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GIS goes nano: Vegetation studies in Victoria Land, Antarctica
Author(s) -
Brabyn Lars,
Green Allan,
Beard Catherine,
Seppelt Rod
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
new zealand geographer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.335
H-Index - 25
eISSN - 1745-7939
pISSN - 0028-8144
DOI - 10.1111/j.1745-7939.2005.00027.x
Subject(s) - vegetation (pathology) , lichen , physical geography , geography , moss , climate change , environmental science , ecology , remote sensing , oceanography , geology , biology , medicine , pathology
Vegetation in Antarctica consists mainly of algae, moss and lichen and is interesting to research because of the isolation and extreme growing conditions. An understanding of this vegetation is important for both the management of tourism in Antarctica, and because it provides a potential barometer of global climate and environmental change. This paper demonstrates two applications of GIS to mapping vegetation in Victoria Land, Antarctica. The first application computes the changes that have occurred to the vegetation within a 120 m by 28 m plot between 1962 and 2004. The second application maps and analyses the growth of a lichen specimen ( Buellia frigida ) during the same period. These applications demonstrate that GIS is a multiscale technology that can be used to detect detailed change in vegetation growth.