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According to researchers at the University of Wollongong in Australia, Antarctic vegetation is succumbing to the damage caused by climate change.
A 13-year study published in the journal Nature Climate Change provided the first evidence that climate change is negatively affecting the terrestrial ecosystems of East Antarctica.
Western Antarctica and the Antarctic Peninsula are among the fastest warming places in the world. Until this study, it was not thought that East Antarctica had experienced these changes in the same way.
Climate change dries up the old moss
The study conducted by researchers from the University of Wollongong (UOW), the Australian Antarctic Division and the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organization showed that vegetation East Antarctica is turning into a response to the drying climate.
In 2000, researchers began by surveying ancient moss layers near Casey Station, a research outpost in East Antarctica. Foam beds found in some areas usually grow for about six weeks. According to the principal investigator, Professor Sharon Robinson, the team thought, when they started, that any changes would be gradual, so the rapid changes surprised them.
The researchers quickly set up a follow-up in 2003 following a pilot study. "When we came back in 2008, all these green moss beds had turned dark red, indicating that they were severely stressed. It was a dramatic change, "Robinson said. The red color indicates the presence of protective sunscreen pigments and drought that plants produce to protect themselves.
The researchers found evidence of a drying climate when they started looking for the cause of this stress. They found that the changing composition of species could play a role.
When the study began, Schistidium antarctici, a species that can survive for long periods under water, has dominated diapers. Casey's moss beds were often submerged during the short summers of Antarctica. In 2013, two other moss species that develop in drier conditions and are less tolerant of submergence have infiltrated these areas.
Review of the Antarctic Climate History
The co-author of the research, Dr. Melinda Waterman, said that the team had also found evidence of drying the foam shoots themselves. The shoots keep track of the past climate, just like the tree rings.
Waterman said, "When we trace the stones of foam shoots, we get these signatures that tell us how wet or dry it was during their growth. Some of the mosses are several hundred years old, which gives us a very good climatic record for this part of the Antarctic.
"We used the pulse of the radiocarbon bomb – the peak of radioactivity in the atmosphere caused by the nuclear weapons tests that culminated around 1965 – to accurately date the foam cores and we found that many mosses grow in drier conditions than in the 1960s.
"Of the 18 mosses we sampled, most showed signs of drying out and 40 pc showed significant signs of drying. Only three did not show drying.
Information from the East Antarctic Meteorological Bureau showed that it had become colder and windier over the same period. Robinson says that cooler temperatures in summer mean that there is less melting water. Since it never rains in the area, plants like mosses need this water to survive.
A global problem
According to the researchers, the ozone hole and climate change have brought west winds closer to the Antarctic. This increased the speed of the wind and made the climate drier and less temperate.
Robinson added, "We believe that Antarctica is a pristine wilderness, but climate change and depletion of the ozone layer are having a huge impact on this region. What we do in the rest of the world affects plants and animals in Antarctica.
She added that changing winds is affecting global weather conditions, not just the Antarctic. According to Robinson, some areas become wetter while others dry out. The winds affect reforestation in countries such as New Zealand and Chile. Researchers continue to monitor the impact of climate change on Antarctica.
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