ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to bring out the major features of the ecophysiology of terrestrial plants in Antarctica with some emphasis on what appears to be controlling the distribution and performance. The few studies on liverworts have provided some interesting insights into their poor performance in Antarctica. Continuous measurement of photosynthetic performance over a day, or several days, has only recently become common in Antarctica and a few extensive studies have been made in the northern maritime. Conditions are particularly extreme in continental Antarctica and there can be little doubt that this limits the vegetation to mainly species of lichens and bryophytes. Freeze-thaw cycles can be extremely common in Antarctica with up to 110 in 1 year recorded in the northern maritime. Under extremely dry conditions in Antarctica, and in other deserts, lichens can adopt an endolithic growth form where they live within the pores of rocks composed of materials like sandstone and limestone.
