Growth rate of Usnea aurantiacoatra (Jacq.) Bory on Fildes Peninsula, Antarctica and its climatic background.

Abstract

The ages of a fruticose lichen of Usnea aurantiacoatra (Jacq.) Bory, from Fildes Peninsula, King George Island, Southwest Antarctic, were determined by radiocarbon (14C), and it is 1993-1996 at bottom and 2006-2007 at top of the lichen branch. The growth rates of U. aurantiacoatra calculated are 4.3 to 5.5 mm year(-1) based on its length and ages. The comparisons show that the growth rates of U. aurantiacoatra are higher than those of U. antarctica (0.4 to 1.1 mm year(-1)). The growth rates of fruticose lichens are always higher, usually >2 mm year(-1), than those of crustose ones, usually <1 mm year(-1), in polar areas. A warming trend on Fildes Peninsula is recorded in the period from 1969 to 2010 obviously: the mean annual temperature rose from -2.75 to -1.9°C and the average temperature of summer months from 0.95 to 1.4°C, as well as the average temperature of winter months from -6.75 to -5.5°C. The alteration of lichen growth rates in polar areas may respond to the climatic and environmental changes, and the lichens may act as bio-monitor of natural condition.