Description of plant communities on Half Moon Island, Antarctica

• Main Authors: Daniela Schmitz, Jair Putzke, Margéli Pereira de Albuquerque, Adriano Luis Schünemann, Frederico Costa Beber Vieira, Filipe de Carvalho Victoria, Antônio Batista Pereira
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Norwegian Polar Institute 2018-01-01
• Series: Polar Research
• Subjects: Phytosociology; Antarctic plant distribution; bryophytes; lichens; plant community mapping
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17518369.2018.1523663

During February–March of the austral summers of 2013/14 and 2014/2015, fieldwork was performed on Half Moon Island, South Shetland Archipelago, Antarctica, to evaluate the distribution and abundance of mosses and lichens, as well as to describe and map the plant communities there. The quadrat (20 × 20 cm) sampling method was employed in a phytosociological study that aimed to describe these communities. The area was mapped using an Astech Promark II® DGPS, yielding sub-metric precision after post-processing with software. The number of species totalled 38 bryophytes, 59 lichens, only one flowering plant (Deschampsia antarctica Desv.), and two macroscopic terrestrial algae. Five types of plant communities were identified on the island, as follows: (1) fruticose lichen and moss cushion, (2) moss carpet, (3) muscicolous lichen, (4) crustose lichen and (5) moss turf.