scholarly journals Effects of seagulls on ecosystem respiration, soil nitrogen and vegetation cover on a pristine volcanic island, Surtsey, Iceland

2010 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 883-891 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. D. Sigurdsson ◽  
B. Magnusson
Keyword(s):  
Soil Nitrogen ◽  
Vegetation Cover ◽  
North Atlantic Ocean ◽  
Ecosystem Respiration ◽  
C:N Ratio ◽  
Critical Factor ◽  
Vegetation Development ◽  
The North ◽  
Soil Temperatures ◽  
Volcanic Islands

Abstract. When Surtsey rose from the North Atlantic Ocean south of Iceland in 1963, it became a unique natural laboratory on how organisms colonize volcanic islands and form ecosystems with contrasting structures and functions. In July, 2004, ecosystem respiration rate (Re), soil properties and surface cover of vascular plants were measured in 21 permanent research plots distributed among the juvenile communities of the island. The plots were divided into two main groups, inside and outside a seagull (Larus spp.) colony established on the island. Vegetation cover of the plots was strongly related to the density of gull nests. Occurrence of nests and increased vegetation cover also coincided with significant increases in Re, soil carbon, nitrogen and C:N ratio, and with significant reductions in soil pH and soil temperatures. Temperature sensitivity (Q10 value) of Re was determined as 5.3. When compared at constant temperature the Re was found to be 59 times higher within the seagull colony, similar to the highest fluxes measured in drained wetlands or agricultural fields in Iceland. The amount of soil nitrogen, mainly brought onto the island by the seagulls, was the critical factor that most influenced ecosystem fluxes and vegetation development on Surtsey. The present study shows how ecosystem activity can be enhanced by colonization of animals that transfer resources from a nearby ecosystem.

scholarly journals Ecosystem respiration, vegetation development and soil nitrogen in relation to breeding density of seagulls on a pristine volcanic island, Surtsey, Iceland

2009 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 8393-8409 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. D. Sigurdsson ◽  
B. Magnusson
Keyword(s):  
North Atlantic Ocean ◽  
Ecosystem Respiration ◽  
Vegetation Development ◽  
Carbon And Nitrogen ◽  
The North ◽  
Soil Temperatures ◽  
Volcanic Islands ◽  
And Function ◽  
Contrasting Structure ◽  
Natural Laboratory

Abstract. Since its birth in 1963 by volcanic eruption in the North Atlantic Ocean off Iceland, Surtsey has been a unique natural laboratory on how organisms colonize volcanic islands and form ecosystems with contrasting structure and function. In July, 2004, ecosystem respiration rate, soil properties and surface cover of vascular plants were measured on 21 plots distributed among the main plant communities found 40 years after the primary succession started. The plots could be divided into two groups, inside and outside seagull (Larus sp.) colonies found on the island. Vegetation cover of the plots was strongly related to the density of seagull nests within and around them. The occurrence of seagull nests and increased vegetation also coincided with significant increase in ecosystem respiration, soil carbon and nitrogen, and with significantly lower soil pH and soil temperatures. The ecosystem respiration was high inside the gull colonies, similar to the highest fluxes measured in drained wetlands or agricultural fields in Iceland. The most important factor for vegetation succession and ecosystem function on Surtsey seems to be the amount of nitrogen, which was mainly brought in by the seagulls.

scholarly journals Ethnobotanical Knowledge in Sete Cidades, Azores Archipelago: First Ethnomedicinal Report

Plants ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (8) ◽  
pp. 256 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pedro T. M. Silva ◽  
Marta A. F. Silva ◽  
Luís Silva ◽  
Ana M. L. Seca
Keyword(s):  
North Atlantic Ocean ◽  
Folk Medicine ◽  
First Record ◽  
Citrus Limon ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Remote Communities ◽  
The North ◽  
Mentha X Piperita ◽  
Preparation Mode ◽  
Volcanic Islands

Knowledge about folk medicines is limited to elder community members of remote communities, like Sete Cidades in the Azores. The Azores, 1300 km west of Portugal, are nine volcanic islands, totalling 2330 km2 of land dispersed by 173,200 km2 in the North Atlantic Ocean. The present study aims to scientifically document the uses of plant species for medicinal purposes, in the Sete Cidades. Twenty-eight community members from 40 to 84 years of age, of whom half were 55 to 64 years old, were interviewed. Twenty-nine taxa were reported as being used for medicinal purposes, ten of which have not been previously reported for ethnomedicinal use in Portugal, with a first record of the use of Morella faya. Leaves were the most used plant part (55%), and decoction the most common preparation mode. The five reported taxa with both the highest use value (0.71–0.25) and relative frequency of citation (0.14–0.11) were Clinopodium menthifolium subsp. ascendens, Aloysia citriodora, Mentha x piperita, Citrus limon and Rosmarinus officinalis. The traditional uses of some of the reported plants are supported by scientific studies, confirming their ethnomedicinal value and the need to preserve local knowledge of folk medicine practices.

Cape Verde

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marius Schneider ◽  
Vanessa Ferguson
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
West Coast ◽  
Slave Trade ◽  
North Atlantic Ocean ◽  
Cape Verde ◽  
The West ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Atlantic ◽  
The Republic ◽  
Volcanic Islands

Cape Verde (officially known as the Republic of Cabo Verde) is a group of sub-tropical and volcanic islands in the north Atlantic Ocean off the west coast of Africa, approximately 664 kilometres (km) from Dakar, Senegal. The islands were first colonized by the Portuguese in 1462 and were an important part of the transatlantic slave route, where slaves were brought to the islands from West Africa, until the abolishment of the slave trade in 1876. Until 1879, Cape Verde was part of Portuguese Guinea (now Guinea-Bissau) and was incorporated as an overseas department of Portugal in 1951. The islands continued to campaign for independence which was peacefully achieved in 1975. Since the early 1990s, Cape Verde has been a stable representative democracy and remains one of the most developed and democratic countries in Africa.

