PHOTOSYNTHESIS AND DARK RESPIRATION IN ANTARCTIC MOSSES - AN INITIAL COMPARATIVE-STUDY

Rates of dark respiration (DR), gross photosynthesis (GPS) and net photosynthesis (NPS) were investigated for 14 species of moss from a maritime Antarctic locality. The rates found were similar to those reported in studies of temperate, alpine and Arctic species, indicating no physiological specialisation to the Antarctic environment. There was no relationship between the habitat occupied by a species (hydric, mesic, xeric) and physiological measures. There was, however, a loose correlation between NPS and a species' ecology or reproductive behaviour in the maritime Antarctic - species with high NPS being either colonists or those that show high and regular investment in sporophyte production.