UOW team flies in to look beneath the ice. . .
18 Feb 2008 | Renee Criddle
The University of Wollongong’s Associate Professor Sharon Robinson and her team have just returned from Antarctica where they have been analysing tussocks of velvety moss that they believe may be dying out because of climate change.
Professor Robinson, who is the Director of UOW’s Institute for Conservation Biology in the Faculty of Science, has been researching how little genetic diversity Antarctic mosses have compared to the same species here in Australia, which severely limits their ability to respond to climate change.
But this recent trip wasn’t just hard work and no play for the biologists. Professor Robinson and Honours student, Ellen Ryan-Colton, were also privileged enough to travel on the second ever passenger flight to the new Wilkins Runway - a 4,000 metre long snow capped blue-ice runway in the Upper Petersen Glacier located 70 kilometres from Casey Station.
Professor Robinson has visited the Antarctic a number of times over the past decade to analyse in detail the effect of changing climate and conditions on moss – in particular, the increasing ultraviolet B (UVB) rays pouring through the ozone hole. January is the peak season for Antarctic science, the milder conditions allowing researchers to get to where they need to go on planes and in boats and to work outdoors in temperatures that allow their hands to work properly.
“The mosses are the most advanced plants on continental Antarctica, and we’re interested in how they are responding to climate change,” she said.
Professor Robinson said that the plants that live on the continent have had to adjust from growing under the lowest UVB exposures on Earth to surviving some of the highest in just a few decades. Some of the plants produce screening pigments to shield themselves and this reduces the damage plants receive as a result of the elevated UVB.
“Of particular concern are the endemic species that are only found in Antarctica since these seem to be most affected by the changing climate,” Professor Robinson said. “How these plants are affected by climate change is therefore important for future biodiversity in Antarctica but our studies also provide information on how plants in more temperate regions are affected by UVB.”
Plant responses can be monitored at a range of levels from the molecular to the ecological and since plant growth in Antarctica is very slow, these approaches are important in allowing her and her research students to predict changes to the biodiversity of these regions as a result of climate change. A paper from her group written in collaboration with PhD student Laurence Clark and Professor David Ayre is the ‘Editor’s Choice’ in the next edition of the Journal of Ecology.
For further information: Contact Associate Professor Sharon Robinson on (02) 4221 5753.
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