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Researchers of the Antarctic Plant Ecophysiology Network are already working in Antarctica

They will study the impact of warming on the vascular plants of the white continent.

The research team of the projects led by the Antarctic Plant Ecophysiology Network is already working at the Polish Base Henryk Arctowski, in Admiralty Bay, with the aim of studying the plants Colobanthus quitensis and Deschampsia antarctica.

Thus, the group, made up of five scientists, are going to study the effect of in situ warming, using chambers that simulate the greenhouse effect (Open Top Chambers -OTC-) on several physiological aspects of the mentioned species.

It should be noted that the literature discusses the impact of warming on the sexual reproduction of these species (more flower production, more and better seeds, greater distribution of resources to reproductive organs). However, the experimental evidence supporting these claims is very limited and, moreover, the systems regulating flowering in them are unknown.

“We are trying to look for concrete evidence at the physiological and molecular level,” said Dr. León A. Bravo, researcher in charge of the Fondel project. Bravo, researcher in charge of the Fondecyt regular project 1201824 “Molecular and physiological framework to understand the impact of Antarctic regional warming on reproductive growth of vascular plant species Deschampsia antarctica and Colobanthus quitensis“.

In addition, activities of the ANID 2021 Science and Technology research “ANILLO” project (ACT210038) “Assessing plant species vulnerability to climate change along the Chilean Andes and Antarctica” are being carried out. The objective is to “establish how different Antarctic populations are with respect to other populations of the same species, as well as to know the ecophysiological strategies that indicate how Antarctic species function in conditions that are naturally warmer,” says Dr. Lohengrin Cavieres, principal investigator of the project.

Finally, “plants will be collected to study functional and anatomical traits associated with hydraulics and photosynthesis and we will try to elucidate how these two functions are coordinated under the warming scenario”, explained Dr. Patricia Sáez. PI of the regular Fondecyt 1211231 “Assessing the uniqueness of the Antarctic vascular plants: a comparison among populations, other harsh climate species and closely related temperate species”.