Previous studies have shown changes to the frequencies of hyphal coils and other fungal structures in leafy liverwort tissues across latitudinal transects through Antarctica. Although suggestive of a role of temperature in determining the frequencies of fungal structures, these studies could not exclude the possibility that other factors which alter at lower latitudes—notably liquid water availability—were responsible for the observed patterns of fungal colonisation. Here, in a field experiment in maritime Antarctica, the effects of warming with open top chambers (OTCs) on the frequencies of fungal structures in the leafy liverwort Cephaloziella varians were determined. At five samplings of the experiment taking place 5–10 years after its deployment, OTCs, which increased the summertime temperature of C. varians mats by 1.1 °C, but had no measurable effects on mat moisture concentration, were found to double the frequencies of fine hyphal coils in liverwort tissues. Over the duration of the experiment, the OTCs also significantly increased the frequency of rhizoids on C. varians stems, but had no effects on the frequencies of coarse hyphal coils, dark septate hyphae, hyaline septate hyphae, or hyphal colonisation of rhizoids. Given that C. varians can be recovered from frozen peatbank cores, it is proposed that the abundance of fine hyphal coils in its tissues might be used as a signal of recent climate warming on the Antarctic Peninsula.

先前的研究表明，穿过南极洲的纬度横断面，绿叶地衣组织中菌丝螺旋和其他真菌结构的频率发生了变化。尽管暗示温度在决定真菌结构频率方面的作用，但这些研究不能排除在低纬度地区发生变化的其他因素——尤其是液态水的可用性——导致观察到的真菌定植模式的可能性。在这里，在南极洲海域的一项实地实验中，确定了开顶室 (OTC) 变暖对叶状苔类植物Cephaloziella varians中真菌结构频率的影响。在部署后 5-10 年进行的五次实验采样中，OTCs 增加了夏季温度C. varians垫子升高 1.1 °C，但对垫子水分浓度没有可测量的影响，被发现使苔类组织中细菌丝卷的频率加倍。在整个实验过程中，OTC 还显着增加了C. varians茎上的假根频率，但对粗螺旋菌、深色有隔菌丝、透明有隔菌丝或假根菌丝定植的频率没有影响。鉴于C. varians可以从冷冻的泥炭库核心中恢复，因此建议其组织中大量的细菌丝盘绕可能被用作南极半岛最近气候变暖的信号。