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Antipodes Subantarctic Islands tundra


The Antipodes Subantarctic Islands tundra ecoregion, within the Tundra Biome, includes five remote island groups in the Southern Ocean south of New Zealand: the Bounty Islands, Auckland Islands, Antipodes Islands and Campbell Island groups of New Zealand, and Macquarie Island of Australia.

The islands comprising this ecoregion share a long history of isolation, both from other landmasses and each other. The isolation, combined with harsh climates characterised by low temperatures, strong westerly winds and few hours of sunlight in winter, have resulted in the evolution of many endemic plants and animals, though species richness is relatively low. Wind speeds reach an average of 40 km/h (25 mph) while even in summer the thick cloud cover prevents much sunlight from penetrating.

The Bounty Islands are small granite rocks (with a maximum height of 88 m or 289 ft), while the small Antipodes Islands group (maximum height 366m), the largest group the Auckland Islands (705 m or 2,313 ft) and Campbell Island (569 m or 1,867 ft) are volcanic in origin. Macquarie Island (433 m or 1,421 ft) is the furthest south and the coldest. Where present, soils are mainly boggy peats, up to 8 m (26.2 ft) deep in flat areas. None of the islands are inhabited although there are ongoing research projects including a permanent base of the Australian Antarctic Division on Macquarie Island.


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