USAP-DC

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Morphological Traits of Antarctic Plants Data DOI: https://doi.org/10.15784/602020 Cite as Eppley, S. (2026) "Morphological Traits of Antarctic Plants" U.S. Antarctic Program (USAP) Data Center. doi: https://doi.org/10.15784/602020. Abstract With rapid glacial retreat occurring in Antarctica, more and more ice-free regions are becoming available for colonization by Antarctica’s assemblage of terrestrial plants, promoting unprecedented recent rates of Antarctic-greening. Although there have been numerous studies aimed at understanding the processes and mechanisms of soil and vegetation development following glacial retreat in high latitude montane systems, we have a limited understanding of soil and vegetative development patterns with glacial retreat in Antarctica. Further, we have virtually no understanding of the mechanisms of successional vegetative processes during glacial retreat in Antarctica nor how this associated greening will impact terrestrial ecosystem function, such as how carbon moves through the system, in this rapidly changing environment. During three field seasons from 2022-2024, we conducted intensive surveys of plant-soil interactions across succession sites, and we implemented a manipulative transplant experiment, in which we moved different plant species into soil that had never had plant growth previously. We conducted this research in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica to determine how different Antarctic plant species affect the soil in which they grow. Using samples we collected during these field seasons, we measured plant functional traits (including nutrients, water holding capacity, morphological traits and thermal traits); soil physical properties and biogeochemistry; and soil microbial and invertebrate communities. Our results suggest that taken together, nutrient- and water-based, plant functional traits demonstrate that Antarctic plants exhibit differentiated ecological strategies that can be linked to key ecosystem processes—carbon accumulation, nutrient cycling, water regulation, and microhabitat stabilization. Additionally, our experiment shows that Antarctic plant species can significantly differentially affect soil carbon in a relatively short time span. These results have important implications with respect to how species-specific effects of plants influence soil properties, including carbon cycling, during glacial retreat. Training of graduate and undergraduate researchers was a key component of our research, and students were able to present their results at international meetings. Creator(s): Eppley, Sarah Date Created: 2026-01-19 Repository: USAP-DC (current) License: Creative Commons Attribution Only v4.0 Generic [CC BY 4.0] Spatial Extent(s) West: -62.83, East: -54.83, South: -63.83, North: -60.9 Temporal Extent(s) Start: 2022-01-01 - End: 2025-08-31 Award(s) NSF 1932844 Version: 1 Related Project(s) Collaborative Research: Exploring the Functional Role of Antarctic Plants during Terrestrial Succession Keywords Antarctica Biota Cryosphere Plants South Shetland Islands