Antarctic environment has valuable baseline information for understanding the global change. The objectives of this study were to investigate the impacts of human activities on Antarctic terrestrial ecosystem. Based o...Antarctic environment has valuable baseline information for understanding the global change. The objectives of this study were to investigate the impacts of human activities on Antarctic terrestrial ecosystem. Based on the investigation results and the sampling analysis of the environment of Fildes Peninsula, King George Island, Antarctica, it was shown that there are some artificial radioactive elements—? ? 137 Cs in Antarctic environment: the radioactivity of 137 Cs in the surface soil, the surface moss, the fruticose lichen and the crustaceous lichen are 6 00—14 80, 25 07, 29 04 and 58 07 Bq/kg separately; i.e. the sequence of 137 Cs specific activity is as follows: crustaceous lichen>fruticose lichen>surface moss>surface soil, which demonstrates that the crustaceous lichen is one of the most sensitive monitor ways for the effect of the long term diffusion of 137 Cs. The impacts of the scientific research activities on the partial ecosystem of Fildes Peninsula include: the changes of the landscape and the soil material have made a strong freezing thawing process, which decreases the stability of the ground surface, causes the degradation of the vegetation in the some small areas; some small lakes, runoff and lichens in middle areas of Fildes Peninsula have been affected by the wastes of the stations, in the surrounding areas of the expedition stations, the concentration of Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn in the lichen and the water are higher than that of the contrasting area. Fildes Peninsula is one of the most crowded areas of expedition stations, at some extent, the environment and terrestrial ecosystem have been affected by the human activities. The conservation of the environment and ecosystem should be an important aspect of Antarctic environmental sciences.展开更多
The radioactive isotope 137 Cs is one of the important tracers for studying the physical processes and the human impacts on the environment. Based on the investigation results of the terrestrial ecosystem of Gre...The radioactive isotope 137 Cs is one of the important tracers for studying the physical processes and the human impacts on the environment. Based on the investigation results of the terrestrial ecosystem of Great Wall Station, Antarctica, it was shown that there are some artificial radioactive elements 137 Cs in Antarctic terrestrial ecosystem. The sequence of 137 Cs specific activities is as follows: crustaceous lichen>fruticose lichen>surfacemoss>surface soil, and the crustaceous lichen is one of the most sensitive ways in monitoring the impact of the longterm diffusion of 137 Cs on the environment.展开更多
The frequency and severity of extreme events associated with global change are both forecast to increase with a concomitant increase expected in perturbations and disruptions of fundamental processes at ecosystem, com...The frequency and severity of extreme events associated with global change are both forecast to increase with a concomitant increase expected in perturbations and disruptions of fundamental processes at ecosystem, community and population scales, with potentially catastrophic consequences. Extreme events should thus be viewed as ecosystem drivers, rather than as short term deviations from a perceived ＇norm＇. To illustrate this, we examined the impacts associated with the extraordinary weather pattern of the austral spring/summer of 2001/2002, and find that patterns of ocean-atmosphere interactions appear linked to a suite of extreme events in Antarctica and more widely across the Southern Hemisphere. In the Antarctic, the extreme events appear related to particular ecological impacts, including the substantial reduction in breeding success of Ade1ie penguins at sites in the Antarctic Peninsula as well as for Adelie penguin and snow petrel colonies in East Antarctica, and the creation of new benthic habitats associated with the disintegration of the Larsen B Ice Shelf. Other major impacts occurred in marine and terrestrial ecosystems at temperate and tropical latitudes. The suite of impacts demonstrates that ecological consequences of extreme events are manifested at fundamental levels in ecosystem processes and produce long-term, persistent effects relative to the short-term durations of the events. Changes in the rates of primary productivity, species mortality, community structure and inter-specific interactions, and changes in trophodynamics were observed as a consequence of the conditions during the 2001/2002 summer. Lasting potential consequences include reaching or exceeding tipping points, trophic cascades and regime shifts.展开更多
文摘Antarctic environment has valuable baseline information for understanding the global change. The objectives of this study were to investigate the impacts of human activities on Antarctic terrestrial ecosystem. Based on the investigation results and the sampling analysis of the environment of Fildes Peninsula, King George Island, Antarctica, it was shown that there are some artificial radioactive elements—? ? 137 Cs in Antarctic environment: the radioactivity of 137 Cs in the surface soil, the surface moss, the fruticose lichen and the crustaceous lichen are 6 00—14 80, 25 07, 29 04 and 58 07 Bq/kg separately; i.e. the sequence of 137 Cs specific activity is as follows: crustaceous lichen>fruticose lichen>surface moss>surface soil, which demonstrates that the crustaceous lichen is one of the most sensitive monitor ways for the effect of the long term diffusion of 137 Cs. The impacts of the scientific research activities on the partial ecosystem of Fildes Peninsula include: the changes of the landscape and the soil material have made a strong freezing thawing process, which decreases the stability of the ground surface, causes the degradation of the vegetation in the some small areas; some small lakes, runoff and lichens in middle areas of Fildes Peninsula have been affected by the wastes of the stations, in the surrounding areas of the expedition stations, the concentration of Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn in the lichen and the water are higher than that of the contrasting area. Fildes Peninsula is one of the most crowded areas of expedition stations, at some extent, the environment and terrestrial ecosystem have been affected by the human activities. The conservation of the environment and ecosystem should be an important aspect of Antarctic environmental sciences.
文摘The radioactive isotope 137 Cs is one of the important tracers for studying the physical processes and the human impacts on the environment. Based on the investigation results of the terrestrial ecosystem of Great Wall Station, Antarctica, it was shown that there are some artificial radioactive elements 137 Cs in Antarctic terrestrial ecosystem. The sequence of 137 Cs specific activities is as follows: crustaceous lichen>fruticose lichen>surfacemoss>surface soil, and the crustaceous lichen is one of the most sensitive ways in monitoring the impact of the longterm diffusion of 137 Cs on the environment.
基金supported by the Australian Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre
文摘The frequency and severity of extreme events associated with global change are both forecast to increase with a concomitant increase expected in perturbations and disruptions of fundamental processes at ecosystem, community and population scales, with potentially catastrophic consequences. Extreme events should thus be viewed as ecosystem drivers, rather than as short term deviations from a perceived ＇norm＇. To illustrate this, we examined the impacts associated with the extraordinary weather pattern of the austral spring/summer of 2001/2002, and find that patterns of ocean-atmosphere interactions appear linked to a suite of extreme events in Antarctica and more widely across the Southern Hemisphere. In the Antarctic, the extreme events appear related to particular ecological impacts, including the substantial reduction in breeding success of Ade1ie penguins at sites in the Antarctic Peninsula as well as for Adelie penguin and snow petrel colonies in East Antarctica, and the creation of new benthic habitats associated with the disintegration of the Larsen B Ice Shelf. Other major impacts occurred in marine and terrestrial ecosystems at temperate and tropical latitudes. The suite of impacts demonstrates that ecological consequences of extreme events are manifested at fundamental levels in ecosystem processes and produce long-term, persistent effects relative to the short-term durations of the events. Changes in the rates of primary productivity, species mortality, community structure and inter-specific interactions, and changes in trophodynamics were observed as a consequence of the conditions during the 2001/2002 summer. Lasting potential consequences include reaching or exceeding tipping points, trophic cascades and regime shifts.
