Studies on the unique terrestrial ecosystems of Antarctica’s ice-free areas have potential to enhance the understanding of the soil/vegetation interplays and ecological relationships of endangered polar environments. Studies that have emphasized the plants distribution and diversity increase the knowledge on the Antarctic vegetation and controlling factors, enabling better conservation strategies for these fragile ecosystems. In this study, we investigated the composition and distribution of plant communities in association with soil characteristics, landscape elements (altitude and geomorphological variations), and local faunal influence. We related these factors to plant species richness along topographic gradient on a typical maritime Antarctica landscape. We hypothesized that plant species distribution responds to soil and topographical variations; further, we postulated greater plant diversity in ornithogenic areas of increasing age and higher organic matter content. Ten plant communities and a bare-soil reference located at Thomas Point, King George Island, were identified, selected and mapped for the study. Plant cover was analyzed using phytosociological data from 132 squares across the area to evaluate frequency, coverage degree, and the ecological significance index. These values determined the type of community observed. We also determined general soil physical and chemical attributes. The microscale variations in sheltering of the different environments directly impacted floristic composition across the landscape. Vegetation composition and floristic characteristics significantly varied along the topographic gradient, according to soil attributes, in which ornithogenesis (phosphatization) and drainage conditions played a key role. Both factors are likely to be greatly affected by recent warming trend in this part of Antarctica.

对南极无冰区独特的陆地生态系统的研究有可能增进人们对濒危极地环境的土壤/植被相互作用和生态关系的认识。强调植物分布和多样性的研究增加了对南极植被和控制因素的了解，从而为这些脆弱的生态系统提供了更好的保护策略。在这项研究中，我们调查了与土壤特征，景观要素（海拔和地貌变化）以及当地动物区系相关的植物群落的组成和分布。我们将这些因素与典型的南极海洋景观上地形梯度上的植物物种丰富度相关联。我们假设植物物种的分布对土壤和地形的变化有反应。此外，我们推测在年龄不断增加和有机质含量更高的鸟类鸟类产区，植物的多样性会增加。确定，选择和绘制了十个植物群落和位于乔治岛国王托马斯角的裸露土壤参考，进行了研究。使用来自该地区132平方英寸的植物社会学数据分析植物的覆盖率，以评估频率，覆盖度和生态意义指数。这些值确定了观察到的社区类型。我们还确定了土壤的一般物理和化学属性。遮蔽不同环境的微观变化直接影响了整个景观的植物组成。根据土壤属性，植被组成和植物学特征沿地形梯度显着变化，其中鸟类的发生（磷化）和排水条件起着关键作用。这两个因素都可能受到南极洲这一地区近期变暖趋势的极大影响。