Changes in the moss (Bryophyta) flora in the vicinity of the Spanish Juan Carlos I Station (Livingston island, Antarctic
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ORIGINAL PAPER
Changes in the moss (Bryophyta) flora in the vicinity of the Spanish Juan Carlos I Station (Livingston island, Antarctica) over three decades Paulo E. A. S. Câmara1 · Daiane V. Valente1 · Leopoldo G. Sancho2 Received: 28 November 2019 / Revised: 19 August 2020 / Accepted: 27 August 2020 © Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract There are very few long-term studies on Antarctic vegetation available, and very little is known of plant community changes over time in the Antarctic Peninsula area, an area itself subject to considerable change in recent decades. The vegetation of the South Bay area near the Spanish Station Juan Carlos I on Livingston island (South Shetland Islands) was extensively surveyed in the 1980s, and this study reports comparison of that survey with a new extensive survey carried out in the 2018/19 austral summer. A total of 38 species was found in the survey, an overall decrease in diversity, with eight previously recorded species not relocated including all representatives of the families Encalyptaceae (two species) and Hypnaceae (two species). One previously unrecorded species was found. Descriptions and discussion of each taxon recorded are provided, along with consideration of the possible causes of the changes observed. Keywords Antarctic flora · Climate change · Floristic change · Long-term floristic survey
Introduction Apart from 2 native and one invasive flowering plant, terrestrial vegetation in Antarctica is composed mostly by mosses (Bryophyta) and lichens. According to Ochyra et al. (2008), Ellis et al. (2013a, b), Sollman (2015) and Câmara et al. (2019), about 116 species of moss occur in Antarctica, out of about 15,000 species worldwide (Goffinet et al. 2009). Mosses are the second largest group of land plants after angiosperms in terms of number of species (Goffinet et al. 2009). They are present in most environments other than truly marine, but some species are common in the littoral splash zone. In Antarctica they play an important role as the major vegetation component of terrestrial ecosystems, also providing habitat for many invertebrates such as nematodes, tardigrades, mites and springtails. Environmental conditions in Antarctica are generally extreme with temperatures well below freezing during the winter, as well as extreme seasonality in light levels, * Paulo E. A. S. Câmara [email protected] 1
Depto de Botânica, University of Brasilia, Federal District, Brazil
Dpto. Biología Vegetal IT, Fac. Farmacia, Universidad Complutense, 28040 Madrid, Spain
2
frequent desiccation and exposure to abrasion through strong winds. In maritime Antarctica, especially in the South Shetland Islands, conditions are less severe than those of the mainland, and this is where the most extensive and diverse moss vegetation develops. The Antarctic Peninsula and South Shetland Islands experienced the most rapid trends in air temperature warming in Antarctica in the second half of the Twentieth Century (Turner et al. 2009). Since the turn of th
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