Maudlandia Antarctic Desert

• Category: Desert Biomes.
• Geographic Location: Antarctica.
• Summary: This tundra ecoregion is located in the coldest, windiest, driest, and most isolated place on Earth.

Located in the frozen environment of eastern Antarctica, the Maudlandia Antarctic Desert is a tundra ecoregion that is one of the harshest places on the planet. Despite the frigid and arid conditions, many species of flora and fauna have adapted to survive in this ice-covered ecosystem. The biome faces a variety of threats, such as global warming and human disturbance through tourism.

Antarctica is the coldest, windiest, driest, and most isolated of Earth’s land masses. While 98 percent of it is permanently covered in ice, two regions have ice-free areas: Marielandia on the Antarctic Peninsula to the west, and Maudlandia on the continental coast to the east. Of the two biogeographical regions, which are separated by the 2,000-mile (3,219-kilometer) Transantarctic Mountains, Maudlandia spans a greater area: 81,700 square miles (211,602 square kilometers), or about two-thirds of the continent. It also has larger stretches of ice-free land; these are found inland and along coastal fringes. The Maudlandia Antarctic Desert has a harsh continental Antarctic climate: extremely cold, windy, and dry. Average monthly temperatures are below 23 degrees F (minus 5 degrees C).

Spanning the Victoria, Wright, and Taylor Valleys near McMurdo Sound, the Maudlandia Antarctic Desert biome is mostly situated in the Eastern Hemisphere, on the Indian Ocean side of the continent. It also contains the McMurdo Dry Valleys, parts of which are ice-free. This region receives little to no rainfall, with annual average precipitation around just 4 inches (102 millimeters).

Unlike the rest of the continent, this region’s surface is kept ice-free due to strong winds that blow away snow cover and prevent ice buildup. Inland, where the central ice sheet is surrounded by the mountain and glacier zone, the temperature is low, and the environment is drier. Several substantial lakes occur in the valleys; some lakes are completely frozen.

Biodiversity

Maudlandia is a tundra ecosystem, marked by a semidesert environment and a lack of tree growth due to extremely low temperatures. But while this environment is perhaps the harshest in the world in terms of supporting life, there is a surprisingly rich terrestrial biodiversity living primarily along the ice-free coastal fringes. There are two native vascular flowering plants: the Antarctic hair grass (Deschampsia antarctica) and the Antarctic pearlwort (Colobanthus quitensis).

Vegetation is dominated, however, by lower plant groups, primarily mosses such as Campylopus pyriformis, liverworts such as Cephaloziella exiliflora, lichens, and fungi. The surfaces of rocks provide a habitat for a variety of mosses, algae, fungi, and bacteria. The soil can also support algae and nematodes.

Lichens in particular can form extensive communities. When water is not available, some lichens survive by entering cryptobiosis, a suspended metabolic state in which most biochemical processes stop. One lichen species, Buellia frigida, can have a life span of more than one thousand years.

Some species of algae, such as Hemichloris antarctica, have adapted to withstand repeated cycles of freezing and thawing. Various species of blue-green algae form microbial mat communities at the bottom of some unfrozen lakes. In the Dry Valleys, cryptoendolithic microorganisms colonize the porous spaces near the surface of exposed semi-translucent sandstone rocks where they can acquire sunlight, moisture, and minerals from the rock. This area also supports a bacteria-eating nematode that enters a state of anhydrobiosis that allows it to survive for years of being frozen.

Fauna

Terrestrial invertebrates are limited to arthropods associated with coastal plant communities, such as springtails, midges, and mites such as Nanorchestes antarcticus. The coastal regions also support all the larger animals of the terrestrial ecosystem, including six native seal species: the Weddell seal (Leptonychotes weddellii); crab-eater seal (Lobodon carcinophagus); southern elephant seal (Mirounga leonina); Ross seal (Omimatophoca rossii); southern fur seal (Arctocephalus gazella); and the noted penguin predator, the leopard seal (Hydrurga leptonyx).

There are six native penguin species here: the chinstrap penguin (Pygoscelis antarctica), gentoo penguin (P. papua), emperor penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri), and Adélie penguin (P. adeliae)—all of which breed on the continent—as well as the king penguin (A. patagonicus), macaroni penguin (Eudyptes chrysolophus), and rockhopper penguin (E. crestatus). Of the thirty seven native flying seabird species, the ones that breed in Maudlandia include Wilson’s storm petrel (Oceanites oceanicus), southern fulmar (Fulmaras glacialoides), southern giant fulmar (Macronectes giganteus), south polar skua (Catharacta maccormicki), cape pigeon (Daption capense), snow petrel (Pagodroma nivea), and Antarctic petrel (Thalassoica antarctica).

Conservation Efforts

Due to their support of large breeding avian colonies, several areas have been designated as Specially Protected Areas (SPAs), such as Taylor Rookery in Mac Robertson Land, which supports one of the largest breeding colonies of emperor penguins. Because of the presence of unique undisturbed flora, Cryptogam Ridge on Mount Melbourne, and the Dry Valley known as Barwick Valley have also been designated as SPAs.

The Antarctic Treaty bans nuclear testing, radioactive-waste disposal, and oil and mineral exploration, but it does not protect against other activities that contribute to the region’s environmental degradation. Tourism has become an increasing concern. Climate change remains a continuing threat to this environment, with looming glacial melt likely to stress these arid habitats. In addition, the persistence of chlorofluorocarbons in the Earth’s atmosphere has created a loss of the ozone layer over Antarctica, which likely inhibits the robustness of some species communities. Global warming remains a looming threat, especially as large amounts of ice are melting rapidly, affecting the flora and fauna of the region.

Bibliography

Fogg, G. E. The Biology of Polar Habitats. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.

Morgan, Dan. "200 Years of Exploring Antarctica--The World's Coldest, Most Forbidding and Most Peaceful Continent." The Conversation, 24 Jan. 2020, theconversation.com/200-years-of-exploring-antarctica-the-worlds-coldest-most-forbidding-and-most-peaceful-continent-129607. Accessed 9 Dec. 2024.

Mucina, Ladislav. "The Biomes of the Coldest Corners of the World." Biomes of the Southern Hemisphere. Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland, 2023. 173-203.

National Science Foundation. Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) on the U.S. Antarctic Program. Washington, DC: National Science Foundation, 1991.

Parfit, M. “Timeless Valleys of the Antarctic Desert.” National Geographic 194, no. 4 (October 1998).

Udvardy, M. D. F. “The Biogeographical Realm Antarctica: A Proposal.” Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand 17, no. 1 (1987).

Watson, G. E., J. P. Angle, and P. C. Harper. Birds of the Antarctic and Sub-Antarctic. Washington, DC: American Geophysical Union, 1975.