Flora and vegetation of Cape Hallett and vicinity, northern Victoria Land, Antarctica

Cape Hallett (72°19′S; 170°13′E) lies at the northern end of the western coastline of the Ross Sea region, and, to date, there appears to be no full description of its terrestrial flora despite its probable importance in understanding links between biodiversity and latitude. Here we present informat...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Polar biology 2015-11, Vol.38 (11), p.1825-1845
Main Authors: Green, T. G. Allan, Seppelt, Rod D., Brabyn, Lars R., Beard, Catherine, Türk, Roman, Lange, Otto L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aquatic plants
Biodiversity
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Climate change
Climate effects
Coastal zone management
Ecology
Flora
Flowers & plants
Frost heaving
Lichens
Life Sciences
Microbiology
Mosses
Oceanography
Original Paper
Plant Sciences
Vegetation
Zoology
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Summary:Cape Hallett (72°19′S; 170°13′E) lies at the northern end of the western coastline of the Ross Sea region, and, to date, there appears to be no full description of its terrestrial flora despite its probable importance in understanding links between biodiversity and latitude. Here we present information about lichens and mosses from published papers, herbarium collections and personal surveys for Cape Hallett and seven nearby sites. A total of 59 lichen and 11 moss species are reported for these eight sites. Cape Hallett is one of the richest sites for terrestrial biodiversity in the Ross Sea region with about 46 lichen species and nine species of bryophytes. Lichens have their greatest diversity on the upper scree and summit area (30 species, 330 m), the least within the large penguin colony at sea level (one species). The station at Cape Hallett was established in 1957, and some of the earliest ecological and ecophysiological studies in Antarctica were carried out there. Historical comparisons are possible and have revealed considerable changes in vegetation in the lower flush area, a high level of frost heave disturbance, new lichen growth rate estimates for northern Victoria Land and extreme stability of the snow banks on the scree slopes. Cape Hallett represents a very important site for studies on links between terrestrial flora and the environment as well as on possible effects of climate change.
ISSN:0722-4060
1432-2056
DOI:10.1007/s00300-015-1744-6