A network for long-term monitoring of vegetation in the area of Fildes Peninsula, King George Island

Climate warming has become evident in the maritime Antarctic over the past decades, and has already influenced the growing season and the population size of two native vascular plants in Antarctica, Deschampsia antarctica and Colobanthus quitensis. Both vascular plant species are therefore regarded as good bioindicators of regional warming in west Antarctica. To carry out long-term monitoring of vegetation (mainly using D. antarctica) and build a comprehensive research platform for multi-disciplinary study (including botany, microbiology, ecology, and environmental science) for Chinese scientists, 13 permanent plots were established in January and February of 2013–2015 in the area of Fildes Peninsula (King George Island). Here we present the benchmark data of the first observations from these plots, including site characteristics, and the population and associates of D. antarctica in each plot. The basic data are important to understand the vegetation change, distribution range, and expansion of D. antarctica in Antarctica under future climate change scenarios