Mosses play a key role in Antarctic ecosystems. Understanding of moss diversity and its likely drivers across Antarctica is, however, limited, as is the extent to which Antarctic Specially Protected Areas (ASPAs) represent this diversity. Both are important given changing climates and direct human impacts in the region. Here we investigate variation in moss diversity, the frequency distribution of their range sizes, and their continent‐wide conservation. Richness is positively related to temperature, but negatively related to latitude, distance from bird colonies and geothermal sites; terrain roughness showed weak, yet positive, effects. Beta‐diversity is similar to that found for assemblages separated by long distances, dominated by species turnover. Multi‐site turnover (zeta diversity) suggests that niche‐related mechanisms are likely more responsible for diversity patterns than neutral mechanisms, despite the significant role wind‐driven dispersal is thought to play in structuring Antarctic biodiversity patterns. The frequency distribution of range sizes of mosses was right skewed, indicating that several moss species have very small range sizes, while a few species have larger ranges. Where ASPAs include mosses, richness varies between 1 and 41 species, with 65.1% (71 species) of the 109 species known from the continent included in the ASPA network. Twenty‐four species lie within 25 km2 radius of an ASPA, and 14 species beyond this distance could be considered relatively more difficult to protect. These findings lend support to the proposal that changing temperatures and expanding ice‐free areas will substantially increase Antarctica's diversity. Nonetheless, the mosses are reasonably well represented by the ASPA network, contrasting with other Antarctic taxa.

中文翻译：

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南极洲苔藓多样性的全大陆分析


苔藓在南极生态系统中发挥着关键作用。然而，对南极洲苔藓多样性及其可能驱动因素的了解有限，南极特别保护区 （ASPA） 在多大程度上代表这种多样性也是如此。考虑到气候变化和对人类的直接影响，这两者都很重要。在这里，我们研究了苔藓多样性的变化、它们分布范围大小的频率分布以及它们在整个大陆上的保护。丰富度与温度呈正相关，但与纬度、距鸟类群落和地热地点的距离呈负相关;地形粗糙度显示出微弱但积极的影响。β 多样性类似于长距离相隔的集合体的多样性，以物种更替为主。多站点更替（zeta 多样性）表明，尽管风驱动的扩散被认为在构建南极生物多样性模式中发挥着重要作用，但与生态位相关的机制可能比中性机制对多样性模式负有更大的责任。苔藓分布范围大小的频率分布呈右偏斜，表明几种苔藓的分布范围非常小，而少数种类的分布范围较大。如果 ASPA 包括苔藓，则丰富度在 1 到 41 种之间变化，其中 65.1 种（71 种）包含在 ASPA 网络中。24 个物种位于 ASPA 半径 25 km2 范围内，超出此距离的 14 个物种可能被认为相对更难保护。这些发现支持了这样的说法，即温度变化和无冰区的扩大将大大增加南极洲的多样性。尽管如此，与其他南极分类群相比，ASPA 网络对苔藓的代表性相当好。