title: Growth rate of Usnea aurantiacoatra (Jacq.) Bory on Fildes Peninsula, Antarctica and its climatic background.
abstract: The ages of a fruticose lichen of Usnea aurantiacoatra (Jacq.) Bory, from Fildes Peninsula, King George Island, Southwest Antarctic, were determined by radiocarbon (14C), and it is 1993-1996 at bottom and 2006-2007 at top of the lichen branch. The growth rates of U. aurantiacoatra calculated are 4.3 to 5.5 mm year(-1) based on its length and ages. The comparisons show that the growth rates of U. aurantiacoatra are higher than those of U. antarctica (0.4 to 1.1 mm year(-1)). The growth rates of fruticose lichens are always higher, usually >2 mm year(-1), than those of crustose ones, usually <1 mm year(-1), in polar areas. A warming trend on Fildes Peninsula is recorded in the period from 1969 to 2010 obviously: the mean annual temperature rose from -2.75 to -1.9°C and the average temperature of summer months from 0.95 to 1.4°C, as well as the average temperature of winter months from -6.75 to -5.5°C. The alteration of lichen growth rates in polar areas may respond to the climatic and environmental changes, and the lichens may act as bio-monitor of natural condition.
authors: Institute of Botany, Beijing, China; Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany.
authors: Ying
authors: Y
authors: Li
authors: Klaus-Tschira-Labor (Curt-Engelhorn-Zentrum Archäometrie gGmbH), Mannheim, Germany.
authors: Bernd
authors: B
authors: Kromer
authors: Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany.
authors: Gerd
authors: G
authors: Schukraft
authors: Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany.
authors: Olaf
authors: O
authors: Bubenzer
authors: Beijing Museum of Natural History, Beijing, China.
authors: Man-Rong
authors: MR
authors: Huang
authors: Wuhan University, Hubei, China.
authors: Ze-Min
authors: ZM
authors: Wang
authors: Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors: Lin-Gen
authors: LG
authors: Bian
authors: Institute of Botany, Beijing, China.
authors: Cheng-Sen
authors: CS
authors: Li
mesh_terms: D000864:Antarctic Regions; D002980:Climate; D055110:Radiometric Dating; D020949:Usnea / Q000254:growth & development*