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Plush Polar Plant Life

Biologists in Antarctica have taken advantage of the good summer weather to revisit sites of huge mosses and lichens discovered by early explorer Captain Robert Falcon Scott.

"The Scott party's description of plants as big as a dinner plate was right," says biologist Dr Allan Green of Waikato University. "They are still there, the same size and very lush."

The plants are of considerable interest as plant life is uncommon in the southern continent. Green and his colleagues are studying the physiology of the plants, looking at how they cope with extended periods of light in Antarctica's long summer.

The scientists have submitted a proposal, now before the International Scientific Committe on Antarctic Research, to designate the Botany Bay region, where the plants are found, as a special Protected Area. This would serve to preserve its unique ecological system.

Yvonne Martin, Scott Base