The maritime Antarctic includes the South Shetland Islands, the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula, and its offshore islands. There is a wide latitudinal range of climatic conditions, temperature, precipitation, and day length throughout this region. In December 2007, as a component of the International Polar Year Research and Education Opportunities in Antarctica (IPY-ROAM) program, a student and teacher research group investigated the relationship between nutrient availability, biomass, plant, and arthropod diversity, and reflectance properties of the vegetation [normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI)] at seven terrestrial sites sampled. These sites span a latitudinal gradient of 62°S to about 66°S from the Shetland Islands to the Antarctic Peninsula. The objective of this independent study project is to assess differences in vegetation cover between sites. Point intercept sampling and point frame sampling was used to quantify plant cover at each site and allometric scaling of plant cover - biomass was used to non-destructively assess above ground plant biomass at each site.

Results/Conclusions Preliminary results indicate that local microtopographical variation, proximity to penguin rookeries and site history affect terrestrial vegetative cover and biomass in the region.