Rationale:
The (sub-)Antarctic Region comprises a large number of islands and archipelagos situated in the southern parts of the oceans, a.o. South Georgia and the South Shetland Islands in the southern Atlantic Ocean, Crozet and Kerguelen in the Indian Ocean and Macquarie Island in the Pacific Ocean. Due to the important isolation of these islands, their specific climate and geomorphology and the relative simple structure of their ecosystems, they proof to be excellent natural laboratories to test and explore various ecological hypotheses and concepts.
The non-marine diatoms on the islands in the southern Atlantic Ocean show a unique, highly diverse species composition and richness, well distinct from the other parts of the (sub-)Antarctic Region. Two problems however arise when investigating the diatom flora of these islands. Due to uncertainty and incorrect identifications, the taxonomy is only poorly understood in the areas, already studied in the past. On the other hand, a lot of island floras are still unstudied. Both problems lead to false interpretations of the current biogeography of the non-marine diatoms in these areas.
Overall goal:
Based on the previously acquired results in the southern Indian Ocean, a similar taxonomic and morphological study of the non-marine and more specifically the moss-inhabiting diatoms from islands and locations in the southern Atlantic Ocean and the Antarctic Continent will be set up. The current knowledge of the present diatom communities on these locations will be verified and when necessary enhanced. The results will later be incorporated in a more broad-scaled biogeographical research covering the entire (sub-) Antarctic Region.
Objectives:
1. Retrieve possible (herbarium) moss collections on islands and regions that have been visited in the past but are at the moment inaccessible due to logistic and financial constraints.
2. The diatom flora of several islands will be investigated using standard Light (LM) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) based on the most modern taxonomic viewpoints. Based on previous viewpoints, it is highly likely that several new taxa will be found. Both the new species and the diatom inventories will be the subject of future publications.
3. Profound analysis of selected genera to establish their biogeography, possible origin and ways of dispersion
| Reference |
Role |
| Gremmen N.J.M., Van de Vijver B., Frenot Y. & Lebouvier M. (2007) Distribution of moss-inhabiting diatoms along an altitudinal gradient at sub-Antarctic Îles Kerguelen. Antarctic Science 19(1): 17-24. |
author |
| Vincke, S., Van de Vijver, B., Ledeganck, P., Nijs, I. & Beyens, L. (2007) Testacean communities in perturbed soils: the influence of the wandering albatross. Polar Biology 30: 395-406. |
author |
| Vyverman W., Verleyen E., Sabbe K., Vanhoutte K., Sterken M., Hodgson D.A., Mann D.G. Juggins S., Van de Vijver B., Jones V., Flower R., Roberts D., Chepurnov V.A, Kilroy C., Vanormelingen P.& De Wever, A. (2007) Historical Processes Constrain Patterns in Global Diatom Diversity. Ecology 88(8): 1924-1931. |
author |
| Fermani P., Mataloni G. & Van de Vijver B. (2007) Soil microalgal communities on an Antarctic active volcano (Deception Island, South Shetlands). Polar Biology 30: 1381-1393. |
author |
| Gibson J.A.E., Wilmotte A., Taton A., Van de Vijver B., Beyens L. & Dartnall H.J.G. (2007) Biogeographic trends in Antarctic lake communities. In: Bergstrom D.M., Convey P. & Huiskes A.H.L. (eds.) Trends in Antarctic terrestrial and Limnetic Ecosystems. Antarctica as a global indicator. Springer, Dordrecht, 369pp. |
author |
| Van de Vijver B., Van Dam H. & Beyens L. (2006) Luticola higleri, a new diatom from the Maritime Antarctic Region. Nova Hedwigia 82(1-2): 69-79. |
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