Figure 1

(a) Position of each of the sites sampled along two altitudinal transects on Marion Island, one on the eastern side of the island (east transect) and one on the western side (west transect), from the coast to 1000 m a.s.l. The research station is located close (<1 km) to the east transect coastal site. (Digital Elevation Model and image courtesy of David Hedding). The four habitat complexes sampled in the study include (b) biotic, (c) mire, (d) fellfield, and (e) polar desert.