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We compared the drying responses of clumps of moss from Casey Station, Antarctica, evaluating the changes in mass, water content, photosynthesis (measured by chlorophyll fluorescence), cellular solute concentration (measured by differential scanning calorimetry) and cellular dimensions. Drying was performed at different temperatures and VPDs to evaluate the relative impacts of temperature and humidity on moss physiology. This dataset is comprised of several spreadsheets (all in comma separated values format). The primary data sheet (Moss-desiccation tolerance Master Datasheet.csv) compiles the overall experimental data, including means derived from several other data sheets. Moss-fluorescence Datasheet.csv reports data from Walz MaxiPAM chlorophyll fluorescence measurements of moss clumps at each timepoint. Moss-fluorescence micro Datasheet.csv reports data from Walz Microscope PAM chlorophyll fluorescence measurements of individual leaves and shoots sampled at each timepoint and kept under oil to retain hydration. Moss-meas Datasheet.csv reports the dimensions (area, perimeter, length and width) of cells from individual leaves sampled at each timepoint and kept under oil to retain hydration. Solute concentration of the shoots was determined by performing differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) on shoots sampled at each timepoint. To convert the melting/freezing points measured to concentrations requires calibration, the data for which are provided in Moss-DSC calib.csv. The data are laid out with columns for each variable considered, and rows for each sample. The columns for each spreadsheet are as follows: Moss-desiccation tolerance Master Datasheet.csv: Date-date of experiment Run-experimental run (1 to 18) ClumpSp-dominant species of moss clump: C-Ceratodon purpureus; S- Schistidium antarctici; BC- Bryum pseudotriquetrum and Ceratodon purpureus codominant Species-species of shoot examined in calorimetry/microscopy: B- Bryum pseudotriquetrum; C-Ceratodon purpureus; S- Schistidium antarctici Replicate-replicate (here equal to Run) Pseudoreplicates-replicates of the same species during the same run Temp-Treatment temperature: 8 degrees C, 16 degrees C or 24 degrees C VPD-Vapour pressure differential of treatment: 0.2kPa, 0.5kPa or 1.2kPa Timepoint-Sampling timepoint (0 = initial conditions) Time-Time in hours since start of experimental run Treatment-Experimental phase: Drying, Recovery (rehydration following drying process), ReRun (second round of drying following recovery) Basket mass-Mass in grams of basket containing moss clump Basket + moss mass-Mass in grams of basket and moss sample Fresh mass-Fresh mass in grams of moss clump (calculated) Dry mass-Mass in grams of oven-dried moss clump RWC-Relative water content of moss clump in g water per g dry mass Percentage of initial RWC-Relative water content as a percentage of initial RWC Mean Fo-Mean Fo of clump (from Moss-fluorescence Datasheet.csv) Sd Fo-Standard deviation of the Fo of the clump (from Moss-fluorescence Datasheet.csv) Mean Fm-Mean Fo of clump (from Moss-fluorescence Datasheet.csv) Sd Fm-Standard deviation of the Fo of the clump (from Moss-fluorescence Datasheet.csv) Mean Fv.Fm-Mean Fo of clump (from Moss-fluorescence Datasheet.csv) Sd Fv.Fm-Standard deviation of the Fo of the clump (from Moss-fluorescence Datasheet.csv) Mean Fo'-Mean Fo of clump (from Moss-fluorescence Datasheet.csv) Sd Fo'-Standard deviation of the Fo of the clump (from Moss-fluorescence Datasheet.csv) Mean Fm'-Mean Fo of clump (from Moss-fluorescence Datasheet.csv) Sd Fm'-Standard deviation of the Fo of the clump (from Moss-fluorescence Datasheet.csv) Tin mass-Mass in grams of the empty calorimetry tin Tin + moss wet mass-Mass in grams of moss shoot and calorimetry tin Tin + moss dry mass-Mass in grams of oven-dried moss shoot and calorimetry tin RWC stems DSC-Relative water content of shoot used for calorimetry in g water per g dry mass Tm-1-Melting point in uncorrected degrees C of shoot water (first replicate) PeakT1-Melting peak in uncorrected degrees C of shoot water (first replicate) Peak1Area-Area of melting peak in DSC units (first replicate) Tm-2-Melting point in uncorrected degrees C of shoot water (second replicate) PeakT2-Melting peak in uncorrected degrees C of shoot water (second replicate) Peak2Area-Area of melting peak in DSC units (first replicate) Tm-3-Melting point in uncorrected degrees C of shoot water (third replicate) PeakT3-Melting peak in uncorrected degrees C of shoot water (third replicate) Peak3Area-Area of melting peak in DSC units (first replicate) Tm-mean-Mean melting point in uncorrected degrees C of shoot water -see Calibs.csv for conversion to solute concentration PeakT-mean-Mean melting peak in uncorrected degrees C of shoot water -see Calibs.csv for conversion to solute concentration PeakArea-mean-Mean area of melting peak in DSC units -see Calibs.csv for conversion to water mass Tm-corr-Melting point of shoot water, corrected for calorimetry ramp rate offset PeakT-corr-Melting peak of shoot water, corrected for calorimetry ramp rate offset Dsc-notes-Notes on appearance of differential scanning calorimetry peaks Stem mass-Mass in g of shoot used for microscopy Mean area-Mean area in mm2 of laminar cells (from Moss-meas Datasheet.csv) Sd area-Standard deviation of cell area (from Moss-meas Datasheet.csv) Mean perimeter-Mean perimeter in mm of laminar cells (from Moss-meas Datasheet.csv) Sd perimeter-Standard deviation of cell perimeter (from Moss-meas Datasheet.csv) Mean width-Mean width in mm of laminar cells (from Moss-meas Datasheet.csv) Sd width-Standard deviation of cell width (from Moss-meas Datasheet.csv) Mean length-Mean length in mm of laminar cells (from Moss-meas Datasheet.csv) Sd length-Standard deviation of cell length (from Moss-meas Datasheet.csv) Micro Mean Fo-Mean Fo of leaves (from Moss-fluorescence micro Datasheet.csv) Micro Sd Fo-Standard deviation Fo of leaves (from Moss-fluorescence micro Datasheet.csv ) Micro Mean Fm-Mean Fm of leaves (from Moss-fluorescence micro Datasheet.csv) Micro Sd Fm- Standard deviation Fm of leaves (from Moss-fluorescence micro Datasheet.csv) Micro Mean Fv.Fm-Mean FvFm of leaves (from Moss-fluorescence micro Datasheet.csv) Micro Sd Fv.Fm- Standard deviation FvFm of leaves (from Moss-fluorescence micro Datasheet.csv) Moss-fluorescence Datasheet.csv Date-date of experiment Run-experimental run (1 to 18) ClumpSp-dominant species of moss clump: C-Ceratodon purpureus; S- Schistidium antarctici; BC- Bryum pseudotriquetrum and Ceratodon purpureus codominant Replicate-replicate (here equal to Run) Pseudoreplicates-replicates of the same species during the same run Temp-Treatment temperature: 8 degrees C, 16 degrees C or 24 degrees C VPD-Vapour pressure differential of treatment: 0.2kPa, 0.5kPa or 1.2kPa Timepoint-Sampling timepoint (0 = initial conditions) Time-Time in hours since start of experimental run Treatment-Experimental phase: Drying, Recovery (rehydration following drying process), ReRun (second round of drying following recovery) Problem-Identifies if there were any problems with the measurements Fo-Fluorescence in absence of light Fm-Dark adapted maximum fluorescence Fv/Fm-Maximum quantum yield of PSII Fo'1-Minimal light fluorescence (first replicate) Fo'2-Minimal light fluorescence (second replicate) Fo'3-Minimal light fluorescence (third replicate) Fm'1-Maximal light fluorescence (first replicate) Fm'2-Maximal light fluorescence (second replicate) Fm'3-Maximal light fluorescence (third replicate) Mean Fo-Mean Fo of clump Sd Fo-Standard deviation of the Fo of the clump Mean Fm-Mean Fo of clump Sd Fm-Standard deviation of the Fo of the clump Mean Fv.Fm-Mean Fo of clump Sd Fv.Fm-Standard deviation of the Fo of the clump Mean Fo'-Mean Fo of clump Sd Fo'-Standard deviation of the Fo of the clump Mean Fm'-Mean Fo of clump Sd Fm'-Standard deviation of the Fo of the clump Moss-fluorescence Datasheet.csv Date-date of experiment Run-experimental run (1 to 18) ClumpSp-dominant species of moss clump: C-Ceratodon purpureus; S- Schistidium antarctici; BC- Bryum pseudotriquetrum and Ceratodon purpureus codominant Replicate-replicate (here equal to Run) Temp-Treatment temperature: 8 degrees C, 16 degrees C or 24 degrees C VPD-Vapour pressure differential of treatment: 0.2kPa, 0.5kPa or 1.2kPa Timepoint-Sampling timepoint (0 = initial conditions) Time-Time in hours since start of experimental run Treatment-Experimental phase: Drying, Recovery (rehydration following drying process), ReRun (second round of drying following recovery) RWC stems-Relative water content of shoot in g water per g dry mass (from calorimetry tins) Fo-Fluorescence in absence of light Fm-Dark adapted maximum fluorescence Fv/Fm-Maximum quantum yield of PSII Mean Fo-Mean Fo of clump Sd Fo-Standard deviation of the Fo of the clump Mean Fm-Mean Fo of clump Sd Fm-Standard deviation of the Fo of the clump Mean Fv.Fm-Mean Fo of clump Sd Fv.Fm-Standard deviation of the Fo of the clump Moss-meas Datasheet.csv Date-date of experiment Run-experimental run (1 to 18) ClumpSp-dominant species of moss clump: C-Ceratodon purpureus; S- Schistidium antarctici; BC- Bryum pseudotriquetrum and Ceratodon purpureus codominant Replicate-replicate (here equal to Run) Temp-Treatment temperature: 8 degrees C, 16 degrees C or 24 degrees C VPD-Vapour pressure differential of treatment: 0.2kPa, 0.5kPa or 1.2kPa Timepoint-Sampling timepoint (0 = initial conditions) Time-Time in hours since start of experimental run Treatment-Experimental phase: Drying, Recovery (rehydration following drying process), ReRun (second round of drying following recovery) RWC-Relative water content of moss clump in g water per g dry mass RWC stems-Relative water content of shoot in g water per g dry mass (from calorimetry tins) Area-Area in mm2 of leaf lamina cell Perimeter-Perimeter in mm of leaf lamina cell Width-Width in mm of leaf lamina cell Length-Length in mm of leaf lamina cell Mean area-Mean area in mm2 of laminar cells Sd area-Standard deviation of cell area Mean perimeter-Mean perimeter in mm of laminar cells Sd perimeter-Standard deviation of cell perimeter Mean width-Mean width in mm of laminar cells Sd width-Standard deviation of cell width Mean length-Mean length in mm of laminar cells Sd length-Standard deviation of cell length Calib.csv Solution-Water or sucrose Bymass-Concentration of sucrose solution in g per g water Concentration-Molar concentration of sucrose solution Volume-Volume in microliters of sample Mass tin-Mass in g of empty calorimetry tin Mass wet-Mass in g of calorimetry tin + sample Mass sample-Mass in g of sample Tm- Melting point in uncorrected degrees C of solution Peak- Melting peak in uncorrected degrees C of solution Area- Area of melting peak of solution in DSC units Tf-Freezing point in uncorrected degrees C of solution Areaf- Area of freezing peak of solution in DSC units This work was conducted under the auspices of AAS projects 2780 and 2061.
