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Dispersal of the moss Campylopus pyriformis on geothermal ground near the summits of Mount Erebus and Mount Melbourne, Victoria Land, Antarctica

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 April 2004

M.L. Skotnicki ,
P.M. Selkirk ,
P. Broady ,
K.D. Adam  and
J.A. Ninham
M.L. Skotnicki
Affiliation:
Photobioenergetics, Research School of Biological Sciences, Institute of Advanced Studies, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
P.M. Selkirk
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia
P. Broady
Affiliation:
Department of Plant and Microbial Sciences, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand
K.D. Adam
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand
J.A. Ninham
Affiliation:
Photobioenergetics, Research School of Biological Sciences, Institute of Advanced Studies, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
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Abstract

Mount Melbourne in northern Victoria Land, Antarctica, is a glaciated 2733 m volcanic cone. The moss Compylopus pyriformis occurs on two small areas of steam-warmed snow-free ground near its summit. This moss species also occurs in temperate regions world-wide, but has not been recorded elsewhere in continental Antarctica. RAPD (Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA) studies of 26 samples of C. pyriformis from two areas of heated ground on Mount Melbourne showed there was genetic diversity within the population. Genetic evidence for dispersal between the two sites, together with some genetic variation within individual colonies, indicates a single colonisation event has probably occurred at this extremely isolated location followed by multiple mutations. A single sample of moss protonema was collected 25 years ago from steam-warmed ground near the summit of another volcano, Mount Erebus (3794 m), on Ross Island some 300 km south of Mount Melbourne. The moss could not be identified based on morphological and reproductive criteria, as all attempts to differentiate it to a recognisable gametophyte were unsuccessful. The RAPD technique has now shown it to be C. pyriformis, and closely related to the population on Mount Melbourne.

Keywords

Campylopus pyriformisgenetic diversitygeothermal groundmossRAPDs
Type
Papers—Life Sciences and Oceanography
Information
Antarctic Science , Volume 13 , Issue 3 , September 2001 , pp. 280 - 285
Copyright
© Antarctic Science Ltd 2001

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