Abstract
Landscape-geochemical features providing for manifestation of gigantism in herbaceous plants have been revealed in natural habitats in the south of Sakhalin and Kunashir islands. Tall herb assemblages have proved to be associated with geochemical landscapes characterized by reducing (gley or hydrogen sulfide) conditions and increased contents of petroleum hydrocarbons and some trace elements (total and movable forms). A hypothesis is put forward that gigantism in herbaceous plants is manifested in zones of active faults, which serve as a kind of conduits supplying endogenous heat, matter, and water to the root systems.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alekseeva, L.M., Flora ostrova Kunashir (The Flora of Kunashir Island), Vladivostok: DVNTs Akad. Nauk SSSR, 1983.
Atlas prirodnykh i tekhnogennykh opasnostei i riskov chrezvychainykh situatsii v Rossiiskoi Federatsii (Atlas of Natural and Technogenic Hazards and Risks of Emergency Situations in the Russian Federation), Moscow: IPTs Dizain, Informatsiya, Kartografiya, 2005, p. 263.
Barkalov, V.Yu., Synopsis of Vegetation, in Rastitel’nyi i zhivotnyi mir Kuril’skikh ostrovov: Mat-ly Mezhdunarodnogo Kuril’skogo proekta (The Flora and Fauna of Kurile Islands: Materials of the International Kurile Project), Vladivostok: Dal’nauka, 2002, pp. 35–66.
Barkalov, V.Yu. and Eremenko, N.A., Flora prirodnogo zapovednika “Kuril’skii” i zakaznika “Malye Kurily”. Sakhalinskaya oblast’ (The Flora of the Kuril’skii and Malye Kurily Nature Reserves, Sakhalin Oblast), Vladivostok: Dal’nauka, 2003.
Belaya, G.A. and Morozov, V.L., Far Eastern Tall Herbs As a Specific Vegetation Type, Bot. Zh., 2000, vol. 85, no. 10, pp. 75–81.
Belaya, G.A. and Stepanova, K.D., Some Elements of Water Regime for Tall Herbs in the Kamchatka Peninsula, in Komarovskie chteniya (Komarov Memorial Lectures), Vladivostok, 1972, issue 20, pp. 26–33.
Biologicheskaya produktivnost’ lugovykh soobshchestv Dal’nego Vostoka (priokeanicheskie raiony) (Biological Productivity of Grassland Communities in Seaside Regions of the Far East), Stepanova, K.D., Belaya, G.A., Kachura N.N., et al., Eds., Moscow: Nauka, 1981, p. 228.
Chernyaeva, A.M., Dikorastushchie silosnye rasteniya Sakhalinskoi oblasti i perspektivy ikh vvedeniya v kul’turu (Wild-Growing Silage Plants of Sakhalin Oblast and Prospects for Their Introduction into Culture), Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk: SakhKNII Akad. Nauk SSSR, 1958.
Chernyaeva, A.M., Egorova, E.M., and Krapivina, A.M., Okonchatel’nyi nauchnyi otchet “Biogeokhimicheskie osobennosti pochv i rastenii v svyazi s intensivnost’yu rostovykh protsessov na Sakhaline i Kuril’skikh ostrovakh” (Final Scientific Report “Biogeochemical Features of Soils and Plants Related to the Intensity of Growth Processes on Sakhalin and the Kurile Islands), section Vidy rastenii intensivnogo rosta, ikh ekologiya i fitotsenoticheskie svyazi (Intensively Growing Plant Species: Ecology and Phytocenotic Connections), Novoaleksandrovsk, 1971, Archives of SakhKNII no. 2035.
Ivlev, A.M., Osobennosti genezisa i biogeokhimii pochv Sakhalina (Genetic and Geobiochemical Features of Soils in Sakhalin), Moscow: Nauka, 1977.
Komarov, V.L., Botanicheskii ocherk Kamchatki (A Botanical Essay of Kamchatka), Leningrad: Akad. Nauk SSSR, 1940.
