Kozeretska, I.

Kozeretska, O.

Parnikoza, I.

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With this in mind, we imitated bird-dispersal of the two plantspecies in the ice-free area near Arctowski station.  MATERIALS AND METHODSDuring the 30th Polish and the 10th Ukrainian expeditions weworked in ice-free areas near the Polish Arctowski Station,King George Island. We transplanted vegetative material ofDeschampsia antarctica to three and Colobanthus quitensis totwo different locations. In every case, three tufts of the plantafter measuring of their size (Tab. 1) and with peaces ofsubstrate on roots were transferred to each location and wereattached to or planted into the soil or debris at the site. Wechose generative visibly undamaged specimens. The length ofthe sprouts was about 4 cm for D. antarctica and 2 cm for C.quitensis. They were pulled-out from soil with roots, as it isdone by kelp gull Larus dominicanus Lichtenstein. Bothspecies were collected in habitats of Antarctic herb tundraformation according to LINDSAY (1971) where the birds Larusdominicanus Lichtenstein and Catharacta antarctica Lesson.regularly gathered plant material to build their nests. In 1989-90 the bird’s population here consisted of 50-60 pairs(MYRCHA 1992). It’s abundance in whole Admiralty Bayregion remained high and unchanged till now (SANDER et al.2006). Catharacta antarctica is another bird that uses thevascular plants for nest building. Also, Macronectes giganteusGmelin. was reported to add grass as nesting material(FURNESS 1996, PEKLO 2007).The tufts were transferred and included in backgroundcenosis: in rock places roots of the tufts were anchored in thesoil in ledges, and in lowland places plants were disposeddirectly in the ground. This approach was attempted to mimicthe distribution of tufts by birds. The chosen sites of inocula-tion are subjected to different environmental conditions (seeFig. 1).Plant survival was been monitored subsequently withinperiods of one to three months after the transfer.RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONThe results of the transplant experiments are shown in Table 2.Both species survived transplantation only within the perigla-cial region outside the herb tundra formation which providessufficient soil moisture under the influence of melt water fromthe glacier (D, C). It may be surprising that the transplantationwithin in tundra formation in case (E) was not successful. Butthis may due to problems with moisture regime for the trans-25Abstract: During the 30th Polish and 10th Ukraine Antarctic expeditions (09November 2005 through 09 February 2006) we attempted three translocationsof vegetative material of Deschampsia antarctica and two of Colobanthusquitensis around the Polish Henric Arctowski Station (King George Island,South Shetland Archipelago) in order to mimic dispersal of plants by birds.The results show that the factor limiting the establishment of these vascularplants in the region is probably the availability of fresh water, because only atplots near the glacier where melt water was present during all of the australsummer the plants were able to get settled. The other sites were apparently toodry, particularly in this respective summer season.Zusammenfassung: Während der 30. Polnischen und der 10. UkrainischenAntarktisexpedition (09. November 2005 bis 09. Februar 2006) wurden dreiVerpflanzungen von Deschampsia antarctica und zwei von Colobanthusquitensis auf dem Gebiet der polnischen Station Henric Arctowski (KingGeorge Island, Südshetland-Inseln) durchgeführt. Die Ergebnisse bestätigen,dass das Vorhandensein von Süßwasser der limitierende Faktor für die zufäl-lige Verbreitung von Gefäßpflanzen in der Region ist. Nur auf der Versuchs-fläche nahe dem Gletscher, an welchem während des gesamten Südsommersgenügend Wasser vorhanden war, überlebten alle Pflanzen.INTRODUCTIONDuring the last 50 years the region of Antarctic Peninsula andadjacent archipelagos, also known as Maritime Antarctic(CONVEY 2003), experienced notable climate warming. There-fore