Polish Polar Research

This paper reports the species of macromycetes collected on King George Island and Livingstone Island (South Shetlands). Brief notes on taxonomy and distribution of the species are added.

The present paper contains a list of 104 taxa of lichens and lichenicolous fungi, found in the Cape Lions Rump, Site of Special Scientific Interest No. 34 (King George Island, Antarctica), with their distribution and ecological analysis. A provisional vegetation map of the area is also provided. During the field survey the data were collected using the cartogram method in a grid of squares 250 x 250 m. The current abundance and spatial distribution of lichen species provides baseline data for long-term monitoring biological changes.

The length of crystalline cones (cc) is proportional to krill body length and this proportion can be described by the equation L cc = L krill x 1.679 + 52.032 ( cc — μm; L krill - mm). By measuring cc one can determine the size of krill with the precision of 2—3 mm. The structure of crystalline cones is not crystal, and the elemental composition includes much of S and Ca. Crystalline cones are often found in the stomach and feces of animals feeding on krill.

Moulting southern elephant seals, Mirounga leonina (L.), were counted in 17 discrete wallows at Walker Bay on Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands between 2 January and 16 February 1994. Daily weather conditions were also recorded. It was also found that, although there were no overall correlations between wind scale, air temperature, sunshine, precipitation, sea roughness and cloud cover with seal numbers, there were conditions on specific days that affected the movements of seals between wallows. Most notably, it was found that numbers of seals decreased when they were exposed to winds, and that they often sought out more sheltered sites nearby.

Changes in body mass and body reserves of Little Auks (Alle alle) were studied throughout the breeding season. Body mass loss after chick hatching was analyzed with respect to two hypotheses: (1) mass loss reflects the stress of reproduction, (2) mass loss is adaptive by reducing power consumption during flight. Body mass of both males and females increased during incubation, dropped abruptly after hatching, and remained stable until the end of the chick-rearing period. These changes were largely due to change in mass of fat reserves. Body mass, fat, and protein reserves, when corrected for body size, did not differ between sexes at the end of incubation. Female size-corrected body mass at that time was correlated with peak body mass of chicks. The estimated energy savings for flight due to the decline in adult body mass after chick hatching were small compared with the total energy expenditure of adults feedings chicks, which did not support hypothesis (2). The contribution to chick feeding was not equal; the ratio of females to males caught with food for chicks was 1.8. Size-corrected body mass during chick-rearing was lower in females, proportional to their higher chick feeding effort compared with males. Females, in contrast to males, lost protein reserves during chick-rearing. Digestive tract mass of adults increased by half throughout the breeding period. These findings supported elements of hypothesis (1). Despite high energy expenditure rates, both sexes had about 10 g of fat reserves at the end of chick feeding. Body mass of both sexes was constant during the greater part of the chick-feeding period. It was suggested therefore that mass loss is regulated with respect to lower fat reserves required during chick-rearing.