The Antarctic Peninsula is turning green faster

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2024-10-04 19:00

International

Moss at Esperanza Station, Graham Land, Antarctic Peninsula. Credit: Carloszelayeta, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Thirty five years of satellite imagery show plant cover is increasing on the northernmost part of Antarctica. Researchers found that areas of vegetation on the Antarctic Peninsula have increased from less than 0.9 square kilometres to almost 12 square kilometres, in a roughly 14-fold increase, from 1986 to 2021. The rate of greening was higher in 2016-2021, which could be linked to lower sea ice cover causing warmer, wetter conditions. The authors say their observations could be explained by the spread of existing moss-dominated vegetation but that mosses help convert rocky surfaces into soil, which could make it easier for other plants, including invasive species, to spread in future.

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Journal/
conference: Nature Geoscience

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: University of Exeter, University of Hertfordshire, British Antarctic Survey

Funder: The stimulus for this work arose from a grant under the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) Antarctic Funding Initiative (NE/H014896/1). T.P.R. is thankful for the award of an Antarctic Science International Bursary (ASIB), which supported the development of this work. T.P.R. and D.J.C. are supported by Australian Research Council Grant SRIEAS SR200100005, Securing Antarctica’s Environmental Future.

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