GCMD

Summary

Abstract: This record relates to the Australian component of the Latitudinal Gradient Project. The LGP is largely a New Zealand, US and Italian venture, but a small contribution has been made by Australian scientists.

The Australian component of this work was completed as part of ASAC projects 2361 and 2682 (ASAC_2361, and ASAC_2682).

Data from this project were entered into the herbarium access database, which has been linked to this record.

The list below contains details of where and when samples were collected, and also the type of sample and the method of sampling.

Cape Hallett and vicinity (2000, 2004): Biodiversity assessment of terrestrial plants (mosses, lichens); Invertebrate collections (mites, Collembola); plant ecology and community analysis; photosynthetic physiology of mosses and lichens; molecular genetics of mosses and lichens. Random sampling for biodiversity studies; point quadrats, releves for vegetation analysis, field laboratory experiments for physiological studies.

Dry Valleys: Taylor Valley (1989, 1996), Garwood Valley (2001), Granite Harbour (1989; 1994, 1996) - plant ecology; plant physiology; biodiversity; invertebrate collections; molecular genetics of mosses. Random sampling for biodiversity studies; point quadrats, releves for vegetation analysis, field laboratory experiments for physiological studies.

Beaufort Island (1996) - plant biodiversity; molecular genetics of mosses. Random sampling for biodiversity studies; point quadrats, releves for vegetation analysis, laboratory studies for molecular genetics.

Darwin Glacier (1994): plant biodiversity; molecular genetics of invertebrates and mosses (random sampling for biodiversity; laboratory studies of invertebrate and moss molecular genetics).

Project objectives:
1. Investigate the distribution of bryophytes and lichens in continental Antarctica
1a). to test the null hypothesis that species diversity does not change significantly with latitude;
1b). to explore the relationships between species and key environmental attributes including latitude, distance from the coast, temperature, substrate, snow cover, age of ice-free substrate.

2. To continue to participate in the Ross Sea Sector Latitudinal Gradient Project and develop an Australian corollary in the Prince Charles Mountains, involving international collaborators, incorporating the first two objectives of this project.

3. To develop an international collaborative biodiversity and ecophysiological program in the Prince Charles Mountains that will provide a parallel N-S latitude gradient study to mirror the LGP program in the Ross Sea region as part of the present RISCC cooperative program (to be superseded by the EBA (Evolution and Biodiversity of Antarctica) program) to address the above objectives.

Taken from the 2008-2009 Progress Report:
Progress against objectives:
Continuing identification of moss and lichen samples previously collected from Cape Hallett, Granite Harbour and Darwin Glacier region. Lecidea s.l. lichens currently being studied in Austria by PhD student. Field work in Dry Valleys significantly curtailed by adverse weather.
Field work planned for Darwin Glacier region and McMurdo Dry Valleys, particularly Taylor Valley and Granite Harbour region was severely curtailed due to adverse weather, helicopter diversions due to a Medical Evacuation, and other logistic constraints. 10 days of field time were lost. Limitations on field travel in Darwin Glacier region restricted the field work to a biologically depauperate region.
The Prince Charles Mountains N-S transect, the only continental transect possibility for comparison with the Ross Sea area, unfortunately appears to have been abandoned through lack of logistic support.

Taken from the 2009-2010 Progress Report:
Identification of samples collected from AAT and Ross Sea Region continued during the year, interrupted significantly by the packing of the collection and transfer of specimens to the Tasmanian Herbarium. Work is now proceeding at the Herbarium with sorting, databasing and incorporation of packets into the Herbarium collection. The merging of the collection provides long-term security of curation and significantly boosts the cryptogam collections (35000 numbers) of the Tasmanian Herbarium.

Related URL

Link: GET DATA
Description: Download the herbarium database

Link: VIEW PROJECT HOME PAGE
Description: Latitudinal Gradient Project home page

Link: VIEW PROJECT HOME PAGE
Description: Public information for ASAC project 2361

Link: VIEW PROJECT HOME PAGE
Description: Public information for ASAC project 2682

Link: VIEW RELATED INFORMATION
Description: Citation reference for this metadata record and dataset

Quality

The values provided in temporal and spatial coverage are approximate only.

Taken from the 2008-2009 Progress Report:
Variations to work plan or objectives:
Logistic constraints limited field time, necessitating major changes in the field.
Transfer of the herbarium ADT to HO required considerable time input.

Field work:
4 weeks of field work were planned for the McMurdo Dry Valleys region. Two weeks were lost due to adverse weather (heavy snow falls) and helicopter schedule rearrangements due to a medical evacuation from the field. Ground based studies were carried out at Granite Harbour (with abandonment of work proposed for inland mountains) and in the Darwin Glacier region (where adverse weather and a biotically poor area limited field time to 3 days. Collections of plants made are currently being identified and will provide comparative biodiversity indices for other multi-disciplinary whole ecosystem studies currently being undertaken in the southern Dry Valleys region. Amolecular phylogenetic and taxonomic revision of Lecidea s.l., lichens is being undertaken by an Austrian PhD student and should be completed late 2009.

