COMPARISON OF NET PHOTOSYNTHESIS AND DARK RESPIRATION OF ANTARCTIC MOSSES MEASURED IN THE ANTARCTIC AND IN JAPAN

• Main Author: Yoshio Ino
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Antarctic; East Antarctica; Langhovde; The Antarctic; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.553.8311; http://polaris.nipr.ac.jp/~penguin/polarbiosci/issues/pdf/1990-Ino.pdf

Abstract: Net photosynthesis and dark respiration ( C 0 2 uptake) of Antarctic mosses were measured to investigate the effects of transportation in a frozen con-dition from the Antarctic to Japan. Moss blocks were collected from some Ceratodon piirpureus communities in different habitats at the Yukidori Valley (69O14'30"S, 39°46'00"E in Langhovde, East Antarctica, on January 16, 1988. The COa uptake activities of the surface layer of the moss blocks were measured in the laboratory on the research ship SHIRASE with two infrared COa gas analyzers and an assimilation chamber within a month after the collection. The relationships of net photosynthesis and dark respiration to water content, illumination intensity, and temperature were determined. After the measuring, the samples were frozen at-2OoC and transported to Japan. From May to August of 1988, each sample was defrosted in the laboratory of Waseda University and the same measurements were undertaken with the same equipment that had been used in the Antarctic. There was little difference between the optimum water content for net photo-synthesis measured in the Antarctic and that measured in Japan. In some samples, the net photosynthetic rate at saturated illumination intensity and the dark respi-ration rate measured in the Antarctic differed from those measured in Japan. A little difference was recognized in the optimum temperature for net photosynthesis in some samples. It was concluded that storage in a frozen condition for a long period produced some undesirable effects on the photosynthetic and respiration activities of some Antarctic mosses. 1.