{"id":870561,"date":"2026-10-04T14:52:37","date_gmt":"2026-10-04T14:52:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/870561\/"},"modified":"2026-10-04T14:52:37","modified_gmt":"2026-10-04T14:52:37","slug":"scientists-put-tiny-greenhouses-over-antarcticas-only-two-flowering-plants-and-left-them-there-for-7-years-heres-why","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/870561\/","title":{"rendered":"Scientists put tiny greenhouses over Antarctica\u2019s only two flowering plants and left them there for 7 years. Here’s why\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

Antarctica is home to only two flowering plants. Scientists have just discovered they\u2019ve developed different strategies for surviving long-term warming.<\/p>\n

A seven-year-long study \u2013 one of the longest of its kind ever conducted in maritime Antarctica – has revealed that the continent\u2019s only two native flowering plants<\/a> have responded differently to simulated warming in the field. The study offers some hope for those ecosystems on the edge of the world and most susceptible to climate change.<\/p>\n

Antarctic hairgrass (Deschampsia antarctica) and\u00a0Antarctic pearlwort (Colobanthus quitensis) are Antarctica\u2019s only two native vascular plant species. Neither grow very large, forming low clumps no taller than 5cm in wet, protected habitats between rocks.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While they may be small and unassuming, a study conducted by a team of Chilean and Spanish researchers has demonstrated that these plants are fighters. The study, published recently in\u00a0Physiologia Plantarum<\/a>, shows that\u00a0D.antarctica\u00a0and\u00a0C.quitensis\u00a0developed contrasting physiological responses to the same warming conditions.<\/p>\n

\"AntarcticAntarctic hairgrass (right) and\u00a0Antarctic pearlwort (left). Credit: Gerald Corsi\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we found is that coordination between water transport and photosynthesis is essential for these plants to survive in Antarctica, but each species addressed this challenge differently under warming,\u201d said Patricia S\u00e1ez, a co-author of the latest study. <\/p>\n

\u201cD.antarctica\u00a0prioritised stability, while\u00a0C.quitensis\u00a0prioritised plasticity. This contrast provides valuable clues about how Antarctic vegetation may respond to an increasingly changing climate.\u201d<\/p>\n

While they may be small and unassuming, a study conducted by a team of Chilean and Spanish researchers has demonstrated that these plants are fighters.<\/p>\n

After seven years under passive warming conditions,\u00a0D.antarctica\u00a0reduced both its leaf hydraulic conductivity and photosynthetic rate \u2013 adaptations the authors interpret as a conservative water-use strategy. Meanwhile,\u00a0C.quitensis showed the opposite response: it increased its hydraulic conductivity, photosynthetic capacity, cell-wall elasticity, and water and CO\u2082 transport, seemingly in a bid to conserve heat.<\/p>\n

Indeed, warming temperatures have prompted\u00a0C.quitensis\u00a0to spread rapidly in the last decade. A 2017 study found that northern populations of\u00a0C.quitensis\u00a0had spread to areas outside Antarctica, while southern populations were held back by lower temperatures.<\/p>\n

To study the plants\u2019 responses to long-term warming, a team of researchers from the Institute of Ecology and Biodiversity, Universidad de La Frontera, Universidad de Concepci\u00f3n, and the Anillo ATE253400 project established several plots and surrounded them with open-top chambers (OTCs).\u00a0OTCs passively warm internal air by several degrees and allow researchers to study how plants respond to increased temperatures.<\/p>\n

The experiment began in 2012 on King George Island, just north of the Antarctic Peninsula. It ran for a total of seven years and was the first field study to jointly assess leaf hydraulic traits, xylem anatomy, and photosynthetic performance in both plants under a sustained warming regime.<\/p>\n

By conducting the study in the field, the researchers were able to document ecologically relevant aspects of climate change, such as increases in freeze-thaw events, rather than focussing solely on rising mean temperatures – an experiment that could have been conducted in a laboratory environment.<\/p>\n

\"KingThe shoreline of King George Island in Antarctica, where the study was carried out. Credit: Joesboy\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

The findings of this latest study help explain why both species have expanded in Antarctica over recent decades, despite regional warming.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is interesting is that there is no \u2018single\u2019 way to respond to climate change. These two plants represent two extremes along the same adaptive continuum, and this diversity of strategies is probably part of what explains their shared success in one of the most extreme environments on the planet,\u201d said another co-author, Lohengrin Cavieres.<\/p>\n

The findings also help to explain how both species have been able to coexist, even though they grow in very similar habitats.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese two plants have coexisted in Antarctica for a long time,\u201d added Cavieres. \u201cThis study shows us one possible reason why: they do not compete for resources in the same way because they respond to warming differently. Understanding this complementarity is key to anticipating how Antarctic vegetation will change over the coming decades.\u201d<\/p>\n

While climate change threatens to wreck ecosystems worldwide, particularly those at higher latitudes like Antarctica, this study shows that some may be able to weather the upcoming storm and even thrive in a warmer world. As warming trends continue, the resilience of plants like\u00a0D.antarctica\u00a0and\u00a0C.quitensis\u00a0shows us that nature isn\u2019t yet ready to give up the fight.<\/p>\n

Find out more about the study, published in\u00a0Physiologia Plantarum<\/a>.<\/p>\n

More stories from around the world<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Antarctica is home to only two flowering plants. Scientists have just discovered they\u2019ve developed different strategies for surviving…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":870562,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[79],"class_list":["post-870561","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-science","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/870561","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=870561"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/870561\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/870562"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=870561"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=870561"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=870561"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}