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<p>Crustose lichens show a very large (roughly 100 times) growth rate cline across Antarctica from some of the lowest known growth rates in the McMurdo Dry Valleys (78° S) to near fastest in the maritime Livingston Island, 63° S. This gradient, which correlates with changes in temperature and precipitation, provides an ideal opportunity to monitor climate-driven change across Antarctica. Although the cline is based on reasonably large sample sizes at its geographic limits, a central site at Cape Hallett (72° S), is represented only by a single data point. Here we report new lichen growth rates for <i>Buellia frigida</i> and <i>Rusavskia elegans</i> from Cape Hallett based on a lichenometry site established in 1966 and rephotographed in 2004 and 2017, thus providing a total span of 51&#xa0;years. Mean growth rates for <i>B. frigida</i> were almost identical to the previous data point (0.068&#xa0;mm/yr). <i>Rusavskia elegans</i> had slightly higher, albeit non-significant, growth rates (0.090&#xa0;mm/yr). Species also had higher growth rates in the latest measurement period, significantly so for <i>B. frigida</i>. However, this did not correlate with mean annual air temperature (which was significantly lower) and, instead, seemed driven by an increase in water availability. We suggest that Cape Hallett is in a microenvironmental zone where vegetation may be driven by local water relations rather than by broadscale temperature clines. Details are provided for a new lichenometry site which has been established at Luther Peak to further aid in long-term monitoring of lichen growth rates in Antarctica.</p>

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Lichen growth rates over 51 years at Cape Hallett, Northern Victoria Land, support a large (100x) cline across Antarctica

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  • 发表日期：

    2026年4月3日

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  • Catherine Beard,
  • Leopoldo G. Sancho,
  • Mercedes Vivas,
  • Ian D. Hogg,
  • Lars Brabyn,
  • S. Craig Cary,
  • T. G. Allan Green

摘要

Crustose lichens show a very large (roughly 100 times) growth rate cline across Antarctica from some of the lowest known growth rates in the McMurdo Dry Valleys (78° S) to near fastest in the maritime Livingston Island, 63° S. This gradient, which correlates with changes in temperature and precipitation, provides an ideal opportunity to monitor climate-driven change across Antarctica. Although the cline is based on reasonably large sample sizes at its geographic limits, a central site at Cape Hallett (72° S), is represented only by a single data point. Here we report new lichen growth rates for Buellia frigida and Rusavskia elegans from Cape Hallett based on a lichenometry site established in 1966 and rephotographed in 2004 and 2017, thus providing a total span of 51 years. Mean growth rates for B. frigida were almost identical to the previous data point (0.068 mm/yr). Rusavskia elegans had slightly higher, albeit non-significant, growth rates (0.090 mm/yr). Species also had higher growth rates in the latest measurement period, significantly so for B. frigida. However, this did not correlate with mean annual air temperature (which was significantly lower) and, instead, seemed driven by an increase in water availability. We suggest that Cape Hallett is in a microenvironmental zone where vegetation may be driven by local water relations rather than by broadscale temperature clines. Details are provided for a new lichenometry site which has been established at Luther Peak to further aid in long-term monitoring of lichen growth rates in Antarctica.