Is a Translocation of Indigenous Plant Material Successful in the Maritime Antarctic?

摘要

During the 30~(th) Polish and 10~(th) Ukraine Antarctic expeditions (09 November 2005 through 09 February 2006) we attempted three translocations of vegetative material of Deschampsia antarctica and two of Colobanthus quitensis around the Polish Henric Arctowski Station (King George Island, South Shetland Archipelago) in order to mimic dispersal of plants by birds. The results show that the factor limiting the establishment of these vascular plants in the region is probably the availability of fresh water, because only at plots near the glacier where melt water was present during all of the austral summer the plants were able to get settled. The other sites were apparently too dry, particularly in this respective summer season.