Small areas and small plants: Updates on Antarctic bryophytes

Abstract

ABSTRACT Snow Island is part of the South Shetland Archipelago in Antarctica. Most of its surface is permanently covered by snow, yet it has an important paleobotanical site. There are no protected areas on the island and no recent data regarding its vegetation. This study aimed to collect and identify fresh samples of bryophytes from President Head Peninsula of Snow Island. Samples were collected during the summers of 2015 and 2018. Among the 24 bryophyte species identified in this work, 19 are new occurrences for Snow Island, bringing the total known for the island to 29 species. The most diverse family is Pottiaceae, with four species of two genera, followed by Bryaceae and Polytrichaceae, with three species each. The results show that the diversity of mosses on Snow Island is greater than previously reported. We here demonstrated the region's importance and the 190 % increase in Snow Island species number. This study also updated the Antarctic distribution of some species.

Keywords

• Bryophyta
• flora
• Maritime Antarctica
• new occurrence
• South Shetlands