The bones of Livingston Island—history of plant succession in Antarctica

Ossos da Ilha Livingston – história da sucessão em plantas na Antártica

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21276/pt.2025.v2.i1.2

Keywords:

Plant succession, Ecology, Pinnipedia, Skeletons

Abstract

The bones found in the beaches of Byers Peninsula, Livingston Island - Antarctica are testimonies of almost two hundred years ago when the area was full of seals and whales hunters. The remaining´s of that period are composed of complete skeletons and dispersed bones, most of them around the area called Southern Beach, which was surveyed in 2020 and 2023. The plant coverage of 33 whale bones was evaluated using a square of 20 x 20 cm, and species found were collected for identification. The soil surrounding five complete seal skeletons was studied, and its plant community evaluated. The whale bones were found colonized by 16 plant species, being Pertusaria sp. (lichen) the most frequent and Deschampsia antarctica (the Antarctic grass), Brachythecium austrosalebrosum and Ditrichum sp. (both mosses) are reported for the first time on this substrate. There were found 5 mosses, 12 lichens, and one flowering plant associated directly to seal bones and other associated with the soil in the surroundings of the skeletons. Plant succession on bones in Antarctica is also occurring and any movement of them caused by anthropic or other interferences can change the community entirely.

Author Biographies

  • Fernando Augusto Bertazzo-Silva, Universidade Federal do Pampa – São Gabriel – RS, Brasil

    Faculty

  • Jair Putzke, Universidade Federal do Pampa – São Gabriel – RS, Brasil

    Professor

  • Lilian Pedroso Maggio, Universidade Federal do Pampa – São Gabriel – RS, Brazil

    Faculty

  • Angela Silva Miasaki, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Brazil

    Faculty

  • José João Lelis Leal de Souza, https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4670-6626

    Faculty

  • Marisa Terezinha Lopes Putzke , Universidade de Santa Cruz do Sul

    Faculty

  • Carlos Ernesto Gonçalves Reynaud Schaefer, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Brazil

    Faculty

References

Paijmans AJ, Stofel MA, Bester MN, Cleary AC, Bruyn PJN, Forcada, J, Goebel ME, Goldsworthy SD, Guinet C, Lydersen C, Kovacs KM, Lowther A, Hofman JI. The genetic legacy of extreme exploitation in a polar vertebrate. Sci Rep. 2020; 10: 5089. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-61560-8

Villagran XS, Schaefer Cegr, Ligouis B. Living in the cold: Geoarchaeology of sealing sites from Byers Peninsula (Livingston Island, Antarctica). Quaternary International XXX, 2013; 1 - 16.

Putzke J, Schaefer CEGR, Villa PM, Almeida PHA. Whale bones: a key and endangered substrate for cryptogams in Antarctica. Polar Biol. 2021; 2021: 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-021-02944-y

Rakusa-Suszczewski S, Nedzarek, A. Whale bones and macroalgae as source of nutrients and cations in the nearshore geoecosystem of Admiralty Bay (King George Island, Antarctica). Pol J Ecol. 200; 250: 389–396.

Olech M. Lichenological assessment of the Cape Lions Rump, King George Island, South Shetlands; a baseline for monitoring biological changes. Pol Polar Res. 1996; 15: 111–130.

Albuquerque M, Putzke J, Schünemann A, Vieira F, Victoria F, Pereira A. Colonisation of stranded whale bones by lichens and mosses at Hennequin Point, King George Island, Antarctica. Polar Rec. 2018; 54(1): 29-35. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0032247418000062

Øvstedal DO, Lewis-Smith RI. Lichens of Antarctica and South Georgia: a guide to their identification and ecology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2001; 453p.

Ochyra R, Lewis-Smith RI, Bednarek-Ochyra H. The Illustrated Moss Flora of Antarctic. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2008.

Duckett J. Whale bones: the world´s most endangered bryophyte habitat. File Bryology. 2017.118: 3–7.

Putzke J, Schaefer CEGR, Thomazini A, Francelino MR, Schünneman AL, Vieira FCB, Putzke MTL, Schmitz D, Laindorf BL, Pereira AB. Changes in pant communities and soil attributes in the “Cousteau’s whale bone skeleton” tourist attraction area in Keller Peninsula after 48 years. An Acad Bras Ciênc. 2022; 94 (suppl.1): 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1590/0001-3765202220191467.

Braun-Blanquet J. Plant Sociology: The study of plant communities. McGraw-Hill, New York. 1932.

Putzke J, Pereira AB. The Antarctic Mosses with special reference to the South Shetlands Islands. 1st ed. Editora da Ulbra. 2001.

Redon J. Liquens Antárticos. Instituto Antártico Chileno (INACH) Santiago de Chile. 1985.

Stoops G. Guidelines for analysis and description of soil and regolith thin sections. Soil Science Society of America, Madison. 2003.

