Small areas and small plants: Updates on Antarctic bryophytes

ABSTRACT Snow Island is part of the South Shetland Archipelago in Antarctica. Most of its surface is permanently covered by snow, yet it has an important paleobotanical site. There are no protected areas on the island and no recent data regarding its vegetation. This study aimed to collect and identify fresh samples of bryophytes from President Head Peninsula of Snow Island. Samples were collected during the summers of 2015 and 2018. Among the 24 bryophyte species identified in this work, 19 are new occurrences for Snow Island, bringing the total known for the island to 29 species. The most diverse family is Pottiaceae, with four species of two genera, followed by Bryaceae and Polytrichaceae, with three species each. The results show that the diversity of mosses on Snow Island is greater than previously reported. We here demonstrated the region's importance and the 190 % increase in Snow Island species number. This study also updated the Antarctic distribution of some species.

摘要：雪岛隶属于南极洲南设得兰群岛，其地表绝大部分区域常年被积雪覆盖，却坐落着一处重要的古植物学遗址。目前该岛未设置任何保护区，且尚无关于其植被的最新调研数据。本研究旨在采集并鉴定雪岛总统角半岛的新鲜苔藓植物（Bryophytes）样本，采样工作分别于2015年与2018年夏季完成。本次研究共鉴定出24种苔藓植物，其中19种为雪岛的新分布记录，至此该岛已知的苔藓植物物种总数升至29种。物种多样性最为丰富的科为丛藓科（Pottiaceae），涵盖2个属共4个物种；其次为真藓科（Bryaceae）与金发藓科（Polytrichaceae），各科均包含3个物种。研究结果显示，雪岛藓类植物的物种多样性高于此前文献报道的水平。本研究证实了该区域的生态重要性，使雪岛已知苔藓植物物种数量增长190%，同时更新了部分物种在南极地区的分布范围。