For the complete description, including images and original formatting, see the metadata file in the downloadable dataset. Research sites All remote sensing data sets were collected at two pilot research sites, Antarctic Specially Protected Area 135 (ASPA) and Robinson Ridge (Robbos), that host significant populations of Antarctic moss species, particularly: Schistidium antarctici (Cardot) L.I. Savicz and Smirnova, Bryum pseudotriquetrum (Hedw.) Gaertn., Meyer and Scherb., and Ceratodon purpureus (Hedw.) Brid. Verification of remote sensing products was performed with data from a long-term monitoring project of Windmill Islands' plant communities using observations of 13 permanent quadrats, which were established at ASPA and Robbos in 2003 (Wasley et al., 2012). Laboratory spectral and biochemical measurements for training of predictive machine leaning algorithms were performed on moss samples collected in the vicinity of the Casey polar station in 2013 and previously in 1999 (Lovelock and Robinson, 2002). Airborne UAS hyperspectral image data UAS imaging spectroscopy data were acquired with a Headwall Photonics Micro-Hyperspec VNIR scanner (Headwall Inc., USA) mounted on an Aeronavics Skyjib multirotor (oktokopter) heavy-lift airframe. The Micro-Hyperspec push-broom scanner, equipped with an objective of 8 mm focal length, a field of view (FOV) of 49.8 degrees, a slit entrance of 25 microns and a 12- bit charge-coupled device (CCD) of 1004 pixels, was flown in a binned mode with the frame period and integration time of 20 milliseconds (maximum rate of 50 frames s-1) 11 m above ground level at a speed of 2.5 m s-1. The acquired imagery of 162 spectral bands between 361 and 961 nm had a bandwidth from 4.75 to 5.25 nm and a spatial resolution of 5.0 cm. The raw hyperspectral data was radiometrically standardized and corrected for atmospheric interferences. Digital counts of recorded light were converted to physical units of at-sensor radiance (mW cm2 sr-1 microns-1) and to relative reflectance by applying sensor-specific radiometric calibration coefficients and an empirical line atmospheric correction as described in Lucieer et al. (2014). The accuracy of the resulting UAS reflectance was assessed as acceptable using spectral signatures of several spatially homogeneous natural targets (6 large rocks and 9 green moss patches) measured on ground with an ASD HandHeld-2 spectroradiometer (ASD, Inc. and PANalytical, Boulder, Colorado, USA). To provide georeferenced images and derived maps, the hyperspectral images were orthorectified and mosaicked using detailed (1 cm resolution) three-dimensional digital surface models and orthophotos of research plots into the map coordinate system of WGS84 UTM zone 49 South, with a rubber sheeting triangulation based on 50 evenly distributed artificial ground control points. Final hyperspectral mosaic for ASPA is depicted in Figure 1 and light lines over Robbos in Figure 2 (see the metadata file in the downloadable dataset for the figures). Fig. 1. Hyperspectral mosaic in false colours (acquired on 2nd and 8th February 2013) superimposed over orthophoto of the Antarctic Specially Protected Area 135 (ASPA 135) research site acquired in 2013 (red colour = moss canopy). The epsilon Support Vector Regression (SVR) learning machine, using the nonlinear Gaussian radial basis function (RBF) kernel, was applied on reflectance hyperspectral data to estimate the total chlorophyll a and b content (Cab) and the effective leaf density (ELD) of investigated moss turfs. To produce a single moss health evaluator, the Cab and ELD maps were merged into a synthetic map of a relative vigour indicator (RVI), which was computed as the arithmetic mean of Cab and inverted LD, both scaled between zero and the largest value measured in laboratory (i.e. Cab = 1500 nmol.gdw-1 and LD = 15 leaves.mm-1). The RVI maps represent relative vigour, where 100% indicates optimally growing healthy moss, and 0% indicates moss highly stressed by unfavourable environmental conditions. Details regarding the method, i.e. design, training, validation and application of the SVR algorithms, are provided in Malenovsky et al. (2015). Fig. 2. Two hyperspectral flight lines in false colours (acquired on 5th and 6th February 2013) superimposed over ortho-photomap of the Robinson Ridge (Robbos) study site from 2011 (red colour = moss canopy). All UAS airborne data are located in the directory Airborne_UAS. All image datasets are stored in two file formats: - *.bsq - band sequential image file and - *.hdr - header ASCII file containing all essential metadata about the complementary *.bsq file. The following UAS image datasets are provided for both study sites: - '0208 or 05/06'FEB2013_'ASPA135 or ROBBOS'_'geomosaic or flightline#'_living_moss_Cab -' chlorophyll content of living moss turf in nmol.gdw-1 retrieved with the SVR algorithm from the hyperspectral imagery (for more information see complementary *.hdr ASCII file). - '0208 or 05/06' FEB2013_'ASPA135 or ROBBOS'_'geomosaic or flightline#'_living_moss _ELD -' effective leaf density of living moss turf in leaves.mm-1 retrieved with the SVR algorithm from hyperspectral imagery (for more information see complementary *.hdr ASCII file). - '0208 or 05/06' FEB2013_'ASPA135 or ROBBOS'_'geomosaic or flightline#'_living_moss _RVI -' relative vigour index of living moss turf in % generated as mean of chlorophyll content and inverted leaf density scaled between 0 and the maximal measured values (for more information see *.hdr ASCII file). - '0208 or 05/06' FEB2013_'ASPA135 or ROBBOS'_'geomosaic or flightline#'_moribund_moss _MASK -' classification of moribund moss (value = 1) derived from the MTVI2 optical index (MTVI2 greater than or equal to 0.25) computed from hyperspectral images (more information in *.hdr ASCII file). - '0208 or 05/06' FEB2013_'ASPA135 or ROBBOS'_'geomosaic or flightline#'_reflectance - 'image of relative hemispherical-directional reflectance acquired with the Micro-Hyperspec spectroradiometer mounted to Skyjib multirotor UAS (more information in *.hdr ASCII file). The Microsoft Excel file Hyperspec_SVR_inputs.xlsx contains 4 spreadsheets with datasets used for training and testing of leaf chlorophyll content (Cab in in nmol.gdw-1) and effective leaf density (ELD in number of leaves. mm-1) estimating SVR machines applicable to Micro-Hyperspec VNIR bands (CR ~ continuum removed reflectance and R ~ reflectance at given wavelength in nm). Satellite spectral image data The multispectral WorldView-2 (WV2) space-borne images (DigitalGlobe, Inc., Westminster, Colorado, USA) of the Windmill Islands, containing 8 spectral bands at spatial resolution of 2.2 m, were acquired on 30th January 2011 for Robbos and 7th February 2011 for ASPA. Radiometric calibration, converting the 11-bit image into physically meaningful radiance, was performed with the WV2 calibration coefficients available in the ENVI/IDL image processing software (Harris Geospatial Solutions/Exelis Visual Information Solutions, Inc., Boulder, Colorado, USA) and atmospheric correction was carried out with the fast line-of-sight atmospheric analysis of hypercubes (FLAASH) module. The reflectance images were projected into the Universal Transverse Mercator coordinate system (UTM Zone 49 South, datum WGS84). Only image pixels with greater than 50% abundance of vigorous moss were used in the health assessment analyses. These pixels were selected by applying the threshold of the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI greater than 0.6) in combination with the spectral mixture tuned matched filtering (MTMF). The same type of the SVR machines were trained and applied to estimate the total chlorophyll a and b content (Cab) and the effective leaf density (ELD) of investigated moss turfs. Subsequently, the relative moss vigour (RVI) was computed as in Malenovsky et al. (2015). The satellite datasets are located in the directory Satellite_WV2. All image data is stored in two file formats: - *.bsq - band sequential image file and - *.hdr - header ASCII file containing all essential metadata about the complementary *.bsq file. The following WV2 image datasets are