Evidence of morphometric differentiation among Antarctic moss populations as a response to local microenvironment

• Published in: Acta Botanica Brasilica
• Main Authors: Rayssa Garay Medina, Suziane Alves Barcellos, Filipe de Carvalho Victoria, Margéli Pereira de Albuquerque, Antonio Batista Pereira, Valdir Marcos Stefenon
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Sociedade Botânica do Brasil 2015
• Subjects: Andreae gainii; Bryum pseudotriquetrum; Nelson Island; phenotypic plasticity; Polytrichum juniperinum; Botany; QK1-989; Antarctic; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1590/0102-33062014abb0034; https://doaj.org/article/ac154da082cf4cd8afa6b122a733daf7

ABSTRACTStudies on phenotypic variation among populations growing in different microenvironments may provide information about plasticity related to environmental pressures, and thus help to elucidate the potential evolutionary forces contributing to the origin and maintenance of diversity in any region. In this study we investigate morphometric variation on a small geographic scale for three species of Antarctic mosses. All species revealed significant differentiation among populations for all evaluated traits. The comparison of morphometric measures of populations of Polytrichum juniperinumfrom Nelson Island and from southern Brazil suggests that the effects of a small geographic scale in Antarctica are the same as a large geographic scale in environments where the climate is more homogeneous and microhabitats have minor influence on vegetation. However, further investigations over a larger area, evaluating more species, and using controlled garden experiments are recommended in order to evaluate the capacity for plasticity of moss species in different climatic conditions and on different geographic scales.