Laboratory activity/analysis:
Morphological examination of specimens from AAT and Ross Sea Sector is ongoing. As material is fully identified the data is prepared as herbarium packets and incorporated into the Herbarium (ADT - being transferred to the Tasmanian Herbarium HO) and to the AAD Data Centre.

Access Constraints

Main LGP data are accessible through the Antarctica New Zealand, LGP Web site.

Australian data collected by Rod Seppelt are currently held within the ADT Herbarium. A copy of the database is available for download from the provided URL.

Data Center

Australian Antarctic Data Centre, Australia [Information]
Data Center URL: http://data.aad.gov.au

Data Center Personnel
Name: DATA OFFICER AADC Phone: +61 3 6232 3244 Fax: +61 3 6232 3351 Email: metadata at aad.gov.au Contact Address: Australian Antarctic Division 203 Channel Highway City: Kingston Province or State: Tasmania Postal Code: 7050 Country: Australia

Distribution

Distribution_Media: HTTP
Distribution_Size: 2.6 MB
Distribution_Format: Access
Fees: Free

Personnel

RODNEY SEPPELT
Role: INVESTIGATOR
Role: TECHNICAL CONTACT
Role: DIF AUTHOR
Phone: +61 3 6232 3438
Fax: +61 03 6232 3449
Email: rod.seppelt at aad.gov.au
Contact Address:
Australian Antarctic Division
Channel Highway
City: Kingston
Province or State: Tasmania
Postal Code: 7050
Country: Australia

ALLAN GREEN
Role: INVESTIGATOR
Phone: +64 7 838 4225
Fax: +64 7 838 4022
Email: greentga at waikato.ac.nz
Contact Address:
Biological Sciences
Private Bag
University of Waikato
City: Hamilton
Country: New Zealand

Publications/References

Seppelt, R.D., and Green, T.G.A. (1998), A bryophyte flora for Southern Victoria Land, Antarctica., New Zealand Journal of Botany, 36, 617-635

Schwarz, A.M.J, Green, T.G.A., and Seppelt, R.D. (1992), Terrestrial vegetation at Canada Glacier, Southern Victoria Land, Antarctica., Polar Biology, 12, 397-404

Seppelt, R.D., Green, T.G.A., and Schroeter, B. (1995), Lichens and mosses from the Kar Plateau, Southern Victoria Land, Antarctica., New Zealand Journal of Botany, 33, 203-220

Seppelt, R.D., Green, T.G.A., Schwarz, A.-M.J, and Frost, A. (1992), Extreme southern locations for moss sporophytes in Antarctica., Antarctic Science, 4, 11, 37-39

Seppelt, R.D., Nimis, P.L., and Castello, M. (1998), The genus Sarcogyne (Acarosporaceae) in Antarctica., Lichenologist, 30, 3, 249-258

Green, T.G.A., Seppelt, R.D., and Schwarz, A.-M.J. (1992), Epilithic lichens on the floor of the Taylor Valley, Ross Dependency, Antarctica., Lichenologist, 24, 57-61

Seppelt, R.D., Green, T.G.S., and Skotnicki, M. (1999), Notes on the Flora, Vertebrate Fauna and biological significance of Beaufort Island, Ross Sea, Antarctica., Polarforschung, 66, 1/2, 53-59

Schwarz, A.-M.J., Green, T.G.A., and Seppelt, R.D. (1992), Terrestrial vegetation at Canada Glacier, southern Victoria Land, Antarctica., Polar Biology, 12, 397-404

Seppelt, R.D., Green, T.G.A., and Schroeter, B. (1995), Additions and corrections to the lichen flora of the Kar Plateau, southern Victoria Land, Antarctica., New Zealand Journal of Botany, 34, 329-331

Schroeter, B., Green, T.G.A., Seppelt, R.D., and Kappen, L. (1992), Monitoring photosynthetic activity of crustose lichens using a PAM-2000 fluorescence system., Oecologia, 92, 457-462

Schwarz, A.-M.J., Green, J.D., Green, T.G.A., and Seppelt, R.D. (1993), Invertebrates associated with moss communities at Canada Glacier, southern Victoria Land, Antarctica., Polar Biology, 13, 157-162

Schroeter, B., Green, T.G.A., Kappen, L., and Seppelt, R.D. (1994), Carbon dioxide exchange at subzero temperatures. Field measurements on Umbilicaria aprina in Antarctica., Cryptogamic botany, 4, 233-241

Schroeter, B., Green, T.G.A., Kappen, L., Seppelt, R.D., and Maseyk, K. (1995), The relationship between electron transport rate through PS II and CO2 gas exchange in Antarctic cryptogams., In: Malthis, P. (ed.) Photosynthesis: from light to biosphere. Vol. II., 959-962, Kluwer Academic Publishers, The Netherlands