provided for both study sites: - WV2_'07FEB or 30JAN'2011_'ASPA135 or ROBBOS'_moss_Cab -' chlorophyll content in nmol.gdw-1 for pixels with more than 50% moss abundance retrieved with the SVR algorithm from the WV2 multispectral imagery (for more information see complementary *.hdr ASCII file). - WV2_'07FEB or 30JAN'2011_'ASPA135 or ROBBOS'_moss_ELD -' effective leaf density in leaves.mm-1 for pixels with more than 50% moss abundance retrieved with the SVR algorithm from the WV2 multispectral imagery (for more information see complementary *.hdr ASCII file). - WV2_'07FEB or 30JAN'2011_'ASPA135 or ROBBOS'_moss_RVI -' relative vigour index in % for pixels with more than 50% moss abundance generated as mean of chlorophyll content and inverted leaf density scaled between 0 and the maximal measured values (for more information see *.hdr ASCII file). - WV2_'07FEB or 30JAN'2011_'ASPA135 or ROBBOS'_moss_reflectance -' image of relative hemispherical-directional reflectance for pixels with more than 50% moss abundance acquired by the WorldView-2 satellite spectroradiometer (for more information see *.hdr ASCII file). The Microsoft Excel file WV2_SVR_inputs.xlsx contains 4 spreadsheets with datasets used for training and testing of leaf chlorophyll content (Cab in in nmol.gdw-1) and effective leaf density (ELD in number of leaves. mm-1) estimating SVR machines applicable to WorldView-2 multispectral bands (CR ~ continuum removed reflectance and R ~ reflectance at given wavelength in nm). Ground validation measurements Applicability of the remote sensing moss health indicators was validated by direct one-to-one comparison with the relative abundance of healthy, stressed and moribund moss in 13 monitoring quadrats of 25x25 cm in size. The ground-collected data are stored in the directory Ground_validation. Ground validation data per quadrat and complementary remote sensing products obtained by interpretation of the red-green-blue (RGB) colour composite photographs and the hyperspectral UAS data, respectively, are listed in the Microsoft Excel file spreadsheet Validation_input_data quadrats2013.xlsx. Geo-locations of the validation quadrats in UTM Zone 49 South (datum WGS84) are available in the ESRI vector shape file Validation_quadrats_FEB2013.shp (with the ancillary files *.shx, *.dbf, *.prj and *.qpj). References Lovelock, C. E. and Robinson S. A. (2002), Surface reflectance properties of Antarctic moss and their relationship to plant species, pigment composition and photosynthetic function. Plant Cell and Environment, 25, 1239-1250. Lucieer, A., Malenovsky, Z., Veness, T. and Wallace, L. (2014a), HyperUAS - Imaging spectroscopy from a multi-rotor unmanned aircraft system. Journal of Field Robotics, 31, 571-590. Malenovsky, Z., Turnbull, J. D., Lucieer, A. and Robinson, S. A. (2015), Antarctic moss stress assessment based on chlorophyll, water content, and leaf density retrieved from imaging spectroscopy data. New Phytologist, 208, 608-624. Wasley, J., Robinson, S. A., Turnbull, J. D., King, D. H., Wanek, W. and Popp, M. (2012), Bryophyte species composition over moisture gradients in the Windmill Islands, East Antarctica: Development of a baseline for monitoring climate change impacts. Biodiversity, 13, 257-264.
Metadata ID: AAS_4046_Transects_2012-13 title: Windmill Islands vegetation transects, surveyed 2012/13 (10 years) This record contains data associated with the Windmill Islands vegetation 10 year survey conducted in 2012/13, under AAS_4046. The transects were established in 2002/03, as described in metadata ID: ASAC_1313_Transects_2002-03, where details of experimental design and data collection are provided. Descriptions of data associated with this record are provided below under the following headings: 1. LOCATION (GPS) DATA (and MAPS) 2. QUADRAT PHOTOS 3. NOTEBOOK SCANS 4. MICROSCOPY SCORE SHEETS 5. FINESCALE SPECIES ABUNDANCE (MICROSCOPY) 6. BROADSCALE PERCENT COVER (IMAGE ANALYSIS) 7. ENVIRONMENTAL VARIABLES (e.g. MOISTURE, TEMPERATURE) 8. PROCESSED/COMPILED/WORKED Descriptions of data provided: 1. LOCATION (GPS) DATA (and MAPS) Quadrat location data are provided in metadata ID: AAS_4046_quadrat_locations (http://data.aad.gov.au/aadc/metadata/metadata.cfm?entry_id=AAS_4046_quadrat_locations). And shown in two maps which are available via the AADC map catalogue: http://data.aad.gov.au/aadc/mapcat/display_map.cfm?map_id=14450 http://data.aad.gov.au/aadc/mapcat/display_map.cfm?map_id=14451 2. QUADRAT PHOTOS TO BE PROVIDED - all quadrat (and transect/site) photos collected 2013. 3. NOTEBOOK SCANS TO BE PROVIDED - 4. MICROSCOPY SCORE SHEETS TO BE PROVIDED - for samples collected 2013. 5. FINESCALE SPECIES ABUNDANCE (MICROSCOPY) TO BE PROVIDED - raw data from microscopy scoring for samples collected 2013. 6. BROADSCALE PERCENT COVER (IMAGE ANALYSIS) TO BE PROVIDED - has this data been generated? May be part of Diana King PhD thesis, which is due to be submitted 2016. 7. ENVIRONMENTAL VARIABLES (e.g. MOISTURE, TEMPERATURE) TO BE PROVIDED - raw stable isotope data collected 2013. Raw moisture content (CWC) data collected 2013. 8. PROCESSED/COMPILED/WORKED OPTIONAL to provide if relevant 9. MULTI-YEAR COMPILATIONS AND COMPARISONS FILE: Transects Data Summary_2000-2013.xlsx This excel file provides a summary of transect data collected to 2013. This file was originally prepared by Taylor Benny (2013) and has been updated by Jane Wasley (2015). Four worksheets: 1. Worksheet: "Vocabulary"- provides a detailed description of methods, terms and abbreviations. 2. Worksheet: "DataCollection" provides a summary of project personnel (including field collections, laboratory analyses and data analysis) for all survey years from 1999. 3. Worksheet: "Quadrat" provides a schematic of the quadrats used in this study, providing details of the size used for photos (25 x 25 cm), sample collection (20 x 20 cm) and grid interval details. 4. Worksheet "Data" includes the following data types: GPS locations of quadrats, species composition of vegetation quadrats (referred to as: fine scale vegetation analysis), moss moisture contents (referred to as: community water content; CWC) and vegetation temperature. The species composition data presented in this file are the overall relative abundance scores for each species/taxa for each quadrat. These data are based on presence/absence scores for nine samples collected per quadrat (raw individual sample data not provided here). The score range for each taxa for each quadrat is 0-9, where nine indicates taxa present in all nine samples in a given quadrat. FILE: Taylor Benny 2013_Thesis.pdf PDF file of Honours thesis for Taylor Benny (2013). FILE NAME: ASAC_4046-Transects 2013-SOE summary.pdf Public summary of results, describing the state and trends of continental Antarctic vegetation communities. Presentation format based on template from Australia: State of the Environment 2011 (Hatton et al. 2011). Trends presented based on results of transects surveyed 203 to 2013. The PDF file is an extract from Benny 2013 thesis (P80). FILE NAME: AAS_4046-Transects-change maps-2013.pdf Maps produced by Taylor Benny (2013), showing schematic summary of biological change observed between survey periods (2002/03 vs 2007/08 and 2007/08 vs 2012/13) for Windmill Islands vegetation transects at Robinson Ridge and ASPA 135 sites. The PDF file contains six pages, each page shows a map for each of the two study sites: ASPA 135 and Robinson Ridge (2 maps per page). Data collection as described in metadata ID: Windmill Islands Vegetation Transects. Unless otherwise provide in Benny 2013, details of the origin of the map imagery and quadrat position data are not known (data likely collected via octocopter instruments deployed by Arko Lucier, or his team). The six pages are an extract from Benny 2013, and are labelled with page numbers as indicated in brackets ( ) below, they present data for: 1. Ceratodon purpureus (P74) 2. Schistidium antarctici (P75) 3. Bryum pseudotriquetrum (P76) 4. crustose lichens (P77) 5. Community Water Content (P78) 6. % live moss (P79) Data were collected from ASPA 135 and Robinson Ridge, as shown in maps 14450 and 14451 in the SCAR Map Catalogue.
