Biodiversity of freshwater autotrophs in selected wet places in northern coastal ecosystems of James Ross Island

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James Ross Island is a large (2500 km²) island situated in the northwestern part of the Weddell Sea, close to the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula. The island is rich in vegetation oases, i.e. areas covered by autotrophic organisms comprising a great variety of terrestrial algae, cyanobacteria, lichens and mosses. In this study, a GPS method was used to measure moss-dominated vegetation areas located at northern part of James Ross Island. Several small-scale (above 400 m 2) areas were selected for the measurements of their shape, total area, boarder line, mean slope, and exposition as well as biodiversity of mosses. The areas of interest were located particularly in neighbourhood of the Big and Small Lachman lakes and northern slopes of Berry Hill mesa. Typically, the mossdominated areas were supplied with melt water from neighbouring snow fields formed in previous austral winter season. Specimens of mosses were collected from each site so that dominating species forming community structure could be evaluated. Individual areas differed in species richness, however, Bryum pseudotriquetrum and Hypnum revolutum dominated most of them. Sanionia uncinata was found at the only one of the investigated areas and might be considered as rare species for James Ross Island. In the paper, shape location and area of moss-dominated spots at James Ross Island is reported and discussed in relation to morphological characteristics of particular sites as well as water availability during austral summer season. Potential of the data for geographical information systems (GIS), further application of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) in vegetation mapping, and spectral reflectance parameters measurements of Antarctic moss-dominated areas are discussed. For particular areas, protective measures are suggested to minimize human disturbance of the sites and provide a platform for a longterm study of biodiversity.

Section: Location Of Moss-dominated Areasmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vegetation mapping of moss-dominated areas of northern part of James Ross Island (Antarctica) and a suggestion of protective measures

Barták¹,

Váczi²,

Stachoň³

et al. 2015

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“…Based on the relative abundance data, the principal taxon was Luticola muticopsis, a cosmopolitan species, frequently reported from Antarctica and typically found in terrestrial habitats influenced by sea birds and sea sprays (Zidarova et al 2016). The dominant taxa are typical terrestrial species reported to be frequent also in microbial mat samples on JRI (Skácelová et al 2015) and soils, where Chattová et al (2016) found 86 diatom taxa. Such relatively high number of typical terrestrial species of diatoms found in the lichen samples is not surprising, considering the fact that the lichen microhabitat can be characterized by extreme environmental conditions, mainly by unstable moisture regime.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Diatoms (Bacillariophyta) associated with lichens from Ulu Peninsula (James Ross Island, NE Antarctic Peninsula)

Chattová¹

2018

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Since 2000, the entire Antarctic diatom flora is being revised using a more fine-grained taxonomy based on a better analysis and interpretation of the morphological and molecular observations. Despite the increased diatom research and efforts, the diversity and ecology of diatoms of lichen inhabiting flora of James Ross Island weren’t studied yet. To reveal the actual diatom diversity, samples were collected during February and March 2018 from lichens on the Ulu Peninsula, James Ross Island, a 2,450 km2 large island, situated in the north-western part of the Weddell Sea, close to the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula. The analysis of 29 lichen samples revealed the presence of 56 diatom taxa belonging to 17 genera. The most abundant species were Luticola muticopsis, Hantzschia amphioxys f. muelleri, Pinnularia borealisvar.scalaris, Luticola aff. pusilla and Achnanthes muelleri. Biogeographically, the lichen-inhabiting diatom flora of the Ulu Peninsula is composed of cosmopolitan, Antarctic and endemic elements. The present study is the first focusing on the diversity of lichen-inhabiting diatom communities on James Ross Island, revealing the presence of a rather species rich diatom flora.

“…The collection site was a shallow stream passing through the vegetation oasis formed by numerous moss and lichen species (for details see e.g. Barták et al 2015). The site was located close to a seashore at the altitude of 5-8 m a.s.l.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Generally, the northern part of James Ross Island is deglaciated and rich in terrestrial freshwater lakes (Nedbalová et al 2013), small-area ponds (Váczi et Barták 2011) and streams. All these ecosystems are inhabited by algae and cyanobacteria (see Skácelová et al 2015 for preliminary review).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of heavy metals ions on primary photosynthetic processes in Antarctic filamentous alga Zygnema sp. ( Short Communication )

Hernandez¹

2016