Green with grass growing Antarctic

Be the next market for lawn mower to Antarctica?

The rapid warming of the Antarctic was a blessing for two local plants. As the temperature warms old peat in a nitrogen buffet for the Antarctica (Antarctic quitensis) nodosa and Antarctic decomposed this article of Hairgrass (Deschampsia Antarctica).

A study by British and Australian scientists suggests that one of these facilities, this article of Hairgrass, the nitrogen buffet up to 160 times faster than their mossy competitors can absorb.

"We think as a land of snow and ice of Antarctica." But in the summer on the Antarctic Peninsula and the islands surrounded, which melts the frozen Center of the continent, the snow and in many areas are green with moose and two species of native flowering plant, ", said one of the authors of the study scientist Paul Hill Bangor University in a press release from the school."

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"Like a raised recently and Antarctic summers become one who has this flowering plants, Antarctica this article of Hairgrass (Deschampsia Antarctica), are longer and warmer, which are increasingly common," Hill said.

Two percent of Antarctica that can support plant life was earlier dominated by moose.

But very much faster than the rest of the planet warms the polar regions, including Antarctica, have in the past 50 years. Now, the vascular plants are taking over.

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"Plants need successfully growing nitrogen." In the coastal town of Antarctica is most of the nitrogen in organic materials in the ground, which was only slowly decompose in the cold conditions revoked. This now increasingly available, the temperatures are rising, "Davey Jones said the Bangor University, another author of the study before recently nature climate published change."

The researchers found that nitrogen produced acquires this article of Hairgrass by his roots as a short chains of molecules or peptides, early in protein decomposition. Can the plants nitrogen acquires more than three times faster than if they bacteria for proteins to amino a break acids, nitrates or ammonia had to wait.

Moose can absorb not only with nitrogen speed like the match.

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Figure 1: Antarctic hair grass, Deschampsia Antarctica, at Petermann Island (Wikimedia Commons)

Figure 2: Antarctic hair grass, Deschampsia Antarctica on the Collins Glacier, Antarctica (Wikimedia Commons)

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