Lichens Growing on Glass in Antarctica

Abstract

Early stages of lichen colonization on glass are reported for the first time from Antarctica. In the initial establishment of the lichen thallus rhizomorphs play an importantrole for the attachment to the substratum and the exploitation of nutrient and photobiont resources. The micrographs presented indicate that in Antarctica colonization of bare substrata bylichens is not necessarily an extremely slow process. Furthermore, our findings demonstrate that the use of artificial substrata such as glass could provide a simple method for studies in lichencolonization and development in extreme environments.