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A new lichen species from the Heritage Range, Ellsworth Mountains, Antarctica

Uma nova espécie de líquen de Heritage Range, Montanhas Ellsworth, Antártica

Abstracts

Opegrapha edsonii, with soralia and norstictic acid is described.

Antarctica; norstictic acid; Opegrapha edsonii


Uma nova espécie de liquen, com soralia e ácido norstíctico, Opegrapha edsonii é descrita, ocorrendo nas Montanhas Ellsworth, Antártica continental.

Antártica; ácido norstíctico; Opegrapha edsonii


ARTICLES

A new lichen species from the Heritage Range, Ellsworth Mountains, Antarctica

Uma nova espécie de líquen de Heritage Range, Montanhas Ellsworth, Antártica

Dag Olav ØvstedalI,* * Corresponding author: dag.ovstedal@um.uib.no ; Carlos Ernesto Gonçalves Reynaud SchaeferII

IUniversity Museum, P.O. Box 7803, N-5020 Bergen, Norway

IISoil Science Department, Viçosa Federal University, 36570-000 Viçosa, MG, Brazil

ABSTRACT

Opegrapha edsonii, with soralia and norstictic acid is described.

Key words: Antarctica, norstictic acid, Opegrapha edsonii

RESUMO

Uma nova espécie de liquen, com soralia e ácido norstíctico, Opegrapha edsonii é descrita, ocorrendo nas Montanhas Ellsworth, Antártica continental.

Palavras-chave: Antártica, ácido norstíctico, Opegrapha edsonii

Introduction

The terrestrial biota of the Antarctica comprises almost exclusively lower organism, and among these, lichens are by far the most dominant. New knowledge has revealed a higher diversity of lichen species than previously known (Ruprecht et al. 2012), and the total number for the Antarctic and South Georgia now well exceeds 500 (Øvstedal & Lewis Smith 2011, Øvstedal unpublished data).

A soil and permafrost field study in the Ellsworth Mountains in the summer 2012 included the collection of some lichens growing on cryoturbic soils from ice free areas of the Union Glacier Region in the southern Heritage Range. The Heritage Range forms the southern part of the Ellsworth Mountain system, consisting of scattered ridges and peaks of moderate height, escarpments, hills and nunataks, the various units of relief set off by numerous intervening glaciers, such as the Union Glacier (figure 1). Lichens were sampled on two polygonal soils, both on felsenmeer of Crashsite quartzite, one at 754 m and one at 785 m altitude.


The collection comprises both saxicolous and terricolous lichens. Only the saxicolous ones are treated here. Among these was an undescribed species, which is described below.

Material and methods

The specimens are deposited in BG. Anatomy and morphology were studied using a Zeiss Stemi 2000C microscope, and a Zeiss Axiolab compound microscope. Chemical constituents were identified by thin layer chromatography (Elix & Ernst-Russell 1993).

Soil material associated with the lichens were studied by routine chemical analyses (pH, available P, exchangeable Ca2+, Mg2+, K+, Al3+, H + Al, and extractable Pb and Cu) and textural analyses (granulometry), all carried out by standard international procedures (Kuo 1996, EMBRAPA 1997). Total organic carbon was determined according to Yoemans & Bremner (1988).

Results and Discussion

Opegrapha edsoniiØvstedal & C. Schaefer sp. nov. Figure 2


Opegrapha gyrocarpa similis, sed soredia minoribus et acidum norsticticum continens. Apothecia et pycnidia non vidi.

Type: Antartica. Antarctic Peninsula: Ellsworth Mountains, Heritage group, Edson Hill, 79º50'S and 83º39̍W, 10-I-2012, C. Schaefer2012-05 (holotypus BG).

Thallus crustose, ca. 1 × 0.4 cm, up to 1.5 mm thick, sorediate, dark brown to brown-grey, strongly rimose to areolate, areolae convex, 0.2-0.4 mm diam., crowded, scabrid, UV-. No prothallus seen. Photobiont Trentepohlia, cells in clusters, 4-5 µm diam., similar to those in W Norwegian specimens of O. gyrocarpa (several specimens in BG examined). Soralia pink, when eroded orange (carotenoids in Trentepohlia), up to 0.4 mm diam., with irregular outline, crater-formed to flat. Soredia coarse, 17.1 ± 2.03 µm (n = 20), conglutinated into consoredia up to ca. 70 µm wide. No hyphae projecting from soredia. No apothecia or pycnidia seen.

Chemistry: norstictic acid.

Habitat: mostly overgrowing a sterile white crust (with Carbonea vorticosa (Flörke) Hertel as parasymbiont) on rock.