spreading of two native species of vascular plantsDeschampsia antarctica Desv. and Colobanthus quitensis(Kunth.) Bartl over previously unoccupied territories wasobserved (FOWBERT & LEWIS SMITH 1994, LEWIS SMITH 1984,1994, ALBERDI et al. 2002). There are different hypothesesabout the time span of initial invasion of these species to thisregion. It may well have happened either after Pleistoceneglaciations (LEWIS SMITH 2003, MOSYAKIN et al. 2007) or evenbefore the maximal ice sheet formations (PARNIKOZA et al.2007). Being successful, the two vascular plant species mustbe effectively adapted to spread in ice-freed areas isolated bywater-bodies or glaciers. But the way of settlement was rarelystudied till now. Their seeds may have been imported by windor by birds. However, it was recorded that the quantity ofdispersed seeds was rapidly decreased with distance(HOLDINSKY et al. 2003). Whereas winds most probablydisperse larger diaspores within habitats, birds may carry eventufts from one island to another or from nearby SouthAmerica. Although there are a number of suggestions in theliterature that vegetative plant material is dispersed by birds(LEWIS SMITH 2003, GERICHAUSEN et al. 2003), the conditionsnecessary allowing the perdurance of the transported plantisolates was not yet studied in detail.____________1 National Taras Shevchenko University of Kyiv, Volodymirska Str. 64, 01033 Kyiv,Ukraine; <Parnikoza@gmail.com> * Manuscript received 31 July 2008, accepted 28 October 2008Polarforschung 78 (1-2), 25 – 27, 2008 (erschienen 2009)Is a Translocation of Indigenous Plant Material Successful in the Maritime Antarctic?by Ivan Parnikoza1, Oksana Kozeretska1 and Iryna Kozeretska1Umbruch 78  30.03.2009 17:21 Uhr  Seite 25planted tufts. In site (B) the soil on the neighbouring rockslope was obviously too shallow and sun irradiance too strong,so that the tufts were killed. It should be emphasized also thatthe unusually high temperatures and drought of the Australsummer of 2005-06 might have negatively influenced ourexperiment. A moister summer season may well have favouredestablishment of the transplanted tufts in (B) and (E), however,flushes of water in a rainstorm could also be adverse as wasshown in (A). As a consequence, the success of establishmentof larger diaspores of vascular plants depends on the incidenceof various spatial and temporal conditions. Of course, themajor factor is the presence of sufficient moisture as is thecase with many other plant species in other climates. Notably, Larus dominicanus begins to collect material fornests in middle November (PEKLO 2007), which is generallyearlier then our attempts took place. The conditions forsurvival of vascular plants may be more benign at the period ofgulls’ nest-building. Most of our experiments occurred whenCatharacta antarctica was building nests (the end ofNovember to beginning of December) (PEKLO 2007).Principally, smaller or larger vegetative parts of Antarcticvascular plants are able to survive transportation by birds andcan be successfully settled under suitably humid conditions inyet uncolonised locations. This may be particularly the casewith Larus dominicanus, the main carrier of such plant mate-rial, but depends on the weather of a year. Therefore, vegeta-tive dispersal of tufts must be rare and its success is irregular.Removal of plant material may also break isolation of plantpopulations and increase genetic variability of the species.However, because of the paucity of transplantation’sperformed, our results should be considered as preliminary.More substantiated conclusions need further studies.ACKNOWLEDGMENTSWe thank Antonio Batista Pereira for satellite photo, which hekindly granted, M. Shevchenko for help with translation, O.Mustafa and D. Inozemtseva for map preparing. We also thankProf. Dr. L. Kappen, who made so usefull correction of ourmanuscript. Our fieldwork was supported by Department ofAntarctic biology of PAS and especially by Prof. S. Rakusa-Suszczewski.ReferencesAlberdi, M., Bravo, L.A., Gutierrez, A., Gidekel, M. & Corcuera, L.J. (2002):Ecophysiology of Antarctic vascular plants.