Vegetation recovery after the removal of a facility in Elephant Island, Maritime Antarctic

• Published in: Land Degradation & Development
• Main Authors: Putzke, Jair, Vieira, Frederico Costa Beber, Pereira, Antonio Batista
• Other Authors: Fundação Carlos Chagas Filho de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2019
• Subjects: Antarctic; Austral; Elephant Island; Stinker Point; Antarc*; Antarctica; Brazilian Antarctic Program
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ldr.3431; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ldr.3431; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1002/ldr.3431

Abstract This study aimed to evaluate the speed of revegetation of Antarctic soil affected by 13 years of anthropogenic influence in the form of a refuge building at Stinker Point, Elephant Island, Antarctica. Fourteen years after the removal, in the 2011/2012 austral summer, a qualitative survey of the vegetation cover and biodiversity was conducted using photographs and image processing of the entire field. Data were compared with records from the Technical Archive of the Brazilian Antarctic Program. Recovery had occurred at a faster rate than expected. There was a rapid covering of Deschampsia antarctica Desv. (Poaceae), Sanionia uncinata (Hedw.) Loeske, and Bryum argentum Hedw. (Bryophyta), evidenced by the larger percentage of surface coverage and frequency by these species. The findings are important because they help establish new concepts on environmental security related to preserving plant communities in new Antarctic settlements or camps, supporting that the rapid recovery of the ecosystem after their removal is possible.