See the download file for the full, unedited summary - this version has been slightly modified in order to display correctly. Sample collection and test preparation This metadata record contains the results of four experiments that were conducted to determine the sensitivity and response of Antarctic moss and terrestrial algae to Special Antarctic Blend (SAB) fuel contamination. The work was conducted under AAS Project 4100, with plant material collected from the Casey region during the 2012/2013 field season and subsequent laboratory tests and analyses conducted at Casey station, University of Wollongong and AAD Kingston laboratories, with laboratory work completed in 2013. Four test species were selected for this study, they are all known moss species for the Windmill Islands region and a terrestrial algae, they are all commonly found in ice-free refuges in the vicinity of Casey station. The species were the three mosses: Schistidium antarctici, Ceratodon purpureus, and Bryum pseudotriquetrum, and one terrestrial green alga, Prasiola crispa. Samples of Australian C. purpureus (collected from Wollongong at 34 degrees 24'14"S, 150 degrees 52'30"E) and referred to as 'local C. purpureus') were also used in toxicity tests since this cosmopolitan species may provide valuable insights into potential differences in response to fuel contamination for the same moss species growing in temperate versus polar regions. Four experiments were conducted in this project, one at Casey station 'Optimisation of test parameters and growth conditions' and three at the University of Wollongong, 'Fuel toxicity trial', 'Definitive toxicity test 1 - aged SAB' and 'Definitive toxicity test 2 - fresh SAB'. Experiments were conducted using two different artificial laboratory formulated soil types: a standard soil mixture developed by Environment Canada specifically for soil toxicity testing with plants, and a sandy soil mixture which was developed to more closely represent the properties of soil at Casey station. The two soil mixtures are referred to as 'Canadian standard' and 'Sandy'. Both types were included in the first two experiments, and sandy only was used in the latter two. Canadian standard soil was prepared according to standard methods (Environment Canada 2005), with some small modifications: 10% (w/w) Sphagnum sp. peat, which was autoclaved and oven dried at 70 degrees C overnight, ground and sieved through a 2 mm mesh screen. This was combined with 20% (w/w) kaolin clay (particles less than 40 microns), and 70% (w/w) propagating sand (sieved to 1 mm particles). Sandy soil was prepared using 20% (w/w) kaolin clay and 80% (w/w) sand. The ingredients for both soils, in their dry form, were mixed thoroughly by hand to create homogenous mixes. In the fuel toxicity tests (latter three experiments) soils were spiked with SAB fuel and tumbled overnight in a mechanical sample rotator (Environmental Express, 12 places LE rotator) to allow for thorough mixing. To standardise spiking methods, the amount of SAB fuel required was determined on a soil dry weight basis. A stock of spiked soils were stored in 2.5 L amber schott bottles in a modified fridge (Orford FMF30) at 15 degrees C (plus or minus 1 degrees C) and aged for two weeks for use in tests requiring SAB contaminants that had been aged (fuel toxicity trial and first definitive toxicity test). For all experiments, except the first definitive toxicity test, two different water level treatments were utilised. These water level treatments consisted of: approximately 70% moisture content for the Canadian standard and 17% moisture content for the Casey sandy soils ('low water'); or fully saturated soils with water almost up to the tip of the moss shoots ('high water'). For all experiments, treatments were set up in a similar manner. For each replicate, approximately 50 mL of artificial soil was spread evenly and flattened within a glass petri dish (90 x 15 mm). One small sample (approximately 0.5 cm2) of each species was placed in an indentation in the soil inside a 10 mm stainless steel washer. Petri dishes were placed within sealable transparent plastic containers (Sistema, 5 L, 21.0 x 24.2 x 10.5 cm). All petri dishes were kept in a temperature controlled cabinet (Thermoline Scientific) at a constant temperature of 15 degrees C (plus or minus 1 degrees C) and a day/night photoperiod of 16/8 hours. Light was provided by 16 standard fluorescent tubes (Polylux XLR F18W/840) producing a maximum light intensity of 50 to 55 micro mols/m2/s inside the plastic containers. The temperature and photoperiod were chosen to align with moss turf conditions during summer months in Antarctica and to stimulate moss and algal photosynthesis and growth in order to detect potential effects of exposure to petroleum hydrocarbons. Toxicity tests The first experiment was conducted at Casey Station in January 2013 and tested the growth conditions to be used in later toxicity testing. The four Antarctic species were used in this experiment. The experiment had two treatments: soil type (Canadian standard or Casey sandy) and water level (low or high), and was conducted over 21 days. Chlorophyll fluorescence (Fv/Fm and Fo) measurements were taken to assess plant health. Measurements were taken on the first day of the experiment to determine initial plant health and subsequently after 1, 3, 7, 11 and 21 days exposure to test conditions. All other experiments were conducted at the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Wollongong. The second experiment was conducted to identify suitable methods for testing the sensitivity of Antarctic moss and terrestrial algae to fuel contamination and to identify conditions which provoke a response to SAB fuel. All five plant types (S. antarctici, C. purpureus, B. pseudotriquetrum, P. crispa and local C. purpureus) were used in this toxicity trial. During the first seven days there were two treatments: fuel concentration (ten nominal treatment concentrations of SAB in soils: 40,000, 35,000, 30,000, 25,000, 20,000, 10,000, 5,000, 2,500, 1,250 mg SAB/kg soil and control (0 mg SAB/kg soil)) and soil type (two treatments: Canadian standard and Sandy), with four replicates per treatment. After one week, there was no response to the fuel, therefore another treatment, water level, was added. Half of the replicates received high water levels and the other half continued with low water levels. This resulted in two replicates per treatment. Following another 7 days there was still no response to fuel, therefore a fourth treatment was added, humidity level. The petri dish lids were removed from half of the replicates creating a drier environment. This resulted in no replication amongst treatments. The experiment was conducted for another 7 days, resulting in a total of 21 days exposure to SAB. The third experiment, 'Definitive toxicity test 1 - aged SAB', used pre-desiccated plant samples (to mimic Antarctic field conditions, where there is predominantly a lack of free water, causing moss and terrestrial algae to periodically desiccate). High water levels were used in the test to enhance water (and potentially SAB fuel) uptake. Sandy soil was used as the substrate, as the previous method development tests demonstrated no difference between soil types and the sandy soil better represents the soil at Casey station, and is therefore more relevant for site-specific assessments. The experiment had one treatment, SAB fuel, with six nominal concentration treatments (60,000, 50,000, 40,000, 30,000, 20,000 and 0 (control) mg SAB/kg soil). Actual SAB fuel concentrations were analysed using gas chromatography (GC) as described below and reported as mg total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH)/kg soil. Measured fuel concentrations for these nominal treatments were 62,900, 48,800, 35,800, 25,500, 17,200 and 0 mg TPH/kg. All five plant types were tested, the experiment had six replicates and was conducted for 21 days. Fv/Fm and Fo measurements were measured daily for the first week then every third day until termination of the experiment at 21 days. At the completion of the experiment moss leaf tip and algal material were collected from each replicate for photosynthetic pigment extraction. The fourth experiment, 'Definitive toxicity test 2 - fresh SAB', was conducted at the University of Wollongong. This experiment was set up as for the first definitive toxicity test with the following four modifications: (1) freshly spiked soils were used, (2) seven concentrations were tested (nominal concentrations of 60,000, 50,000, 40,000, 30,000, 20,000, 10,000 and 0 (control) mg SAB/kg soil and actual fuel concentration treatments were 61,800, 51,900, 40,400, 27,900, 16,300, 6,700 and 0 mg TPH/kg), (3) two water levels (high water and low water), (4) exposure period of 28 days. All five species were tested, the experiment had six replicates and was conducted for 21 days. Fv/Fm and Fo measurements were taken daily for the first week then every third day until termination of the experiment at 28 days. At the completion of the experiment moss leaf tip and algal material were collected from each replicate for photosynthetic pigment extraction. Laboratory Analyses Plant material collected for determination of photosynthetic pigment contents were analysed at the University of Wollongong. Soil samples were analysed for total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) at AAD Kingston Laboratories. Photosynthetic pigment extraction: Samples were freeze dried overnight (in a CHRIST Alpha 1-2 LD plus Freeze Drier) and then weighed. Samples were ground for 2 min, with two 2 mm tungsten carbide beads, at 30 Hz in a tissue lyser (Qiagen Retsch po138387). A 0.6 mL aliquot of 60% ethylacetate:40% acetone was added to each sample and samples were then ground for another 2 min at 30 Hz after which 0.5 mL of MilliQ water was added to each sample. Samples were centrifuged for 5 min at 3,600 g (Eppendorf 5415D centrifuge) to separate the pigment extract and aqueous layers. The supernatant was transferred to a 1.5 mL tube, residual liquid was discarded and the carbide beads were removed. A 0.05 mL aliquot of supernatant was made up to 1 mL with 80% acetone:20% MilliQ water. Absorbance at wavelengths of 750, 663.2, 646.8 and 470 nm was measured using a UV-Visible spectrophometer (Shimadzu UV-1601). Total chlorophyll and carotenoid levels as well as carotenoid/chlorophyll ratios in extracts were then determined using equations from Lichtenthaler H. K. and Buschmann C. (2001) Chlorophylls and carotenoids: measurement and charcterization by UV-vis spectroscopy. Current Protocols in food analytical chemistry, F4.3.1-F4.3.8, which can be found on the web (http://www.thyssen-web.de/assets/files/fd_documents/sp_buche/uv_vis_pigmente.pdf). Total petroleum hydrocarbon analysis Spiked soils were sampled for analysis of TPH concentrations by GC. Approximately 12 g of soil was sampled from each concentration and added to a 40 mL headspace vial. To each vial, 10 mL of hexane and 10 mL of MilliQ water was added. Following this, 1 mL of internal standard mix (containing 50 micro grams/mL 1,4-dichlorobenzene, 50 micro grams/mL p-terphenyl, 250 micro grams/mL cyclooctane, 50 micro grams/mL C24D50 and 250 micro grams/mL bromoeicosane) was added to each vial. Samples were shaken vigorously to ensure thorough mixing and tumbled end over end for approximately 17 hours at room temperature. Once extracted, the samples