- Physiol. Plant 115: 479-486.Convey, P. (2003): Maritime Antarctic climate change: signals from terrestrialbiology.- Antarctic Res. Ser. 79: 145-158.26Fig. 1: The area of transplant experiments with Deschampsia antarctica and Colobanthus quitensis near Arctowski station. A – E are the sites where transplanta-tion took place: (1) = location of origin, (2) = location of transplant, (3) = area of distribution of Antarctic herb-gras tundra formation. Abb. 1: Gebiete in der Nähe der Arctowski-Station, in denen die Verpflanzung von Deschampsia antarctica und Colobanthus quitensis durchgeführt wurden. A– E = Orte der Verpflanzungen: (1) = ursprünglicher Standort, (2) = Standort der Aussetzung, (3) = Verbreitung der Antarktischen Kraut-Gras-Tundren-Gesell-schaft. Umbruch 78  30.03.2009 17:21 Uhr  Seite 26Furness, R.W. (1996): Family Stercorariidae (Skuas).- In: Handbook of theBirds of the World. Vol. 3. Hoatzin to Auks, Barcelona, Lynx Edicions:556-571.Gerighausen, U. Bräutigam, K., Mustafa, O. & Peter, H.-U. (2003): Expansionof vascular plants on an Antarctic Islands a consequence of climatechange?- In: A.H.L. Huiskes, W.W.C. Gieskes, J. Rozema et al. (eds),Antarctic Biology in a Global context, Backhuys Publisher, Leiden, 79-83.Fowbert, J.A. & Lewis Smith, R.I. (1994): Rapid population increases in nativevascular plants in the Argentine Islands Antarctic Peninsula.- ArcticAlpine Res. 3: 290-296.Holdin´sky, C., Loro, P.M. & Pisarek, W. (2003): Wind dispersal ofDeschampsia antarctica diaspores at the vicinity of the Arctowski polarstation.- In: The XXIX International Polar Symposium: The functioningof polar ecosystems as viewed against global environmental changes,September 19-21, 2003, Kraków, 57-60.Lewis Smith, R.I. (1984): Terrestrial plant biology of the sub-Antarctic andAntarctic.- In: R.M. Laws (ed), Antarctic Ecology.Vol.1, London,Academic Press, 61-162.Lewis Smith, R.I. (1994): Vascular plants as bioindicators of regional warmingin Antarctica.- Oecologia 88: 322-328.Lewis Smith, R.I. (2003): The enigma of Colobantus quitensis and De-schampsia antarctica.- In: A.H.L. HUISKES, W.W.C. GIESKES, J.ROZEMA et al. (eds), Antarctic Biology in a Global context, BackhuysPubliher, Leiden, 79-83.Lindsay, D.C. (1971): Vegetation of the South Shetland Islands.- Brit. Antarct.Surv. Bull. 25: 58-83.Mosyakin, S.L., Bezusko, L.G. & Mosyakin, A.S. (2007): Origin of nativevascular plants of Antarctica: comments from a historical phytogeographyviewpoint.- Cytol. Genetic 5: 54-63.Myrcha, A. (1992): Ptaki.- In: S. Rakusa-Suszczewski (ed), Zatoka Admira-licji. Ecosystem strefy Przybrzeznej morskiej Antarctyki, Institut ekologiiPAN, 169-194.Parnikoza, I.Yu., Maidanuk, D.N. & Kozeretska, I.A. (2007): Are De-schampsia antarctica Desv. and Colobanthus quitensis (Kunth) Bartl.migratory relicts?- Cytol. Genetic 4: 36-40.Peklo, A.M. (2007): The birds of Argentine Islands and Petermann Island.-Kryvyy Rih, Mineral Publishers, 1-264.Sander, M., Bertoldi Carneiro, A.P., Eugênio Mascarello, N., Rodrigo dosSantos, C., Schneider Costa, E. & Coelho Balbão, T. (2006): Distributionand status of the kelp gull, Larus dominicanus Lichtenstein (1823), atAdmiralty Bay, King George Island, South Shetland, Antarctica.- PolarBiol. 29: 902-904.27Tab. 1: Material and sites characteristics for Deschampia antarctica and Colobanthus quitensis in the Arctowski ice-free-area.Tab. 1: Beschreibung von Standorten und Material für die Verpflanzung von Deschampia antarctica und Colobanthus quitensis im eisfreien Gebiet der Arctowski-Station.Tab. 2: Success of transplantation of Deschampia antarctica and Colobanthusquitensis in the ice-free area near Arctowski station.Tab. 2: Ergebnisse der Verpflanzung von Deschampia antarctica und Colo-banthus quitensis im eisfreien Gebiet von Arctowski.Umbruch 78  30.03.2009 17:21 Uhr  Seite 27

Is a Translocation of Indigenous Plant Material Successful in the Maritime Antarctic?

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