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Age and stability of bird‐manured vegetation on Spitsbergen
Author(s) -
Van Der Knaap W.O.
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
acta botanica neerlandica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.871
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 1438-8677
pISSN - 0044-5983
DOI - 10.1111/j.1438-8677.1988.tb02125.x
Subject(s) - cliff , peat , ecological succession , vegetation (pathology) , geology , physical geography , ecology , geography , paleontology , archaeology , biology , medicine , pathology
SUMMARY The peaty sediments from a bird cliff (north‐west Spitsbergen) and two skua‐mounds (central and east Spitsbergen) have been studied palynologically. Results show that (1) the vegetation on the bird cliff has been stable and peat‐forming for at least the last 5 centuries, and (2) there has been a succession of various dominant plant species on one of the skua‐mounds for more than 4000 years and on the other for c. 4500 years. Peat formation on these mounds has probably been interrupted several times.