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Colobanthus Kerguelensis
''Colobanthus kerguelensis'' is a low-growing, moss-like flowering cushion plant in the family Caryophyllaceae, found on subantarctic islands in the southern Indian Ocean. The specific epithet refers to the type locality – the Kerguelen Islands.Flora of Australia Online. Description ''Colobanthus kerguelensis '' is a perennial herb that forms loose clumps or cushions up to 65 mm in diameter. The slender, freely branching stems lack adventitious roots. The leaves are linear and fleshy, 5–10 mm long and 2–3.5 mm wide. The flowers are 4-merous, with two large outer sepals, and two smaller inner ones. The plant flowers from December to March, and fruits from March. Distribution and habitat As well as on Kerguelen, ''Colobanthus kerguelensis'' occurs on the Crozet, Prince Edward, and Heard Islands. It has been recorded from gravel substrates in the supralittoral or sea spray zone, in well-drained peaty and sandy soils with ''Azorella selago'', and in fel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joseph Dalton Hooker
Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker (30 June 1817 – 10 December 1911) was a British botanist and explorer in the 19th century. He was a founder of geographical botany and Charles Darwin's closest friend. For twenty years he served as director of the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew, succeeding his father, William Jackson Hooker, and was awarded the highest honours of British science. Biography Early years Hooker was born in Halesworth, Suffolk, England. He was the second son of the famous botanist Sir William Jackson Hooker, Regius Professor of Botany, and Maria Sarah Turner, eldest daughter of the banker Dawson Turner and sister-in-law of Francis Palgrave. From age seven, Hooker attended his father's lectures at Glasgow University, taking an early interest in plant distribution and the voyages of explorers like Captain James Cook. He was educated at the Glasgow High School and went on to study medicine at Glasgow University, graduating M.D. in 1839. This degree qualified him for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crozet Islands
The Crozet Islands (french: Îles Crozet; or, officially, ''Archipel Crozet'') are a sub-Antarctic archipelago of small islands in the southern Indian Ocean. They form one of the five administrative districts of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands. History Discovery and early history The Crozet Islands were discovered on 24 January 1772, by the expedition of French explorer Marc-Joseph Marion du Fresne, aboard ''Le Mascarin''. His second-in-command Jules (Julien-Marie) Crozet landed on Île de la Possession, claiming the archipelago for France. The expedition continued east and landed in New Zealand, where Captain Marion and much of his crew were killed and cannibalized by Maori. Crozet survived the disaster, and successfully led the survivors back to their base in Mauritius. In 1776, Crozet met James Cook at Cape Town, at the start of Cook's third voyage. Crozet shared the charts of his ill-fated expedition, and as Cook sailed eastward, he stopped at the islands, naming ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Colobanthus
''Colobanthus'' is a large genus of small, cushion-like herbaceous plants in the family Caryophyllaceae, sometimes known as "pearlworts", a name they share with plants of the related genus ''Sagina''. ''C. quitensis'' is the world's southernmost dicot, and one of only two native extant flowering plants of Antarctica. Selected species * '' Colobanthus acicularis'' Hook. f. * '' Colobanthus affinis'' (Hook) Hook. f. * '' Colobanthus apetalus'' (Labill.) Druce synonym = ''Spergula apetala'' * '' Colobanthus bolivianus'' Pax * '' Colobanthus brevisepalus'' Kirk * '' Colobanthus buchananii'' Kirk * '' Colobanthus caespitosus'' Colenso * '' Colobanthus canaliculatus'' Kirk * '' Colobanthus curtisiae'' J.G. West * '' Colobanthus diffusus'' Hook. f. * '' Colobanthus hookeri'' Cheeseman * '' Colobanthus kerguelensis'' Hook. f. * '' Colobanthus lycopodoides'' Griseb. * '' Colobanthus masonae'' L.B. Moore * '' Colobanthus monticola'' Petrie * '' Colobanthus muelleri'' Kirk = ''C. billa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flora Antarctica
The ''Flora Antarctica'', or formally and correctly ''The Botany of the Antarctic Voyage of H.M. Discovery Ships Erebus and Terror in the years 1839–1843, under the Command of Captain Sir James Clark Ross'', is a description of the many plants discovered on the Ross expedition, which visited islands off the coast of the Antarctic continent, with a summary of the expedition itself, written by the British botanist Joseph Dalton Hooker and published in parts between 1844 and 1859 by Reeve Brothers in London. Hooker sailed on HMS ''Erebus'' as assistant surgeon. The botanical findings of the Ross expedition were published in four parts, the last two in two volumes each, making six volumes in all: * Part I '' Botany of Lord Auckland's Group and Campbell's Island'' (1844–1845) * Part II '' Botany of Fuegia, the Falklands, Kerguelen's Land, Etc.'' (1845–1847) * Part III ''Flora Novae-Zelandiae'' (1851–1853) (2 volumes) * Part IV ''Flora Tasmaniae'' (1853–1859) (2 volumes) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Retreat Of Glaciers Since 1850
The retreat of glaciers since 1850 affects the availability of fresh water for irrigation and domestic use, mountain recreation, animals and plants that depend on glacier-melt, and, in the longer term, the level of the oceans. Deglaciation occurs naturally at the end of ice ages, but glaciologists find the current glacier retreat is accelerated by the measured increase of atmospheric greenhouse gases—an effect of climate change. Mid-latitude mountain ranges such as the Himalayas, Rockies, Alps, Cascades, Southern Alps, and the southern Andes, as well as isolated tropical summits such as Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa, are showing some of the largest proportionate glacial losses. Excluding peripheral glaciers of ice sheets, the total cumulated global glacial losses over the 26 year period from 1993–2018 were likely 5500 gigatons, or 210 gigatons per yr.Fox-Kemper, B., H.T. Hewitt, C. Xiao, G. Aðalgeirsdóttir, S.S. Drijfhout, T.L. Edwards, N.R. Golledge, M. Hemer, R.E. Kopp, G ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pioneer Species