Vegetation structure of tundra and taiga on the map of the natural vegetation of Europe

2007 ◽  
pp. 13-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. K. Yurkovskaya
Keyword(s):  
Vegetation Cover ◽  
Abiotic Factors ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Space Structure ◽  
Middle Taiga ◽  
Russian Plain ◽  
Forest Communities ◽  
The North ◽  
Tundra Vegetation ◽  
Starting Point

I have focused only on some features of structure in the taiga vegetation cover. In conclusion I would like to tell some words about the causes of complicated space structure of the taiga and tundra vegetation cover. The causes of latitudinal differentiation are climatic undoubtedly, but heterogeneity of vegetation cover within the limits of tundra and taiga subzones is accounted for different factors. In tundra abiogenic factors prevail, first of all the permafrost processes. That is the reason why tundra vegetation cover is so sensible to any disturbances and so hard regenerates after various transformations. In taiga the space structure is mostly the result of self-regulation and self- restoration of biota. The abiotic factors, certainly, play significant role, but they recede to the second plan. So we showed that in the north and middle taiga the structure of vegetation cover, during the Holocene up to present time, is determined in many respects by the increasing role of mires. Suffice it to look at the map of distribution of mires in order to estimate their role in vegetation cover of the easteuropean taiga (Yurkovskaya, 1980). So, the increase of mire area on the Russian Plain in m2/year per 1000 ha varies between 200 and 700, the average increas is ca 300—400 m2/year (Elina et all., 2000). The mires favour peniplenization and unite the separate areas of forest communities into the whole by means of forming the buffer paludificated territories (various hydrophilous variants of forest communities). But if mires, at all their stability, after destroying practically don't restore, the forests even after continuous cuttings restore their structure and composition through the series of successional stages unless an ecotope is damaged completely. Hence the space structure of taiga is the result, first of all, self development and self regulation of its vegetation cover. But, as it is known, at present time the process of destruction of natural biota has gone too far that the question arises not only about supporting its state and structure but also about the survival of the mankind itself. In this regard the vegetation map of Europe is the invaluable basis, which gives the starting point for all conservational, ecological and economical measures. But it is important to learn reading and using the map. And this is one of our actual goals.

Zooplankton Biogeochemical Cycles

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deborah Steinberg
Keyword(s):  
North Atlantic ◽  
North Atlantic Ocean ◽  
Significant Proportion ◽  
Biogeochemical Cycles ◽  
Biological Pump ◽  
The North ◽  
Particle Export ◽  
Chemical Cycling ◽  
Cycling Of Nutrients ◽  
Planktonic Communities

The structure of planktonic communities profoundly affects particle export and sequestration of organic material (the biological pump) and the chemical cycling of nutrients. This chapter describes the integral and multifaceted role zooplankton (both protozoan and metazoan) play in the export and cycling of elements in the ocean, with an emphasis on the North Atlantic Ocean and adjacent seas. Zooplankton consume a significant proportion of primary production across the world's oceans, and their metabolism plays a key role in recycling carbon, nitrogen, and other elements. The chapter also addresses how human or climate-influenced changes in North Atlantic zooplankton populations may in turn drive changes in zooplankton-mediated biogeochemical cycling.

Spatiotemporal evolution of the chlorophyll a trend in the North Atlantic Ocean

2018 ◽  
Vol 612 ◽  
pp. 1141-1148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Min Zhang ◽  
Yuanling Zhang ◽  
Qi Shu ◽  
Chang Zhao ◽  
Gang Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Atlantic Ocean ◽  
Chlorophyll A ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
North Atlantic Ocean ◽  
Spatiotemporal Evolution ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Atlantic

scholarly journals Future Changes in Tropical Cyclone and Easterly Wave Characteristics over Tropical North America

Oceans ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 429-447
Author(s):  
Christian Dominguez ◽  
James M. Done ◽  
Cindy L. Bruyère
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
North Atlantic Ocean ◽  
Mitigation Strategies ◽  
Track Density ◽  
Caribbean Region ◽  
Tropical Cyclogenesis ◽  
Future Scenarios ◽  
Southern Mexico ◽  
The North ◽  
The Future

Tropical Cyclones (TCs) and Easterly Waves (EWs) are the most important phenomena in Tropical North America. Thus, examining their future changes is crucial for adaptation and mitigation strategies. The Community Earth System Model drove a three-member regional model multi-physics ensemble under the Representative Concentration Pathways 8.5 emission scenario for creating four future scenarios (2020–2030, 2030–2040, 2050–2060, 2080–2090). These future climate runs were analyzed to determine changes in EW and TC features: rainfall, track density, contribution to seasonal rainfall, and tropical cyclogenesis. Our study reveals that a mean increase of at least 40% in the mean annual TC precipitation is projected over northern Mexico and southwestern USA. Slight positive changes in EW track density are projected southwards 10° N over the North Atlantic Ocean for the 2050–2060 and 2080–2090 periods. Over the Eastern Pacific Ocean, a mean increment in the EW activity is projected westwards across the future decades. Furthermore, a mean reduction by up to 60% of EW rainfall, mainly over the Caribbean region, Gulf of Mexico, and central-southern Mexico, is projected for the future decades. Tropical cyclogenesis over both basins slightly changes in future scenarios (not significant). We concluded that these variations could have significant impacts on regional precipitation.

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