Scientists say the continuing effects of climate change on the continent are reflected in the rapid expansion of flower plants. The findings show that we may have reached a tipping point.
A new study looked at the two flowering plants native to Antarctica, Deschampsia antarctica and Colobanthus quitensis. The plants were measured on a small island called Signy Island.
Warming summer air and a drop in the fur seal population could be why the plants grew faster each year.
The striking expansion of these plants is thought to be caused by summer air warming and release from the limitation of fur seal disturbance.
The air has been increasing at a rapid rate since a cold snap in 2011.
Between 1960 and 2009, the growth rate was 21 percent. The rate went up to 28 percent a decade. Growth went from 7 percent a decade to 154 percent.
The good news for D. antarctica and C. quitensis is that the warming temperatures will not benefit the area as a whole.
The same sort of plan expansion has been recorded on the mountains of Europe, but this study shows the first evidence of accelerated responses to climate warming in the southern part of the world.
This hypothesis is compatible with observations in the Northern Hemisphere, in particular in Europe, where land use change is related to vegetation change, but the primary driver of these responses was climate warming.
The researchers think that Signy Island is likely to be happening elsewhere, although further studies will be needed to know for sure. Future impacts of the spread need more research.
With so many factors in play, from plant expansion to seasonal rainfall to ice melt, it is a challenge to predict precisely where Antarctica is heading, but it is clear that this is a very delicately balanced environment and one which is under severe threat.
The researchers wrote that their findings support the hypothesis that future warming will cause significant changes.
Current Biology published the research.
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