Previously, it was believed that Antarctica was the most inhospitable continent on the planet and that, therefore, life could not arise under the harshness of its climatic condition. However, little by little it has been discovered that life is capable of defying any difficulty and living organisms were found on the frozen continent. But a new study suggests that Antarctica is filling with flowers and plants, not good news.
Two species of plants that are capable of growing under harsh cold conditions have been detected. It had previously been discovered that Colobanthus and Deschampsia grow naturally on the continent; both species flourish in sub-zero temperatures and are capable of successfully carrying out photosynthesis. But new research suggests that its growth and spread has been undergoing alterations in the last 10 years due to high temperatures.
Flowers in Antarctica
Nicoletta Cannone, who is a professor of Ecology at the University of Insubria, is the main author of this research, which focused on Signy Island, which is part of the Orknay archipelago in southern Antarctica. There Cannone and her team found that the population of the two plant species has been spreading more rapidly across the frozen continent.
To achieve reliable results, they took as a reference the extension of the plants since the 1960s. They subsequently compared the historical record with the data collected during the period of time from 2009 to 2018. Thanks to this, they found that Coloanthus has grown at a rate three times faster than it did in the past. Deschampsia, for its part, has not accelerated its growth, but rather has spread to larger places on the Antarctic continent.
“Our view is that the surprising expansion of these plants is mainly due to the warming of the summer air,” explains Nicoletta. Furthermore, she adds the hypothesis that the climatic event of strong air cooling that occurred in 2012 did not seem to influence the dynamics of the plant community on this island.
The first evidence of accelerated ecosystem response
This would be the first evidence of an accelerated response in Antarctica, which is directly associated with global warming. “Our findings support the hypothesis that future warming will trigger significant changes in these fragile Antarctic ecosystems,” warns Canonne.
The author also explains that plants are the best indicator of the ecosystem response to disasters. Well, unlike animals that are capable of moving to other natural regions and thus adapt to new ecosystems; Plants do not share this capacity and for this reason, they are the most genuine trace of what is happening in different regions of the planet.
The observations of Cannone and his team are consistent with what is also happening in the northern hemisphere, where greenish territories are beginning to emerge instead of snow-covered surfaces in the . It is flourishing at its poles and it is not necessarily good news, but it tells us about the great responsibility of humans who have been modifying the planet’s climate.
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