Linking Sea to Land

A couple of Chinstrap penguins (Pygoscelis antarctica) at their nesting site on Deception Island, maritime Antarctica. Sea birds contribute importantly to biogeochemical cycles in coastal ecosystems and on islands. Feeding on the marine food chain and nesting on land, they carry large amounts of marine nutrients into terrestrial ecosystems. This might be of particular importance for the nitrogen (N) cycle of terrestrial ecosystems in the antarctic. In the form of ammonia, marine derived N can travel far inland with the wind, and perhaps represent an important nutrient source for the growth of mosses.