The Territory of Heard Island and McDonald Islands is an Australian external territory comprising a volcanic group of mostly barren Antarctic islands, about two-thirds of the way from Madagascar to Antarctica. The group's overall land area is 372 km2 (144 sq mi) and it has 101.9 km (63 mi) of coastline. Discovered in the mid-19th century, the islands lie on the Kerguelen Plateau in the Indian Ocean and have been an Australian territory since 1947.
The Auckland Islands are an archipelago of New Zealand, lying 465 km (289 mi) south of the South Island. The main Auckland Island, occupying 460 km2 (180 sq mi), is surrounded by smaller Adams Island, Enderby Island, Disappointment Island, Ewing Island, Rose Island, Dundas Island, and Green Island, with a combined area of 570 km2 (220 sq mi). The islands have no permanent human inhabitants.
The Antarctic realm is one of eight terrestrial biogeographic realms. The ecosystem includes Antarctica and several island groups in the southern Atlantic and Indian oceans. The continent of Antarctica is so cold that it has supported only 2 vascular plants for millions of years, and its flora presently consists of around 250 lichens, 100 mosses, 25–30 liverworts, and around 700 terrestrial and aquatic algal species, which live on the areas of exposed rock and soil around the shore of the continent. Antarctica's two flowering plant species, the Antarctic hair grass and Antarctic pearlwort, are found on the northern and western parts of the Antarctic Peninsula. Antarctica is also home to a diversity of animal life, including penguins, seals, and whales.
The Prince Edward Islands are two small uninhabited volcanic islands in the sub-Antarctic Indian Ocean that are administered by South Africa. They are named Marion Island and Prince Edward Island.
The subantarctic fur seal is a species of arctocephaline found in the southern parts of the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic Oceans. It was first described by Gray in 1872 from a specimen recovered in northern Australia—hence the inappropriate specific name tropicalis.
The black-faced sheathbill, also known as the lesser sheathbill or paddy bird, is one of only two species of sheathbills, aberrant shorebirds which are terrestrial scavengers of subantarctic islands.
The subantarctic zone is a region in the Southern Hemisphere, located immediately north of the Antarctic region. This translates roughly to a latitude of between 46° and 60° south of the Equator. The subantarctic region includes many islands in the southern parts of the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific oceans, especially those situated north of the Antarctic Convergence. Subantarctic glaciers are, by definition, located on islands within the subantarctic region. All glaciers located on the continent of Antarctica are by definition considered to be Antarctic glaciers.
The Southern Indian Ocean Islands tundra is a tundra ecoregion that includes several subantarctic islands in the southern Indian Ocean.
Syzygiella colorata is a species of liverwort in the family Adelanthaceae. It is found in the zone of the Antarctic Convergence. Samples have been found on the Kerguelen islands, Crozet islands, and the Prince Edward islands.
This is a list of the flora of the South Sandwich Islands, a group of islands in the subantarctic Atlantic Ocean, part of the British overseas territory of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. The list contains flora in the strict sense; that is, plants only. It comprises a single species of vascular plant, 38 mosses, and 11 liverworts. Unusually, not a single species is known to have naturalised on the islands; all are presumed native.
Acaena magellanica, commonly called buzzy burr or greater burnet, is a species of flowering plant whose range includes the southern tip of South America and many subantarctic islands.
Agrostis magellanica is a species of grass. It has a circumpolar distribution and is native to many subantarctic islands in, and the coasts bordering, the Southern Ocean.
Austrolycopodium magellanicum, synonym Lycopodium magellanicum, the Magellanic clubmoss, is a species of vascular plant in the club moss family Lycopodiaceae. The genus Austrolycopodium is accepted in the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group classification of 2016, but not in other classifications which submerge the genus in Lycopodium.
The wildlife of Antarctica are extremophiles, having adapted to the dryness, low temperatures, and high exposure common in Antarctica. The extreme weather of the interior contrasts to the relatively mild conditions on the Antarctic Peninsula and the subantarctic islands, which have warmer temperatures and more liquid water. Much of the ocean around the mainland is covered by sea ice. The oceans themselves are a more stable environment for life, both in the water column and on the seabed.
Megaherbs are a group of herbaceous wildflowers growing in the New Zealand subantarctic islands and on the other subantarctic islands. They are characterised by their great size, with huge leaves and very large and often unusually coloured flowers, which have evolved as an adaptation to the harsh weather conditions on the islands. They suffer from overgrazing due to introduced mammals.
Moutere Mahue / Antipodes Island Marine Reserve is a marine reserve covering an area of 217,287 hectares around the Antipodes Islands south of New Zealand's South Island and Stewart Island / Rakiura. It was established in 2014 and is administered by the New Zealand Department of Conservation.
Clasmatocolea is a genus of liverworts belonging to the family Lophocoleaceae.
Clasmatocolea vermicularis is a species of liverwort belonging to the family Lophocoleaceae.
Clasmatocolea fasciculata is a species of liverwort belonging to the family Lophocoleaceae. It is known from South Africa where it grows on woody debris.
