Department of Biological Sciences, University of Waikato, PhD

Origins and Partner Choices of Antarctic Lichens

From where did lichens in the Ross Sea region, originate? The present populations represent an increase since the last glacial maximum but it is not clear, as more bare rock appeared, from where these populations came. Did they recolonise from outside Antarctica or did they expand from small refugia where they had survived?

I intend to use modern molecular techniques to investigate three common lichen species that occur along the whole length of the Ross Sea. The results of the molecular analysis will allow me to clarify the population structure of these species and to describe the relationships between lichens from different areas. This will allow a decision to be made about the origins of the lichens at any particular location.

All of the information will allow us to better understand the structure of the existing vegetation, its likely origins, its relationships to floras outside Antarctica and likely changes if proposed climate change occurs. The presence of refugia will also be of interest to glaciologists who are, at present, still undecided about the extent of the ice sheets over the past 10 million years, and to conservationists deciding the degree of protection that might be required against introduction of new genotypes by accidental contamination.