Growth Rate of Usnea aurantiacoatra (Jacq.) Bory on Fildes Peninsula, Antarctica and Its Climatic Background

The ages of a fruticose lichen of Usnea aurantiacoatra (Jacq.) Bory, from Fildes Peninsula, King George Island, Southwest Antarctic, were determined by radiocarbon ((14)C), and it is 1993–1996 at bottom and 2006–2007 at top of the lichen branch. The growth rates of U. aurantiacoatra calculated are 4.3 to 5.5 mm year(−1) based on its length and ages. The comparisons show that the growth rates of U. aurantiacoatra are higher than those of U. antarctica (0.4 to 1.1 mm year(−1)). The growth rates of fruticose lichens are always higher, usually >2 mm year(−1), than those of crustose ones, usually <1 mm year(−1), in polar areas. A warming trend on Fildes Peninsula is recorded in the period from 1969 to 2010 obviously: the mean annual temperature rose from −2.75 to −1.9°C and the average temperature of summer months from 0.95 to 1.4°C, as well as the average temperature of winter months from −6.75 to −5.5°C. The alteration of lichen growth rates in polar areas may respond to the climatic and environmental changes, and the lichens may act as bio-monitor of natural condition.