Iuss Working Group Wrb. World Reference Base for Soil Resources 2014, update 2015 International soil classification system for naming soils and creating legends for soil maps, World Soil Resources Reports. FAO, Rome. 2015. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0014479706394902

Donagema GK, Campos DVB, Calderano SB, Teixeira WG, Viana JHM. Manual de métodos de análise de solos. 2nd ed. Embrapa Solos, Rio de Janeiro. 2011.

Yeomans JC, Bremner JM. A rapid and precise method for routine determination of organic carbon in soil. Commun. Soil Sci Plant Anal. 1988; 19: 1467–1476. https://doi.org/10.1080/00103628809368027

Alvarez VH, Novais RF, Dias LE, Oliveira JÁ. Determinação e uso do fósforo remanescente. Revista Brasileira de Ciência do Solo. 2000; 25: 27–32.

Durand N, Monger HC, Canti MG. Calcium Carbonate Features, in: Interpretation of Micromorphological Features of Soils and Regoliths. Elsevier, 2010; pp. 149–194. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-444-53156-8.00009-X

Zamanian K, Pustovoytov K, Kuzyakov Y. Pedogenic carbonates: Forms and formation processes. Earth-Science Rev. 2016; 157: 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2016.03.003

Bockheim JG, Gennadiyev AN. The role of soil-forming processes in the definition of taxa in Soil Taxonomy and the World Soil Reference Base. Geoderma. 2000; 95, 53-72. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0016-7061(99)00083-X

Michel RFM, Schaefer CEGR, Dias LE, Simas FNB, De Melo Benites V, De Sá Mendonça E. Ornithogenic Gelisols (Cryosols) from Maritime Antarctica. Soil Sci Soc Am J. 2006; 70: 1370–1376. https://doi.org/10.2136/sssaj2005.0178

Putzke J, Schaefer CEGR, Thomazini A, Francelino MR, Schünneman AL, Vieira FCB, Putzke MTL, Schmitz D, Laindorf BL, Pereira AB. Changes in plant communities and soil attributes in the "Cousteau's whale bone skeleton" tourist attraction area in Keller Peninsula after 48 years. An Acad Bras Ciênc. 2022a; 94: e20191467. https://doi.org/10.1590/0001-3765202220191467

Putzke J, Schaefer CEGR, Villa PM, Pereira AB, Schunemann AL, Putzke MTL. The diversity and structure of plant communities in the maritime Antarctic is shaped by southern giant petrel's (Macronectes giganteus) breeding activities. An Acad Bras Ciênc. 2022b; 94: e20210597. https://doi.org/10.1590/0001-3765202220210597

Schmitz D, Schaefer CERG, Putzke J, Francelino MR, Ferrari FR, Corrêa GR, Villa PM, How does the pedoenvironmental gradient shapes non-vascular species assemblage and community structure in Maritime Antarctica. Ecol Indic. 2020a; 108: 105726. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2019.105726

Schmitz D, Villa PM, Michel RFM, Putzke J, Pereira AB, Schaefer CEGR. Species composition, richness and coverage pattern of associated communities of mosses-lichens along a pedoenvironmental gradient in Maritime Antarctica. An Acad Bras Ciênc. 2020b; 94 (suppl. 1): 1 – 17.

Downloads

Published

2025-04-29

Data Availability Statement

All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article.

Issue

Vol. 2 No. 1 (2025): 2025, Quarter 1

Section

Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2025 PhytoTalks

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Copyright and License Terms

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

  1. Authors retain the copyright to their work and grant the journal the right of first publication. The work is simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License permitting others to share it with proper acknowledgement of the authorship and its original publication in this journal.
  2. Authors may enter into additional, non-exclusive agreements for distributing the published version of their work (e.g., depositing it in an institutional repository or including it in a book), provided they acknowledge that the work was first published in this journal.

Open Access Policy

License

PhytoTalks is an open-access journal, allowing readers to access all published articles without registration. All articles are distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC Attribution 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are properly credited. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). 

License summary:
This license allows others to:

  • Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format

  • Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially
    Under the following terms:

  • Attribution — appropriate credit must be given, a link to the license provided, and indication if changes were made.

Author Warranties

By submitting a manuscript to PhytoTalks, authors confirm that:

  1. The work is original and does not infringe any copyright, trademark, patent, or other rights of third parties.

  2. The work has not been published elsewhere (except as a preprint) and is not under consideration by another publication.

  3. All necessary permissions for any third-party materials used in the manuscript have been obtained.

Citation Policy

When using or citing articles from PhytoTalks, proper attribution must be given to the original authors and the source, including a DOI link where available.

 

How to Cite

1.
Bertazzo-Silva FA, Putzke J, Pedroso Maggio L, et al. The bones of Livingston Island—history of plant succession in Antarctica: Ossos da Ilha Livingston – história da sucessão em plantas na Antártica. phytoTalks. 2025;2(1):254-262. doi:10.21276/pt.2025.v2.i1.2

Similar Articles

1-10 of 40

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.