Context
A team of scientists from Punjab has discovered a new moss species in eastern Antarctica and named it Bryum bharatiensis as a tribute to goddess Saraswati. One of India’s Antarctic stations, under the Indian Antarctic Mission, is also called Bharati.
About the newly discovered Moss species
- The moss is found at green plants on rocks near the Bharati station on Larsemann Hills, East Antarctica.
- Moss patches get covered under tens of meters of snow.
- This is the first and the only plant species that the mission has discovered in 40 years.
- Survival of moss: During the severe winter, Antarctica is pitch-dark and the temperature could be as low as -76 degrees Celsius.
- Under this harsh condition, moss can dry up to a dormant stage (a stage by which normal plant functions are paused) during winters. When the snow melts in the summer, the moss springs back to life soaking up the water.
Mosses
- It belongs to a group of plant phylum named Brayophta that play significant roles in the ecosystem.
- They arrange the suitable microclimate in the forest ecosystem and provide suitable microhabitats for many other organisms, especially small insects.
- Features:
- Bryophytes are three divisions of non-vascular land plants (embryophytes): the liverworts, hornworts, and mosses.
- They do not produce flowers or seeds.
- They reproduce via spores.
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- Concern: Increasing greenery in Antarctica is a cause of concern as it indicates that the South Pole is getting warmer.
- Antarctica is getting green; many temperate species of plants that previously could not survive in this frozen place are now seen everywhere because of the warming up of the continent.
- It could be because of species introductions when plant seeds are brought into an environment where they are not known to grow.
- This may happen accidentally by researchers or by migrating animals.
Indian Antarctic Mission
- The Indian Antarctic Mission was begun in 1981.
- The first Antarctic station, Dakshin Gangotri, was set up in 1984. An unmanned station, it had to be decommissioned in 1990 as it got submerged in ice.
- Maitri was commissioned in 1989 while the Bharati station was established in 2012.
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