Pioneer species are hardy species that are the first to colonize barren environments or previously biodiverse steady-state ecosystems that have been disrupted, such as by wildfire. Pioneer flora Some lichens grow on rocks without soil, so may be among the first of life forms, and break down the rocks into soil for plants.LICHEN BIOLOGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT, LICHENS OF NORTH AMERICA, Sylvia and Stephen Sharnoff/ref> Since some uninhabited land may have thin, poor quality soils with few nutrients, pioneer species are often hardy plants with adaptations such as long roots, root nodes containing Diazotroph, nitrogen-fixing bacteria, and leaves that employ transpiration. Note that they are often photosynthetic plants, as no other source of energy (such as other species) except light energy is often available in the early stages of succession, thus making it less likely for a pioneer species to be non-photosynthetic. The plants that are often pioneer species also tend to be wind ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Feldmark
Feldmark, also spelt fjaeldmark (), is a plant community characteristic of sites where plant growth is severely restricted by extremes of cold and exposure to wind, typical of alpine tundra and subantarctic environments. Description Feldmark plant communities are characterised by scattered dwarf and prostrate plants, up to about in height, often with a mat or cushion habit, among patches of bare ground and exposed rock. Distribution Feldmark occurs in the least favourable situations for plant growth, including late-lying snowdrift areas on leeward slopes and cold, highly wind-exposed ridges. Because feldmark species are adapted to cold bare ground, some are able to colonise areas of severe erosion where the topsoil has been removed, leaving only a surface of broken rock or stones.. In areas with strong prevailing winds, expansion through layering on the sheltered sides of plants means that they may grow preferentially on the protected sides and gradually move downwind across th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Azorella Selago
''Azorella selago'' is a species of cushion plant native to the sub-Antarctic islands of the Southern Ocean, including the Crozet Islands, the Possession Islands, the Heard Island and McDonald Islands, the Kerguelen Islands, and the Prince Edward Islands. The closely related ''Azorella macquariensis'', which is endemic to Macquarie Island, was split from it taxonomically in 1989. ''A. selago'' is often a keystone species A keystone species is a species which has a disproportionately large effect on its natural environment relative to its abundance, a concept introduced in 1969 by the zoologist Robert T. Paine. Keystone species play a critical role in maintaini ... where it occurs and is well studied for its contribution to its native ecosystems. References selago Flora of Heard Island and McDonald Islands Flora of the Kerguelen Islands Flora of the Prince Edward Islands Taxa named by Joseph Dalton Hooker Plants described in 1845 {{FrenchSouthernTerritories-s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Soil
Soil, also commonly referred to as earth or dirt, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, liquids, and organisms that together support life. Some scientific definitions distinguish ''dirt'' from ''soil'' by restricting the former term specifically to displaced soil. Soil consists of a solid phase of minerals and organic matter (the soil matrix), as well as a porous phase that holds gases (the soil atmosphere) and water (the soil solution). Accordingly, soil is a three-state system of solids, liquids, and gases. Soil is a product of several factors: the influence of climate, relief (elevation, orientation, and slope of terrain), organisms, and the soil's parent materials (original minerals) interacting over time. It continually undergoes development by way of numerous physical, chemical and biological processes, which include weathering with associated erosion. Given its complexity and strong internal connectedness, soil ecologists regard soil as an ecosystem. Most ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sand
Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural class of soil or soil type; i.e., a soil containing more than 85 percent sand-sized particles by mass. The composition of sand varies, depending on the local rock sources and conditions, but the most common constituent of sand in inland continental settings and non-tropical coastal settings is silica (silicon dioxide, or SiO2), usually in the form of quartz. Calcium carbonate is the second most common type of sand, for example, aragonite, which has mostly been created, over the past 500million years, by various forms of life, like coral and shellfish. For example, it is the primary form of sand apparent in areas where reefs have dominated the ecosystem for millions of years like the Caribbean. Somewhat more rarely, sand may be composed of calciu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peat
Peat (), also known as turf (), is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, moors, or muskegs. The peatland ecosystem covers and is the most efficient carbon sink on the planet, because peatland plants capture carbon dioxide (CO2) naturally released from the peat, maintaining an equilibrium. In natural peatlands, the "annual rate of biomass production is greater than the rate of decomposition", but it takes "thousands of years for peatlands to develop the deposits of , which is the average depth of the boreal orthernpeatlands", which store around 415 gigatonnes (Gt) of carbon (about 46 times 2019 global CO2 emissions). Globally, peat stores up to 550 Gt of carbon, 42% of all soil carbon, which exceeds the carbon stored in all other vegetation types, including the world's forests, although it covers just 3% of the land's surface. ''Sphagnum'' moss, also called peat moss, is one of th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sea Spray
Sea spray are aerosol particles formed from the ocean, mostly by ejection into Earth's atmosphere by bursting bubbles at the air-sea interface. Sea spray contains both organic matter and inorganic salts that form sea salt aerosol (SSA). SSA has the ability to form cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) and remove anthropogenic aerosol pollutants from the atmosphere. Coarse sea spray has also been found to inhibit the development of lightning in storm clouds. Sea spray is directly (and indirectly, through SSA) responsible for a significant degree of the heat and moisture fluxes between the atmosphere and the ocean, affecting global climate patterns and tropical storm intensity. Sea spray also influences plant growth and species distribution in coastal ecosystems and increases corrosion of building materials in coastal areas. Generation Formation When wind, whitecaps, and breaking waves mix air into the sea surface, the air regroups to form bubbles, floats to the surface, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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