Schroeter, B., Green, T.G.A., Kappen, L., Seppelt, R.D., and Maseyk, K. (1995), The relationship between electron transport rate through PS II and CO2 gas exchange in Antarctic cryptogams., In: Malthis, P. (ed.) Photosynthesis: from light to biosphere. Vol. V., 893-896, Kluwer Academic Publishers, The Netherlands

Schroeter, B., Kappen, L., Green, T.G.A., and Seppelt, R.D. (1997), Lichens and the Antarctic environment: Effects of temperature and water availability on photosynthesis., In: Lyons, W.B., Howard-Williams, C., and Hawes, I. (eds.) Ecosystem processes in Antarctic ice-free landscapes. Proceedings of an International Workshop on Polar Desert Ecosystems, 103-117, Christchurch, July 1996. Balkema, Holland.

Kappen, L., Schroeter, B., Green, T.G.A., and Seppelt, R.D. (1998), Chlorophyll a fluorescence and CO2 exchange of Umbilicaria aprina under extreme light stress in the cold., Oecologia, 118, 3, 325-331

Kappen, L., Schroeter, B., Green, T.G.A., and Seppelt, R.D. (1998), Microclimate conditions, meltwater moistening, and the distribution pattern of Buellia frigida on rock in a southern continental Antarctic habitat., Polar Biology, 19, 101-106

Green, T.G.A., Schroeter, B., Kappen, L., Seppelt, R.D., and Maseyk, K. (1998), An assessment of the relationship between chlorophyll a fluorescence and CO2 gas exchange from field measurements on a moss and a lichen., Planta, 206, 611-618

Broom, F.D., Parkinson, B.N., Green, T.G.A., and Seppelt, R.D. (1999), Small-scale field mapping of lichen distribution in three dimensions with a computer-based position-tracking system., Oecologia, 119, 552-556

Soslashchting, U. and Seppelt, R.D. (2003), Caloplaca coeruleofrigida sp. nova, a lichen from continental Antarctica., Mycotaxon, 86, 163-168

Shaw, J., Devos, N., Cox, C., Boles, S., Shaw, B., Buchanan, A., Cave, L., Seppelt, R.D. (2010), Peatmoss (Sphagnum) diversification associated with Miocene Northern Hemisphere climatic cooling., Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution., 55, 3, 1139-45

Bednarek-Ochyra, H., Seppelt, R.D., and Ochyra, R. (2010), Niphotrichum muticum (Musci, Grimmiaceae). An addition to the moss flora of the Aleutian Islands., Botany, 88, 389-396

Seppelt, R.D., Turk, R., Green, T.G.A., Moser, G., Pannewitz, S., Sancho, L.G., and Schroeter, B. (2010), Lichen and moss communities of Botany Bay, Granite Harbour, Ross Sea, Antarctica., Antarctic Science, 22, 6, 691-702, doi:10.1017/S0954102010000568

Seppelt, R.D., Cave, L., and Carter, B.E. (2011), Introduced mosses in the Flora of Tasmania. I. Scleropodium and Pseudoscleropodium (Bryopsida: Brachytheciaceae)., Kanunnah, 4, 72-81

Seppelt, R.D., and Cave, L. (2011), Introduced mosses in the Flora of Tasmania. II. Kindbergia praelonga (Bryopsida: Brachytheciaceae), Kanunnah, 4, 82-88

Seppelt, R.D., and Ochyra, R. (2010), Dryptodon fuscoluteus (Hook.) Ochyra and Zarnowiec (Grimmiaceae) from the Australasian Antarctic Expedition 1911-14 to continental Antarctica., Tropical Bryology, 31, 134-138

Li, S.-P., Ochyra, R., Wu, P.-C., Seppelt, R.D., Cai, M.-H., Wang, H.-Y., and Li, C.-S. (2009), Drepanocladus longifolius (Amblystegiaceae), an addition to the moss flora of King George Island, South Shetland Islands, with a review of Antarctic benthic mosses., Polar Biology, 32, 1415-1425

Lichvar, R.W., Laursen, G.A., Seppelt, R.D., and Ochs, W.R. (2009), Selecting and testing cryptogam species for use in wetland delineation in Alaska., Arctic, 62, 2, 201-211

Ryan, K.G., Burne, A., and Seppelt, R.D. (2009), Historical ozone concentrations and flavonoid levels in herbarium specimens of the Antarctic moss Bryum argenteum., Global Change Biology, 15, 1694-1702

Seppelt, R.D. (2010), Bryophytes and lichens in a changing climate: An Antarctic perspective., In: Tuba, Z., and Slack, N. (eds.). Bryophyte Ecology and Climate Change., Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

Jagerbrand, A., Callaghan, T.V., and Seppelt, R.D. (2010), Effects of global climate change on alpine and polar bryophytes., In: Tuba, Z., and Slack, N. (eds.). Bryophyte Ecology and Climate Change., Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

Creation and Review Dates

DIF Creation Date: 2005-04-04
Last DIF Revision Date: 2012-07-13