The specimen is similar to Opegrapha gyrocarpa Flotow, found in Europe, Asia, Macaronesia and North America (Smith et al. 2009), but differs in chemistry, having smaller soredia and distinct different ecology. Opegrapha gyrocarpa grows mainly under rock overhangs, but also rarely on bark (Tønsberg 1992). It has discrete soredia, but the soralia are larger, 24.5 ± 2.04 µm (several Norwegian specimens in BG studied). In addition, O. gyrocarpa contains gyrophoric and ± schizopeltic acids. Generally the thallus is smooth and thin, not rough and thick as in the present species. Norstictic acid is found in the paleotropic species O. semiatra Müll. Arg. and O. mozambica Vain. (Ertz 2009), both of which are non-sorediate species and very different from O. edsonii. Other taxa with Trentepohlia as photobiont recorded from the Antarctic include Cystocoleus aff. ebeneus (Dillw.) Twaites(Øvstedal & Lewis Smith 2001) and Porina aenea (Wallr.) Zahlbr. (Øvstedal & Lewis Smith 2004). A number of Opegrapha species are known from Argentina (Redinger 1940), but they are all corticolous and non-sorediate, with no species similar to O. edsonii known (S. Calvelo unpublished data).

The following lichens were collected from the same locality: Bacidia subcoprodes Olech &Czarnota, Buellia evanescens Darb., B. cf. grisea C.W. Dodge & G.E. Baker, B. cf. lignoides Filson, Lecanora polytropa (Hoffm.) Rabenh., L. aff. orosthea (Ach.) Ach., Carboneavorticosa (Flörke) Hertel, Pseudephebe minuscula (Nyl. ex Arnold) Brodo & D. Hawksw. and Umbilicaria decussata (Vill.) Zahlbr.

The soils had permafrost at between 10-15 cm depth, and showed cryoturbic features, though not very well developed. Lichens were found growing on sheltered, loose fragments of rock and on soil in the middle of the sorted polygons of north-western facing slopes. Liquid water was present within the polygons.

The soils had dry and ice-cemented permafrost, with turbic microstructure. Location and soil temperatures at 10th January 2012: site 1 (UTM 0469778/1143176, alt. 754 m); air temperature 4.6 ºC; 5 cm: -0.6 ºC; 10 cm: -2.6 ºC; 15 cm -1.9 ºC; site 2 (UTM 0469922/1143193, alt. 785 m); air temperature 3.3 ºC, 5 cm: 2.3 ºC; 10 cm: -0.8 ºC; 15 cm: -1.9 ºC.

The climate in the Heritage range is typical of the low Plateau of continental Antarctica (e.g. Byrd Station), and average air temperature at the Union Glacier is around -12 to -35 ºC.

Surface temperatures above zero last for a few hours a day, and during for less than 30 days during the summer. It is very cold year-round, with approx. -12 to -35 ºC monthly averages, with decreasing temperatures decreasing with altitude. In the summer, clear skies, calm air and little precipitation is common; other phenomena are the strong karabatics, occasional fogs and low clouds from the Ronne ice shelf (King & Turner 1997).

Based on soil characterization, all sites have alkaline pHs and salt accumulation on the lee side of rock fragments; salts are usually gypsum (CaSO4.nH2O) and typical of Ellsworth Polar desert soils; the amounts of available P is surprisingly high by polar desert standards, and with very low amounts of organic carbon (table 1), corroborating the extremely low biomass. The amount of selected heavy metals (Pb and, Cu) are within the range of polar desert soils. The relative concentration of exchangeable cations (Ca, Na, Mg and, K) in nutrient-poor quartzites can be attributed to salt sprays from distant marine sources, concentrated by long term deposition and the absence of leaching.

These extremophilous lichens are present on nutrient-poor substrates (quartzites) and associated with salt-affected soils from the Antarctic Polar deserts. They have only been observed on sheltered sites where liquid water was apparent, and mostly on northern or north-western facing slopes.

Ackowledgements

J. Berge and B. Helle, Bergen, are thanked for assistance with illustrations. Dr. Susana Calvelo, Bariloche, is thanked for information. Prof. Carlos Schaefer thanks CAPES (Brazilian Ministry of Education) for granting and funding a sabbatical leave at SPRI-Cambridge. Field work in the Ellsworth Mountains was supported by INCT da Criosfera-CNPq/Brazilian Antartic Program.

Literature cited

Received: 3.10.2012; accepted: 11.04.2013

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  • *
    Corresponding author:
  • Publication Dates

    • Publication in this collection
      05 July 2013
    • Date of issue
      June 2013

    History

    • Received
      03 Oct 2012
    • Accepted
      11 Apr 2013
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