentage coverage, up to 55 percent, but is dominated by lichens. Our findings show that both Polar Regions have varied BSC coverage, within the sites and between them, especially considering their harsh climates and latitudinal positions. Secondly, we have classified the BSCs of both areas into a system that describes the dominant functional groups and local geography, creating a simple scheme that allows easy identification of the prevailing vegetation type. Our results represent the first contribution to the description of BSCs based on their functional group composition in Polar Regions. c 2016, The Author(s).AcknowledgementsThe authors thank the crew at the AWIPEV base in Ny AËš lesund, as well as those at Juan Carlos I in Livingston for assistance in the field work and technical equipment. The Spanish Antarctic committee also provided essential aid in travel to and from Livingston. Financing and logistical support of the research in Ny AËš lesund and Livingston was kindly provided by the German Research Council in the framework of the Priority Programme Ãntarctic Research Ì1158 (DFG, KA899/23-1, BE1779/18-1, BUÂ¨ 666/17-1).Funding DetailsBE1779/18-1, DFG, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft; BâˆšÃº666/17-1, DFG, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft; KA899/23-1, DFG, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft

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1st AuthorWilliams, L.AuthorWilliams, L.Borchhardt, N.Colesie, C.Baum, C.Komsic-Buchmann, K.Rippin, M.Becker, B.Karsten, U.Budel, B.Year2017JournalPolar BiologyVolume40Number2Pages399-411DOI10.1007/s00300-016-1967-1URLhttps://www.scopus.com/inward/recor.....4023d083c2d76e3097267321aKeywordsbryophytesCyanobacteriaAuthor KeywordsBiological soil crusts (BSCs)Functional groupsLivingston IslandSvalbardVegetation

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TypeArticleCitationWilliams, L., Borchhardt, N., Colesie, C., Baum, C., Komsic-Buchmann, K., Rippin, M., Becker, B., Karsten, U. and Budel, B. (2017). Biological soil crusts of Arctic Svalbard and of Livingston Island, Antarctica. Polar Biology, 40(2): 399-411