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Usnea lichen community biomass estimation on volcanic mesas, James Ross Island, Antarctica

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Abstract

Ground macrolichens dominated by several species of fruticose Usnea spp. with foliose Leptogium puberulum constitute an important component of the terrestrial ecosystem of James Ross Island. Long-term monitoring of lichen communities in respect to their reaction to ongoing climatic changes in this part of Antarctica became a research task for scientists in recent years. The non-destructive estimation of lichen biomass provides data necessary for the management and protection of Antarctica. We have developed and tested the methodology of non-destructive estimation of biomass of fruticose Usnea species, which predominate in the ice-free tertiary basalt outcrop areas on James Ross Island. In 38 experimental squares (non-destructive measurements), the density and height of lichen thalli were measured and digital photography with ground cover evaluation was performed. Lichen biomass was harvested from 14 experimental squares and analysed for dry mass, chlorophyll a, b content, and thalli surface area (TSA). Predictive linear models were constructed from available non-destructively measured variables with the aim to maximize predictive accuracy for the destructively measured attributes. A total of 82.3 % of variability in the TSA values was explained (87.5 % for biomass determination). Cross-validated prediction error for lichen TSA estimation was 423 cm2 (11.5 % of the average TSA). In the case of lichen dry mass determination, cross-validated prediction error was 4.53 g m−2 (7.3 % of the average dry mass). This study proves that macrolichens in maritime Antarctica can be monitored non-destructively by simple field methods combining digital photography and measurements of lichen thalli in botanical squares.

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Acknowledgments

This work was funded by the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic (Grant No. 206/05/0253) and the Grant Agency of the Ministry of Education of the Czech Republic (Kontakt ME 945, ME 934, LM—2010009 CzechPolar). Petr Šmilauer work was supported by a Ministry of Education grant (MSM-6007665801). The authors thank Professor Dr P. Prošek, Director of the Czech Antarctic Research Programme, Department of Geography, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University (Brno) and Professor Dr J. Komárek, Botany Project Leader, Department of Botany, Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, České Budějovice as well as all members of the first and second Czech research expeditions to the J. G. Mendel Station for their support and friendship during our field work. We also appreciate help given by Professor Dr T. V. Callaghan, Abisko Scientific Research Station, who stimulated this research and gave us many pieces of advice and Dr. K. Edwards for language corrections.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Kotlářská 2, 61137, Brno, Czech Republic

    Olga Bohuslavová

  2. Institute of Botany, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Dukelská 135, 37982, Třeboň, Czech Republic

    Josef Elster

  3. Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Branišovská 31, 37005, České Budějovice, Czech Republic

    Petr Šmilauer & Josef Elster

Authors
  1. Olga Bohuslavová
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  2. Petr Šmilauer
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  3. Josef Elster
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Correspondence to Olga Bohuslavová.

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Bohuslavová, O., Šmilauer, P. & Elster, J. Usnea lichen community biomass estimation on volcanic mesas, James Ross Island, Antarctica. Polar Biol 35, 1563–1572 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-012-1197-0

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