were centrifuged at 1,000 rpm for 5 min to achieve complete separation of the hexane and aqueous layers. A 1.5 mL aliquot of the hexane layer was removed using a glass pipette and transferred to a GC vial for analysis. The remainder of the hexane was transferred to an 8 mL glass vial with a Teflon septa for frozen storage until completion of analysis. Extracts were analysed for TPH on an Agilent 6890N GC-Flame Ionisation Detector (GC-FID) fitted with a split/splitless injector and an auto-sampler (Agilent 7683 ALS). Separation was performed on a SGE BP1 column (25 m x 0.22 mm Internal Diameter, 0.25 microns film thickness). Extracts (3 micro litres) were injected with a 15:1 pulsed split at 310 degrees C and 18.71 psi (pulse pressure 30.0 psi). Helium was used as the carrier gas. Carrier gas velocity at the injector was 23.9 mL/min. At the column, gas flow was held at 1.3 mL/min for 17 min, and then increased to 3.0 mL/min for the duration of the oven program. The GC oven temperature program was 50 degrees C for 3 min, then an increase to 320 degrees C at 18 degrees C/min. Detector temperature was 330 degrees C. Total petroleum hydrocarbon concentrations reported were the SAB fuel hydrocarbon range of n-C9 to n-C18. Description of data files provided The excel spreadsheet 'Standard growth condition test and Fuel toxicity trial.xls' contains the dataset from these first two experiments. The worksheet labelled 'Test conditions Std growth cond' show details of test name, dates, species collection, soil types and test conditions for the experiment 'Optimisation of test parameters and growth conditions'. The worksheet 'Raw data Std growth cond' contains Fv/Fm data. The worksheet consists of one column each for: species, soil type, water level and replicate number, followed by six columns with Fv/Fm measurements collected on day 0, 1, 3, 7, 11 and 21. The worksheet 'Means StD StE Std growth cond' has calculations of means, standard deviation and standard error. Also included are graphs showing means and standard error for the exposure period. The worksheet labelled 'Test conditions Toxicity trial' shows details of test name, dates, species collection, soil types, spiked soil preparation, and test conditions for the experiment 'Fuel toxicity trial'. The worksheet 'Raw data Toxicity trial' contains Fv/Fm and Fo data. The worksheet consists of one column each for the treatment conditions: nominal SAB fuel concentration, species, soil type, replicate, water level and humidity level, followed by data columns providing Fv/Fm and Fo measurements collected daily for 21 days. The worksheet 'Means StD StE Stand cond Tox tr' contains calculations for means, standard deviation and standard error for Fv/Fm for the first week of the experiment when there were two treatments (SAB concentration and soil type) and four replicates. This worksheet also contains graphs showing means and standard error for Fv/Fm on day 7. The worksheet 'Means StD StE Water Lev Tox Tri' contains calculations of means, standard deviation and standard error for Fv/Fm for the second week of the experiment when there were three treatments (SAB concentration, soil type and water level) and two replicates. This worksheet also contains graphs showing means and standard error for Fv/Fm on day 14. The excel spreadsheet 'Definitive toxicity test 1 - aged SAB' contains data from the third experiment, Definitive toxicity test 1 - aged SAB. The worksheet labelled 'Test conditions' shows details of test name, dates, species collection, soil types and test conditions for the experiment. The worksheet labelled 'Raw data chlorophyll fluorescence' contains columns with all Fv/Fm and Fo data collected throughout the experiment. This worksheet also has columns for nominal fuel concentration, actual fuel concentration, species and replicate number. The worksheet 'Means StDev StErr FvFm' has calculations of means, standard deviation and standard error for Fv/Fm measurements taken throughout the experiment. The worksheet 'Graphs Fv/Fm' contains graphs showing means and standard error for Fv/Fm on day 21. The worksheet 'Raw data and calculations pigm' contains chlorophyll a and b and carotenoid data. The column headings are: - nominal fuel concentration (mg SAB/kg soil) - the spiked fuel concentration - actual fuel concentration (mg TPH/kg soil)- the actual measured fuel concentrations determined from GC - replicate number - species - tube (g) - weight of empty Eppendorf tubes, in grams, in which samples were collected for pigment extraction - tube + dry (g) - weight of tube + dry moss/algal sample in grams - dry sample (g) - weight of dry sample in grams - dry sample (mg) - weight of dry sample in milligrams - dilution - dilution level of extracted sample to 80%acetone:20% MilliQ water used for spectrometry measurements - spectrometry readings at 750, 663,2, 646,8 and 470nm - columns for calculations to determine chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, total chlorophyll (a+b), chlorophyll a:b ratio, total carotenoids and carotenoid:chlorophyll ratio. - Calculations were based on equations from Lichtenthaler H. K. and Buschmann C. (2001). The worksheet 'Means StDev StErr Pigment' has calculations of means, standard deviation and standard error for chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, total chlorophyll (a+b), chlorophyll a:b ratio, total carotenoids and carotenoid:chlorophyll ratio for day 21. The column headings are: - nominal fuel concentration (mg SAB/kg soil) - the spiked fuel concentration - actual fuel concentration (mg TPH/kg soil)- the actual measured fuel concentrations determined from GC - replicate number - species - Chlorophyll a - amount of chlorophyll a in sample - Chlorophyll b - amount of chlorophyll b in sample - chl a (micro mol.g/dw) - chlorophyll a expressed as a concentration - chl b (micro mol.g/dw) - chlorophyll b expressed as a concentration - Total carotenoids - amount of carotenoids in sample - Total carotenoids (micro mol.g/dw) - carotenoids expressed as a concentration - Chlorophyll a:b - chlorophyll a to chlorophyll b ratio - Total chlorophyll (micro mol.g/dw) - total chlorophyll (a+b) expressed as a concentration - Carotenoid:Chlorophyll - carotenoids to total chlorophyll (a+b) ratio The worksheet 'Graphs Total Chlorophyll' contains graphs showing means and standard error for Total chlorophyll (a+b) (micro mol.g/dw) on day 21. The worksheet 'Graphs Total Carotenoids' contains graphs showing means and standard error for total carotenoids (micro mol.g/dw) on day 21. The worksheet 'Car Chl Ratio' contains graphs showing means and standard error for the carotenoid to chlorophyll ratio on day 21. The excel spreadsheet 'Definitive toxicity test 2 - fresh SAB' contains data from the fourth experiment, Definitive toxicity test 2 - fresh SAB. The worksheet labelled 'Test conditions' show details of test name, dates, species collection, soil types and test conditions for the experiment. The worksheet labelled 'Raw data chlorophyll fluorescence' contains columns with all Fv/Fm and Fo data collected throughout the experiment. This worksheet also has columns for nominal fuel concentration, actual fuel concentration, species, water level and replicate number. The worksheet labelled 'Means StDev StErr FvFm' has calculations of means, standard deviation and standard error for Fv/Fm measurements taken throughout the experiment. The worksheet labelled 'Graphs Fv/Fm' contains graphs showing means and standard error for Fv/Fm on day 28. The worksheet 'Raw data and calculations pigm' contains chlorophyll a and b and carotenoid data. The column headings are: - nominal fuel concentration (mg SAB/kg soil) - the spiked fuel concentration - actual fuel concentration (mg TPH/kg soil)- the actual measured fuel concentrations determined from GC - replicate number - species - water level - high water or low water treatment - tube (g) - weight of empty Eppendorf tubes, in grams, in which samples were collected for pigment extraction - tube + wet (g) - weight of tube + wet moss/algal sample in grams - wet sample (g) - weight of wet sample in grams - tube + dry (g) - weight of tube + dry moss/algal sample in grams - dry sample (g) - weight of dry sample in grams - dry sample (mg) - weight of dry sample in milligrams - dilution - dilution level of extracted sample to 80%acetone:20% MilliQ water used for spectrometry measurements - spectrometry readings at 750, 663.2, 646.8 and 470nm - columns for calculations to determine chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, total chlorophyll (a+b), chlorophyll a:b ratio, total carotenoids and carotenoid:chlorophyll ratio. - Calculations were based on equations from Lichtenthaler H. K. and Buschmann C. (2001). The worksheet 'Means StDev StErr Pigment' has calculations of means, standard deviation and standard error for chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, total chlorophyll (a+b), chlorophyll a:b ratio, total carotenoids and carotenoid:chlorophyll ratio for day 21. The column headings are: - nominal fuel concentration (mg SAB/kg soil) - the spiked fuel concentration - actual fuel concentration (mg TPH/kg soil)- the actual measured fuel concentrations determined from GC - replicate number - species - water level - high water or low water - Chlorophyll a - amount of chlorophyll a in sample - Chlorophyll b - amount of chlorophyll b in sample - chl a (micro mol.g/dw) - chlorophyll a expressed as a concentration - chl b (micro mol.g/dw) - chlorophyll b expressed as a concentration - Chlorophyll a:b - chlorophyll a to chlorophyll b ratio - Total chlorophyll (micro mol.g/dw) - total chlorophyll (a+b) expressed as a concentration - Total carotenoids - amount of carotenoids in sample - Total carotenoids (micro mol.g/dw) - carotenoids expressed as a concentration - Carotenoid:Chlorophyll - carotenoids to total chlorophyll (a+b) ratio - Chlorophyll:Carotenoid - total chlorophyll (a+b) to carotenoids ratio The worksheet labelled 'Graphs Pigment Bryum' contains graphs showing means and standard error for total chlorophyll (a+b) (micro mol.g/dw), total carotenoids (micro mol.g/dw) and carotenoid:chlorophyll ratio for B. pseudotriquetrum on day 28. The worksheet labelled 'Graphs Pigment Schistidium' contains graphs showing means and standard error for total chlorophyll (a+b) (micro mol.g/dw), total carotenoids (micro mol.g/dw) and carotenoid:chlorophyll ratio for S. antarctici on day 28. The worksheet labelled 'Graphs Pigment Ceratodon' contains graphs showing means and standard error for total chlorophyll (a+b) (micro mol.g/dw), total carotenoids (micro mol.g/dw) and carotenoid:chlorophyll ratio for C. purpureus on day 28. The worksheet labelled 'Graphs Pigment Local Ceratodon' contains graphs showing means and standard error for total chlorophyll (a+b) (micro mol.g/dw), total carotenoids (micro mol.g/dw) and carotenoid:chlorophyll ratio for Local C. purpureus on day 28. The worksheet labelled 'Graphs Pigment Prasiola' contains graphs showing means and standard error for total chlorophyll (a+b) (micro mol.g/dw), total carotenoids (micro mol.g/dw) and carotenoid:chlorophyll ratio for P. crispa on day 28. References Environment Canada (2005). Biological test method: test for measuring emergence and growth of terrestrial plants exposed to contaminants in soil. Environment Canada, Method Development and Applications section, Environmental Science and Technology centre, Ontario Canada. EPS //RM/45.
