Advances in Remote Sensing Technology and the Three Poles

10 Bryophytes of Larsemann Hills, East Antarctica and Future Prospects

Devendra Singh^*

Botanical Survey of India, AJC Bose Indian Botanic Garden, Howrah 711103, West Bengal, India ^* Corresponding authors

10.1 Introduction

The Antarctica is the harshest region in the world and only about 2% ice free regions of the continent are able to sustain any type of terrestrial plant life. The Antarctic flora comprises only Bacteria, Algae, Fungi, Lichens, and Bryophytes. Bryophytes dominate in sheltered and moister habitats in Antarctic regions. These plants have responded to the adverse conditions with different strategies of survival which become extreme and sophisticated with increasing altitude and proximity to the pole. The Antarctic environmental conditions, such as temperature and moisture availability, favor the growth of bryophytes.

Bryophytes, because of their relative lack of cuticle, absorb water and nutrients through the surface of their plant body. In some mosses, where the conducting tissue is fairly evolved, and liverworts where rhizoids are abundantly present, they normally depend on surface absorption of water and nutrients. Therefore, they are growing near water bodies and thus the various smaller and larger water bodies of the Larsemann Hills support the growth of bryophytes. Bryophytes are poikilo-hydric in nature and having an alternative strategy of adaptation, they are able to grow in Antarctica. To properly understand the ecosystem functionality of the harsh ...