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Antarctic moss carpets facilitate growth of Deschampsia antarctica but not its survival

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Abstract

The vegetation of the Antarctic tundra is dominated by mosses and lichens. Deschampsia antarctica, the Antarctic hairgrass, is one of two vascular plant species which grow along the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula. However, little is known about its recruitment and interaction with non-vascular tundra plants. Although several authors propose that tolerance and/or competition should be the main forms of interaction between moss carpets and D. antarctica, no relevant studies exist so far. We investigated whether positive interactions are predominant at the Shetland Islands and the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula and focussed on the role that moss carpets play in the recruitment of D. antarctica. Across the studied zone, D. antarctica showed a significant association with moss carpets, with higher frequencies as well as more and larger individuals than on bare ground. At one site, we conducted moss removal and seedlings transplant experiments to assess the relevance of the moss carpets for different life stages of hairgrass. All experimental individuals survived until the following summer whether the moss carpet was removed or not, but growth rate was significantly lower in tussocks with moss carpets removed. Likewise, tiller size was higher in plants growing in moss carpets than on bare ground. The detected positive interactions with mosses seem to be important for the expansion of D. antarctica, raising the question about their importance under future climate change scenarios.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank INACH and staff of Julio Escudero Scientific Station for the logistic facilities offered during the ECA (45–46th Antarctic Scientific Expedition) of 2009 and 2010 and Dr. Ricardo Jaña for the map design. Many thanks also to the staff of the Chilean station Gabriel González Videla, especially the crew of 2009/2010 for supporting the exploration of Paradise Harbour sites, to bryologist Dr. Juan Larraín Benoit of the Herbarium of the University of Concepción for determining the mosses species, and the Master student Gustavo Torres-Mellado, University of Concepción, for his assistance in fieldwork. We also thank Dr. Götz Palfner, University of Concepción, for his critical suggestions. We would especially like to thank the effort of the three referees who helped us to substantially improve the manuscript before publication. This study was funded by project INACH T0307, F ICM P05-002 and PFB-023.

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  1. Centro de Biotecnología, Universidad de Concepción, Concepción, Chile

    M. Angélica Casanova-Katny

  2. Departamento de Botánica, Universidad de Concepción, Concepción, Chile

    Lohengrin A. Cavieres

  3. Instituto de Ecología y Biodiversidad (IEB), Santiago, Chile

    Lohengrin A. Cavieres

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  1. M. Angélica Casanova-Katny
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Correspondence to M. Angélica Casanova-Katny.

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Angélica Casanova-Katny, M., Cavieres, L.A. Antarctic moss carpets facilitate growth of Deschampsia antarctica but not its survival. Polar Biol 35, 1869–1878 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-012-1229-9

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