This series of experiments were conducted in the Casey station laboratories, using field collected moss samples, during the 1999/2000 summer field season. The work is fully described in Wasley et al. 2006 and Chapter 5 of Wasley 2004 (pp. 118-152), full citation details are: - Wasley J., Robinson S.A., Lovelock C.E., Popp M. (2006) Some like it wet — biological characteristics underpinning tolerance of extreme water stress events in Antarctic bryophytes, Functional Plant Biology 33. 443-455. - Wasley J. (2004) The Effect of Climate Change on Antarctic Terrestrial Flora, Doctor of Philosophy, University of Wollongong 191pp. In summary, three byrophyte species were investigated: Bryum pseudotriquetrum, Ceratodon purpureus and Grimmia antarctici (later taxonomically revised as Schistidium antarctici). Samples of the three moss species were collected early, mid and late season (2/12/99, 24/1/00 and 27/2/00) from ASPA 135 on Bailey Peninsula. Additional samples of G. antarctici were also collected from the edge of the melt lake behind the Casey station accommodation building. Selected samples were used to determine a range of biological traits for the three species, including: - morphology (gametophyte density and width) - physiological response to desiccation and subsequent recovery - a range of plant biochemical characteristics (soluble carbohydrates, fatty acids, nitrogen and carbon contents and N and C stable isotope signatures) These traits were used to assess the biological characteristics underpinning relative tolerance of desiccation in the three Antarctic bryophytes species. This work improves our understanding of how these three species survive extreme water stress events in the Antarctic environment. The raw data associated with this work, in the form of laboratory notebook scans are available in Metadata record name: JWasley-LabBook-Casey-1999-2000 (http://data.aad.gov.au/metadata/records/JWasley-LabBook-Casey-1999-2000). Following is a description of these scanned data – which are arranged in three sections: 1. early-season, 2. mid-season and 3. late-season experiments. 1. The early-season experiment, using samples of moss collected from the field on 2 December 1999, is recorded on pages 5-22 of the laboratory notebook and uses filename "desiccation 991203". This batch of work, includes: - Sub-sample weights for analysis of soluble sugars prior to desiccation; T0 sugars (p5) - Key to randomised sample locations in 24 well tray (p6) - Method description and notes (p7) - Desiccation experiment data; Fv/Fm (photosynthetic efficiency) and sample mass (for calculation of relative water content). Starts T0 (5:30PM, 3/12/99) on p9 and continues to T12 (4PM, 6/12/99) on p12. - Estimation of gametophyte densities; desiccated on 7/12/99 and rehydrated on 13/12/99. Includes methods notes (p14) - Recovery from desiccation: planning notes and methods (p15-17); recovery data up to T11 at 24 hours (1440 min), with time since hydration recorded (min:sec) and corresponding Fv/Fm measured. Sample weight recorded at T0 when still desiccated and at 24 h since hydration. (p18-21) - Sub-sample weights for analysis of soluble sugars after desiccation (T1 sugars) and after recovery from desiccation (T2 sugars) (p22) 2. The mid-season experiment, using samples of moss collected from the field on 21 January 2000, is recorded on pages 47-79 of the laboratory notebook and uses filename "desiccation 000125". This batch of work, includes: - Sample collection and methods notes (p47) - Key to randomised sample locations in 24 well tray (p48) - Sub-sample weights for analysis of soluble sugars prior to desiccation; T0 sugars (p49) - Desiccation experiment data; Fv/Fm (photosynthetic efficiency) and sample mass (for calculation of relative water content). Starts T0 12:30AM, 26/01/00) on p50 and continues to T22 (12PM, 03/02/00; 203.5 hours) on p59. - Recovery from desiccation: up to T13 at ~24 hours, with time since hydration recorded (min:sec) and corresponding Fv/Fm measured. Sample weight recorded at T0 when still desiccated and at T9, T12 and T13 ~1,4 and 24 h since hydration (p62-65) - Note: p66-69 are blank - Sub-sample weights for analysis of organic content and method notes (p70) - Sub-sample weights for analysis of soluble sugars prior to desiccation; T0 sugars (p71), after desiccation (T1 sugars) and after recovery from desiccation (T2 sugars) (p73-75), sugar sub-sample label details and notes (p79). - Estimation of gametophyte densities; desiccated and rehydrated (p76-77) and methods notes (p78). 3. The late-season experiment, using samples of moss collected from the field on 27 February 2000, is recorded on pages 87-89 and 94-121 of the laboratory notebook and uses filename "desiccation 000228". This batch of work, includes: - Sample collection and methods notes (p87) - Key to randomised sample locations in 24 well tray (p88) - Estimation of gametophyte densities; desiccated and rehydrated and methods notes (p89) - Note: p90-93 are associated with a different experiment. - Desiccation experiment data; Fv/Fm (photosynthetic efficiency) and sample mass (for calculation of relative water content). Starts T0 12:00AM (midnight), 28/02/00) on p94 and continues to T30 (11:30AM, 08/03/00) on p117. Note: p96-99 are associated with a different part of this same experiment (see below). - Sub-sample weights for analysis of soluble sugars prior to desiccation; T0 sugars (p96-97), after desiccation (T1 sugars) and after recovery from desiccation (T2 sugars) (p98-99), sugar sub-sample label details and notes (p79). - Recovery from desiccation: up to T19 at 20 hours, with time since hydration recorded (min:sec) and corresponding Fv/Fm measured. Sample weight recorded at T0 when still desiccated and at T9, T12 and T13 ~1,4 and 24 h since hydration (p62-65) Data files, additional to laboratory notebook Filename – description - Desiccation_991203_updated2018.xlsx - early-season desiccation experiment, measurements primarily photosynthetic efficiency and water content - Desiccation_000125_updated2018.xlsx – mid-season desiccation experiment, measurements primarily photosynthetic efficiency and water content - Desiccation_000228_updated2018.xlsx – late-season desiccation experiment, measurements primarily photosynthetic efficiency and water content - Desiccation_Suagars.xlsx – soluble carbohydrate (sugar) contents of moss samples collected in association with the three desiccation experiments - Desiccation_Gametophyte Densities.xlsx – moss gametophyte densities measured for turf samples in association with the three desiccation experiments
Metadata record for data from ASAC Project 1104 See the link below for public details on this project. ---- Public Summary from Project---- Mosses are dominant plants in the vegetation of continental Antarctica. This projects measurements of moss growth rates in several habitats will allow estimates of the ages of stands of moss, predictions of the rate of recovery from disturbance, and predictions of moss growth rates under changed climatic conditions. From the abstract of the referenced paper: Using steel pins inserted into growing moss colonies near Casey Station, Wilkes Land, continental Antarctica, we have measured the growth rate of three moss species: Bryum pseudotriquetrum and Schistidium antarctici over 20 years and Ceratodon purpureus over 10 years. This has provided the first long term growth measurements for plants in Antarctica, confirming that moss shoots grow extremely slowly in Antarctica, elongating between 1 and 5 mm per year. Moss growth rates are dependent on availability of water. Antheridia were observed on some stems of B. pseudotriquetrum; no archegonia or sporophytes were observed. Stems bearing antheridia elongated much more slowly than vegetative stems in the same habitat. Two other methods of growth rate measurement were tested, and gave similar rates of elongation over shorter periods of time. However, for long-term measurements, the steel pin measurements proved remarkably reproducible and reliable.
This metadata record describes supplementary material to accompany the listed publication, and the data described in the paper and the supplementary material relates to AAS (ASAC) project 1313, as well as the State of the Environment indicator (SOE 72) relating to Windmill Islands vegetation. The vegetation surveys described in this publication are the 1999/2000 baseline data associated with SOE 72 and AAS 1313. Taken from the publication: Extreme environmental conditions prevail on the Antarctic continent and limit plant diversity to cryptogamic communities, dominated by bryophytes and lichens. Even small abiotic shifts, associated with climate change, are likely to have pronounced impacts on these communities that currently exist at their physiological limit of survival. Changes to moisture availability, due to precipitation shifts or alterations to permanent snow reserves will most likely cause greatest impact. In order to establish a baseline for determining the effect of climate change on continental Antarctic terrestrial communities and to better understand bryophyte species distributions in relation to moisture in a floristically important Antarctic region, this study surveyed finescale bryophyte patterns and turf water and nutrient contents along community gradients in the Windmill Islands, East Antarctica. The survey found that the Antarctic endemic, Schistidium antarctici, dominated the wettest habitats, Bryum pseudotriquetrum distribution spanned the gradient, whilst Ceratodon purpureus and Cephaloziella varians were restricted to driest habitats. These patterns, along with knowledge of these species relative physiology, suggest the endemic Schistidium antarctici will be negatively impacted under a drying trend. This study provides a model for quantitative finescale analysis of bryophyte distributions in cryptogamic communities and forms an important reference site for monitoring impacts of climate change in Antarctica.