Krestov, P.V., Barkalov, V.Yu., and Taran, A.A., Botanical—Geographic Zoning of Sakhalin Island, in Rastitel’nyi i zhivotnyi mir Kuril’skikh ostrovov: Mat-ly Mezhdunarodnogo Kuril’skogo proekta (The Flora and Fauna of Kurile Islands: Materials of the International Kurile Project), Vladivostok: Dal’nauka, 2004, part 1, pp. 67–92.
Perel’man, A.I. and Kasimov, N.S., Geokhimiya landshafta (Landscape Geochemistry), Moscow: Astreya-2000, 1999.
Popov, N.G., Rastitel’nyi mir Sakhalina (The Flora of Sakhalin), Moscow: Nauka, 1969.
Rabotnov, T.A., Fitotsenologiya (Phytocenology), Moscow: Mosk. Gos. Univ., 1978.
Stepanova, K.D., Luga ostrova Sakhalina i voprosy ikh uluchsheniya (Meadows of Sakhalin Island and Problems in Their Improvement), Moscow: Akad. Nauk SSSR, 1961.
Sukachev, V.N. and Zonn, S.V., Metodicheskie ukazaniya k izucheniyu tipov lesa (Methodological Guidelines for Studies on Forest Types), Moscow: Akad. Nauk SSSR, 1961.
Ten Khak Mun, Fedorova, L.V., Denisov, S.S., Kaplinskaya, N.A., and Zbrueva, A.I., Okonchatel’nyi nauchnyi otchet “Biogeokhimicheskie osobennosti pochv i rastenii v svyazi s intensivnost’yu rostovykh protsessov na Sakhaline i Kuril’skikh ostrovakh” (Final Scientific Report “Biogeochemical Features of Soils and Plants Related to the Intensity of Growth Processes on Sakhalin and the Kurile Islands”), section Fiziko-khimicheskaya i mikrobiologicheskaya kharakteristika pochv v mestakh obitaniya krupnotrav’ya (Physicochemical and Microbiological Characteristics of Soils in Habitats of Tall Herbs), Novoaleksandrovsk, 1971.
Tolmachev, A.I., Geobotanicheskoe raionirovanie ostrova Sakhalin (Geobotanical Zoning of Sakhalin Island), Moscow: Akad. Nauk SSSR, 1955.
Tolmachev, A.I., Vvedenie v geografiyu rastenii (Introduction into Plant Geography), Leningrad: Leningr. Gos. Univ., 1974.
Veselov, O.V. and Soinov, V.V., Heat Flux of Sakhalin and Southern Kurile Islands, in Geodinamika tektonosfery zony sochleneniya Tikhogo okeana s Evraziei (Tectonosphere Dynamics in the Pacific-Eurasia Junction Zone), Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, 1997, pp. 154–172.
Yuzhnye Kuril’skie ostrova (prirodno-ekonomicheskii ocherk) (Southern Kurile Islands: A Synopsis of Nature and Economy), Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, 1992, p. 155.
Zimina, T.A. and Berdeshev, G.D., Some Features of Plant Growth and Development in Sakhalin and Problems of Aging and Rejuvenation, in Rasteniya i faktory vneshnei sredy (Plants and Environmental Factors), Tr. SakhKNII Akad. Nauk SSSR, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, 1968, issue 19, pp. 3–15.
Zimina, T.A., Nasonova, S.V., Ten Khak Mun, and Fedorova, L.V., On the Growth and Ecology of Some Sakhalin Tall Herbs, in Rasteniya i faktory vneshnei sredy (Plants and Environmental Factors), Tr. SakhKNII Akad. Nauk SSSR, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, 1966, issue 17, pp. 3–15.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Original Russian Text © T.M. Poberezhnaya, A.V. Kopanina, 2009, published in Ekologiya, 2009, No. 4, pp. 258–263.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Poberezhnaya, T.M., Kopanina, A.V. On causes of gigantism in herbaceous plants. Russ J Ecol 40, 241–246 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1067413609040031
Received:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1067413609040031