Plant communities from ice-free areas of demay point, King George Island, Antarctica

Abstract

This research presents the study of plant communities in ice-free areas of Demay Point, which is located at the south of the Admiralty Bay, King George Island, Antarctica. The aim of this research was to collect data about the plant coverage, classification and distribution of plant communities, contributing with the evaluation of possible environmental impacts of anthropogenic or natural origin, following the evolution of such communities over the length of time. The study started with the classification and description of the plant communities based mainly on the plant physiognomy, biodiversity and the relation with local abiotic factors. Each community was mapped with an Astech Promark II DGPS and the data was processed using AstechSolutions software to obtain sub-metric accuracy. Seven plant communities were identified and described as: 1 Grass and cushion chamaephyte formation; 1.2 Deschampsia and mosses subformation; 2 Moss carpet formation; 3 Moss hummock formation; 4 Moss tuft formation; 5 Fruticose lichen and moss tuft formation and 6 Fellfield communities. These plant communities are shown in a map, with their description.