of the Neoglacial. One minor advance occurred in the last years. Life Algae, lichens, liverworts and mosses grow on geothermally heated terrain on the upper parts of Mount Melbourne. Algae form crusts on the heated ground. Mosses form cushions and often occur around steam vents and under ice hummocks. The moss species Campylopus pyriformis does not grow leaves on Mount Melbourne. Pohlia nutans forms small shoots. The two moss species form separate stands which occur at different sites of the volcano. Together with occurrences at Mount Erebus, they constitute the highest mosses growing in Antarctica. Small peat deposits have been found. Vegetation is particularly common on a ridge within and south of the main crater, "Cryptogam Ridge". It features a long snow-free area with a gravelly ground, small terraces and stone stripes. Soil temperatures recorded there reach . These are the only occurrences of Campylopus pyriformis on warm ground in Antarctica. Mount Melbourne along with Mount Erebus, Mount Rittmann and Deception Island is one of four volcanoes in Antarctica known for having geothermal habitats, although other poorly studied volcanoes such as Mount Berlin, Mount Hampton and Mount Kauffman may also have them. In South America, high-elevation geothermal environments similar to Mount Melbourne are found at Socompa. Vegetation on geothermally heated terrain is unusual in Antarctica but other occurs elsewhere, including on Bouvet, Deception Island, Mount Erebus and the South Sandwich Islands. The geothermal area at the summit of Mount Melbourne makes up Antarctic Specially Protected Area118, which contains two specially restricted areas around Cryptogam Ridge and some markers used in studies of volcano deformation. Some algae from Mount Melbourne were accidentally transferred to Deception Island or Mount Erebus. Edmonson Point and Cape Washington have Adelie penguin and emperor penguin rookeries and south polar skuas and Weddel seals are also found. More than twenty-four lichen plus six moss species (including Bryum argenteum moss) have been found at Edmonson Point, as well as microbial mats formed by cyanobacteria. Nematodes and collembola complete the biota of Edmonson Point. Biology The vegetation on Mount Melbourne grows mainly on terrain heated to temperatures of over , and there are gradations in vegetation type from colder to warmer temperatures. There are differences between the vegetation and bacterial communities at Cryptogam Ridge and those on the northwest slope of Mount Melbourne; distinct soils may be the reason for such differences. These communities must have reached Mount Melbourne