Describe the functioning of the ecosystem ( animals , plant , biophysical interactions ).
• Vegetation on the continent is composed of mosses , lichen , and alga
• Penguins , whales and seals live in and around Antarctica , as do fish and krill
• The male Emperor penguin is the only warm-blooded animal to remain on the continent through the freezing winter while nesting on the egg laid by its mate
• Supports only a primitive indigenous population of cold-adapted plants and animals
• The surrounding seas are as rich in life as the land is barren
• Native land fauna is wholly invertebrate
• Antarctic microfauna includes heliozoans , rotifers , tardigrades , nematodes and ciliate protozoans
• Terrestrial macro fauna consists entirely of arthropods , many species being parasitic on birds and seals
• Only two species of penguin live along the Antarctic coastline , emperor and Adelie
• Most birds leave the continent each autumn and follow the secondary coastline as the ice pack builds northward
Explain why this ecosystem needs protection ( refer to linkages , biodiversity , location and / or extent ).
- The Antarctic Peninsula is particularly sensitive to small rises in the annual average temperature , this has increased by nearly 3 ° C in the region in the last 50 years , this is about 10 times faster than the average in the rest of the world . This makes it an excellent study area .
- Rising temperatures cause ice shelves to break up - as they are floating already this will not affect sea levels , it may cause the glaciers behind them to speed up their flow-rate considerably . These glaciers will add to sea-level rise if they melt .
- The break-up of the Larsen B ice shelf in early 2002 . This event has been attributed to the effects of global warming . That it occurred is beyond dispute and that it is a result of the warming of the Antarctic Peninsula where it is situated is also beyond dispute . What remains unclear is whether or not this is a taste of things to come and an indicator of an Antarctic-wide phenomena or simply a localized result of the localized warming of the Antarctic Peninsula region alone .
- Such disintegration in such a short time period is therefore an extremely significant event . What now remains of the Larsen B is about 40 % of what was there in 1995 . It had been breaking up at what was considered to be a rapid rate anyway before this major event . The break-up is thought to be a consequence of higher temperatures and large amounts of summer melt-water running down crevasses in the ice shelf so speeding the disintegration process .
- The depletion of the ozone hole has caused an overall cooling trend on the Antarctic continent this has masked the effects of warming temperatures at a local level , particularly on the larger part of East Antarctica and areas away from the peninsula region .