A structured account of the full range of environments in Antarctica and of the microbial
communities that live within them. The author examines the major features of the chemical …

Recent advances in knowledge of patterns of biogeography in terrestrial eukaryotic
organisms have led to a fundamental paradigm shift in understanding of the controls and …

In contrast to the rather limited diversity of plants and animals to be found in the Antarctic, the
microbial diversity of this continent has been shown to be “surprisingly” diverse. Apparently …

Terrestrial environments of Antarctica include some of the most extreme on Earth,
challenging the very existence of life itself. This article outlines briefly the geological and …

Microorganisms are fundamental to the functioning of Antarctic ecosystems. Although
microbial biomass can be immense in Southern Ocean blooms and freshwater …

Antarctic microbial biodiversity is the result of a balance between evolution, extinction and
colonization, and so it is not possible to gain a full understanding of the microbial …

Antarctica is arguably the world's most important continent for influencing the Earth's climate
and ocean ecosystem function. The unique physico-chemical properties of the Southern …

The Antarctic continent is frequently cited as the last pristine continent on Earth. However,
this view is misleading for several reasons. First, there has been a rapid increase in visitors …

Biotic communities and ecosystem dynamics in terrestrial Antarctica are limited by an array
of extreme conditions including low temperatures, moisture and organic matter availability …

Freshwater lakes occur through much of Antarctica and are characterized by short food
chains dominated by microbes. Comparatively few studies have been made of continental …