Samples were collected at ASPA 135, at the melt lake, northeast side. This metadata record provides data collected during 2002/3 at Casey. Temperature sensors (i-buttons) were inserted into moss beds and a range of associated measurements were recorded (e.g. moisture and photosynthetic activity). The work was conducted by Jane Wasley and Johanna Turnbull over a two week period, from 15 to 28 January 2003. Field site location The field site was located in ASPA 135, on the northeast side of the melt lake. Approximate coordinates of the field site are: NW 110 32 32.5E, 66 16 56.0S NE 110 32 34.9E, 66 16 56.0S SW 110 32 37.6E, 66 16 58.5S SE 110 32 40.6E, 66 16 58.5S These coordinates for the site were estimated visually by Jane Wasley 15 April 2015. The area bound by theses coordinates is therefore approximate only. The shape of the site bounded by these coordinates is a parallelogram (see red polygon: ASPA 135_PML field site 2002-3.docx) and is positioned in the north-east corner of the ASPA135 meltlake, running along the eastern side. Related files - JTurnbull labbook Casey2002-3.pdf This file is a scanned copy of selected pages of Johanna Turnbull's laboratory notebook from Casey 2002/3 that provides mud map sketches of the field sites she sampled from during 2002/3 at Casey. This includes, on the page numbered 53, a mud map of "PML". (the ibutton field notes 2002-3.pdf file notes the work related to this data set was conducted "all in PML"). ASPA 135_PML field site 2002-3.docx This file provides an image of the approximate location of the field site "PML", marked as a red polygon. This polygon was estimated visually by Jane Wasley 15/4/15. Site name abbreviations used in field notebook (ibutton field notes 2002-3.pdf): PML = Plateau Melt Lake. Note that this site is also referred to, in other documentation for the season (not provided), as MLE = Melt Lake East, where PML and MLE are the same site (initially referred to as PLM, but later changed name to MLE). Methods: On 15 January 2003, 18 ibutton temperature sensors were inserted into moss beds. The sensors were pushed into the moss turf, so they were positioned just below the moss turf surface (measuring moss turf temperate close to turf surface, but away from surface effects of wind etc). Three species of moss were included (Ceratodon purpureus; Bryum pseudotriquetrum; Grimmia antarctici (since taxonomically revised as: Schistidium antarctici) and two micro-positions (ridge or valley) were used (moss grows in an undulating ridge/valley formation). A moisture reading (in volts) was recorded for each of the 18 sampling points (and corresponding reading obtained with probe submerged in water). Sponge cores were inserted into the sampling points to estimate moss turf moisture contents (to be removed for measurement at week 1, then a new set inserted for removal at week 2). At 1 week, on 23/1/03, the following measurements were made at each of the 18 sampling points: 1. Chlorophyll fluorescence using a mini-PAM (Waltz, Germany). See "SET" letters A to R, MEM # and YIELD in field notebook. Corresponding PAM data file not available to date (will be added to this metadata record later if can be found). If found, data in file will correspond to notebook via "Mark", No. and Yield, respectively. 2. Moss turf moisture content via sponge cores measured gravimetrically. See "changed vial moisture probe #" in field notebook (ibutton field notes 2002-3.pdf) and 'Tube #' in lab notebook (ibutton lab notes 2002-3.pdf) for wet weight and dry weight of sponge cores, to estimate turf water content. 3. Moss surface temperature (degrees C) using a hand held infrared thermometer (Scotchtrack T Heat tracer IR1600L; 3M, Austin TX, USA), see field notebook (ibutton field notes 2002-3.pdf) for data. 4. Moss turf moisture content (in volts) using a "PJ" moisture probe. No further information available about make/model. The moisture probe intermittently measured also in a salt solution ("Salty O"), using 2 x rounded teaspoons of table salt in approximately 200 mL of tap water. At week 2, on 28/1/03, measurements were repeated as per 23/1/03. The chlorophyll fluorescence data is provided in PAM_030129.xls. List of abbreviations (used in data files and/or field notebook): C = Ceratodon purpureus; B = Bryum pseudotriquetrum; G = Grimmia antarctici R = Ridge; V = Valley letters A to R indicate "SET" in field notebook (23 and 28/1/03) and "Mark" in file PAM_030129.xls I.R = infrared Yield = photosynthetic yield, measured via chlorophyll fluorescence Related files - Scanned copies of relevant pages from field (ibutton field notes 2002-3.pdf) and laboratory (ibutton lab notes 2002-3.pdf) notebooks. Data files (ibutton field expt_030129.xls and PAM_030129_working.xls).
Metadata ID: ASAC_1313_Transects_2002-03 Title: Windmill Islands vegetation transects, surveyed 2002/03 (baseline) This record contains data associated with a Windmill Islands vegetation baseline survey conducted in 2002/03, under ASAC_1313. A previous pilot survey is described under metadata ID: ASAC_1087_Transects_1999-00 and surveys conducted after the baseline described here are recorded in metadata IDs: ASAC_1313_Transects_2007-08, ASAC_3042_Transects_2010-11, AAS_3129_Transects_2011-12, AAS_4046_Transects_2012-13. A description of the survey design (relevant to all survey periods and above mentioned metadata IDs) follow. In 2002/03 a series of vegetation transects were established at two Windmill Island sites: (1) Antarctic Specially Protected Area (ASPA) 135, on Bailey Peninsula (66.283 S, 110.533 E), and (2) Robinson Ridge (66.368 S, 110.587 E). See SCAR Map Catalogue (maps 14450 and 14451) for location details. In summary: Each site included 10 transects. Transects spanned a vegetation community gradient, from pure bryophyte stands to the point at which the bryophyte turf was predominantly moribund and encrusted with lichens. Transect locations established in 2002/03 were in different locations within the two sites from that surveyed in 1999/2000, but remained fixed thereafter. Transect lengths ranged between approximately 1 and 4 m (for 1999/2000 pilot; length information not known for transects established 2002/03). Transects were surveyed using quadrats (portable metal frames) to mark the survey area. Three quadrat positions were established per transect: end positions referred to as "Bryophyte" and "Lichen" communities and the middle position referred to as "Transitional" community. The location of quadrat positions are marked with small metal tags glued to nearby rocks. Letters on tags are: A, M and B; where A = Lichen community, M = Transitional community and B = Bryophyte community. For each quadrat location the vegetation was sampled, collecting nine small (tweezer-pinch size) vegetation samples at 10 cm intervals across a 20 x 20 cm quadrat. The vegetation surface of each quadrat was photographed (25 x 25 cm quadrat) and environmental variables such as moisture availability were determined. For details, see QuadratSpecs.txt (this metadata record) and metadata ID: AAS_4046_Transects_2012-13, data file: Transects Data Summary_2000-2013.xlsx, worksheet "Quadrat". Vegetation samples were analysed for species composition using microscopy techniques, with live bryophytes identified to species level and lichens to broad morphological groups. Quadrat photographs were analysed for broad vegetation cover patterns (e.g. % cover live moss, dead moss, crustose lichen etc). A list of all vegetation categories scored follows (with abbreviations commonly used in associated data files provided in brackets): Live bryophytes; green (Live Bryo, Live moss) Moribund bryophytes; dead/brown/encrusted (Mori, Moribund) bryophyte species Bryum pseudotriquetrum (Bry, Bryum) bryophyte species Ceratodon purpureus (Cerat, Ceratodon) bryophyte species Schistidium antarctici (Schistidium and Grim, Grimmia*) bryophyte species Cephaloziella varians (Ceph) Fruticose Lichens (Fr) Foliose Lichens (Fo) Crustose Lichens (Cr) (* in 2002/03 this species was still referred to as Grimmia antarctici, abbreviation: Grim, thereafter it is referred to as Schistidium antarctici). Further details for transect sample collection are provided in Ryan-Colton 2007, King 2009 and Benny 2013 (and for pilot survey conducted in 1999/2000, see Wasley 2004 and Wasley et al 202). Descriptions of data associated with this record are provided below under the following headings: 1. LOCATION (GPS) DATA (and MAPS) 2. QUADRAT PHOTOS 3. NOTEBOOK SCANS 4. MICROSCOPY SCORE SHEETS 5. FINESCALE SPECIES ABUNDANCE (MICROSCOPY) 6. BROADSCALE PERCENT COVER (IMAGE ANALYSIS) 7. ENVIRONMENTAL VARIABLES (e.g. MOISTURE, TEMPERATURE) 8. PROCESSED/COMPILED/WORKED Descriptions of data provided: 1. LOCATION (GPS) DATA (and MAPS) See data provided in metadata ID: AAS_4046_Transects_2012-13 and maps 14450 and 14451 in the SCAR Map Catalogue: http://data.aad.gov.au/aadc/mapcat/display_map.cfm?map_id=14450 and http://data.aad.gov.au/aadc/mapcat/display_map.cfm?map_id=14451. 2. QUADRAT PHOTOS TO BE PROVIDED - photo files for all quadrats (and transect/site images) 3. NOTEBOOK SCANS TO BE PROVIDED - as scanned PDFs - Laboratory notebook - Jane Wasley has hardcopy (to scan) at AAD - Field notebook - Jane Wasley has hardcopy (to scan) at AAD 4. MICROSCOPY SCORE SHEETS FILE: ASAC_1313-Transects 2002-03-Microscopy.pdf The provided pdf file is a scanned copy of A4 pages that were used as score sheets for microscopy analysis of vegetation samples collected from transects in 2002/03. Samples were analysed (for species composition) via microscopy techniques after collection (analysis date/s not known, except 20/2/03 which is given on the last page of the provided file (page 20 of 20) is 20/2/03). These samples will have been analysed over a long period of time (weeks?) around this date. One page per transect. Transects located at two sites: "Meltpuddle" and "Robbos" (corresponding to M and R in quadrat labels, respectively). Transect and quadrat locations are as provided in metadata ID: Windmill Islands Vegetation Transects (noting that Meltpuddle = ASPA 135). Each transect includes three quadrats (labelled: A, M, B). A = lichen community, M = transitional community, B = bryophyte community Description of terms and abbreviations: - Transect: Transect ID; two sites: Meltpuddle and Robbos, numbers 1-10 are transect number - Quadrat: Quadrat ID; e.g. M2A (USNEA). First character = site (M=Meltpuddle; R= Robbos), second character = transect number (1-10), third character = community (A=Lichen, M=Transitional, B=Bryopyte) - Tray: label and position information of where the nine samples per quadrat were stored. Samples were stored in tissue culture trays with wells (24 wells per tray; to be confirmed via lab or field notebooks) e.g. 17 (1-3) would indicate tray number 17 (rows, 1-3). - Sample ID: e.g. 1A, 3C. Description of vegetation categories scored: Bryophytes were determined as dead (brown) or live (green). If live then identified to species. Lichens were determined as macro or crustose lichens. If macro then identified to taxa. Full list of vegetation categories follows, terms provided in brackets ( ) are those used in metadata ID: Windmill Islands Vegetation Transects, if different from that used here: BRYOPHYTES - - Dead Bryophytes: bryophytes; dead/brown/encrusted (Moribund) - Live Brophytes: bryophytes; live/green (Live Bryo) Bryum = bryophyte species Bryum pseudotriquetrum Ceratodon = bryophyte species Ceratodon purpureus Grimmia = bryophyte species Grimmia Antarctici (Schistidium antarctici) Ceph = bryophyte species Cephaloziella varians LICHENS - - Macro Lichens: Usnea = lichen taxa Usnea spp. (Fruticose Lichens) Umbilicaria = lichen taxa Umbilicaria sp. (Foliose Lichens) Pseudophebe = lichen taxa Pseudophebe sp. (Fruticose Lichens) - Crustose Lichen: lichen taxa, all species of crustose form (Crustose Lichens) Hand written scores (numbers 0-4) are observations via microscopy analysis of each tweezer-pinch sized vegetation sample. Each sample was scored for relative abundance of each vegetation category, using a modified Braun- Blanquet scale (dominant=4, co-dominant=3, low abundance=2, trace=1 and absent=0). Details as described in Wasley et al 2012, Wasley 2004 and Ryan-Colton 2007. Hand written notes include: - Apotheca: fungal fruiting bodies obseved - NSUS: No sample collected, Usnea spp. present at sampling point - NSRO: No sample collected, rock at sampling point - NSCR: No sample collected, crustose lichens at sampling point - NSPS: No sample collected, Pseudophebe spp. present at sampling point - NSPS: No sample collected, Umbilicaria spp. present at sampling point - +US: Usnea spp. present at sampling point, in addition to the sample collected. - +US (CD): Usnea spp. co-dominant at sampling point (in addition to the sample collected). Note: this file was previously named: Transects 1999-2000_microscopy score sheets.pdf - indicating the data relate to samples collected in 1999/2000. Jane Wasley has changed this to 2002/03 (July 2015) for the following reasons: - the date on the last page (page 20 of 20) is 20/2/03 - Each transect only has three quadrats (A,M,B). This was the experimental design followed in 2002/3 (onward), but in the 1999/2000 survey there up to 17 quadrats per transect. This file has therefore been renamed 2002/3. Further information should be checked via raw data and field/lab notebooks and can be updated if required. 5. FINESCALE SPECIES ABUNDANCE (MICROSCOPY) FILE: Transects-Microscopy-2002-03.xls Note, this file (prior to 2015) had been located at: SOE_Windmill_Island_veg.zip\SOE_Windmill_Island_veg\2008 Data updates\Transect Microscopy.xls, indicating it was 2007/08 data. In July 2015, Jane Wasley renamed the file as 2002/03. Other sources should be crossed check to confirm this change from 2008 to 2003 is correct (JW thinks 2008 was the year this data was submitted to AADC, but the data relates to samples collected in 2002/03). Data provided in worksheet "raw" are values between 0-4, as described in worksheet "metadata". Samples were scored for species/taxa relative abundance using a modified Braun- Blanquet scale (dominant=4, co-dominant=3, low abundance=2, trace=1 and absent=0). This scoring method was also used for the 1999/2000 survey (metadata ID: ASAC_1087_Transects_1999-00), as described in Wasley et al 2012 and Wasley 2004. Field names as per other descriptions related to this metadata record (and other related "transects" metadata records). Some details provided in worksheet "metadata". 6. BROADSCALE PERCENT COVER (IMAGE ANALYSIS) FILE: Transects-%Cover-2002-03.xls Note, as per previous file, this file (prior to 2015) had been located at: SOE_Windmill_Island_veg.zip\SOE_Windmill_Island_veg\2008 Data updates\Transect % cover.xls, indicating it was 2007/08 data. In July 2015, Jane Wasley has renamed the file as 2002/03. The file provided is raw present cover data, collected in the field via visual observations (by Jane Wasley). Quadrat area = 20 x 20 cm, gridded at 5 cm intervals. Each quadrat has 16 observations recorded (labelled using a row/column system, labelled A1 through to D4; each representing one 5 x 5 cm grid square). Note: this methods was also used for 1999/2000 transects, but was not included from 2007/08 onward - replaced instead by analysis of quadrat photos. Worksheet names: Raw Field Book - raw data as recorded in field notebook %A - working step one, calculation of percent cover from raw data %B - working step two, calculation of percent cover from raw data Metadata - descriptions of abbreviations and terms. 7. ENVIRONMENTAL VARIABLES (e.g. MOISTURE, TEMPERATURE) FILE: Transects-TurfWaterContent-2002-03.xls Note, as per previous files, this file (prior to 2015) had been located at: SOE_Windmill_Island_veg.zip\SOE_Windmill_Island_veg\2008 Data updates\Turf Water Content.xls, indicating it was 2007/08 data. In July 2015, Jane Wasley has renamed the file as 2002/03. The file provided is raw turf water content data, measured via deployment of sponge cores into moss turf. Sponge cores were inserted into the vegetation, left to equilibrate for a period of time then collected in pre-weighed air tight tubes and returned to the laboratory. Wet weight was recorded (g). Sponges dried to determine dry weight (g). These data used to calculate TWC. TWC = (Wet weight-Dry weight)/Dry weight (g. H2O g-1 dw). Two worksheets: 'raw'contains data and 'metadata'provides descriptions for data field names and abbreviations. 8. PROCESSED/COMPILED/WORKED FILE: SoE72_update_0108.doc This word doc provides a summary of survey status. Likely prepared by Ellen Ryan-Colton, but details not known. Date prepared unknown. Appears to provide data collected 2002/03 only. FILES: Ellen Ryan-Colton 2007_Thesis.pdf and Ellen Ryan-Colton 2007_Appendix.pdf The files provided are PDF files of the University of Wollongong Honours thesis written by Ellen Ryan-Colon in 2007. This thesis presents the 2002/03 baseline survey data, provides a toolkit detailing survey methods for future surveys and trials some image analysis techniques (as an alternative to collecting broadscale percent cover data visually in the field). Data were collected from ASPA 135 and Robinson Ridge, as shown in maps 14450 and 14451 in the SCAR Map Catalogue.
We investigated how surface reflectance properties and pigment concentrations of Antarctic moss varied over species, sites, icrotopography, and with water content. We found that species had significantly different surface reflectance properties, particularly in the region of the red edge (approximately 700 nm), but this did not correlate strongly with pigment concentrations. Surface reflectance of moss also varied in the visible region and in the characteristics of the red edge over different sites. Reflectance parameters, such as the Photochemical Reflectance Index (PRI) and Cold Hard Band (CBH) were useful discriminators of site, microtopographic position and water content. The PRI was correlated both with the concentrations of active xanthophyll-cycle pigments and the photosynthetic light use efficiency, Fv/Fm, measured using chlorophyll fluorescence. Water content of moss strongly influenced the amplitude and position of the red-edge as well as the PRI, and may be responsible for observed differences in reflectance properties for different species and sites. All moss showed sustained high levels of photoprotective xanthophyll pigments, especially at exposed sites, indicating moss is experiencing continual high levels of photochemical stress. The fields in this dataset are: Sample Ridge/Valley Site Species Pigments The site codes used in this dataset are: ROB = Robinson Ridge (Windmill Islands) RS = Red Shed (Casey Living Quarters - inside station limits) SC = Science Building (Casey - inside station limits) The species codes used in this dataset are: B = Bryum pseudotriquetrum C = Ceratodon purpureus G= Grimmia antarctici