Abstract
Scientific reasons for the study of terrestrial ecosystems in the Antarctic are outlined together with brief descriptions of the maritime and continental zones. Opportunities for ecological research are highlighted in a consideration of the terrestrial environments, biological colonisation, organism survival and community development. Future research themes in terrestrial ecology are identified.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Baust JG (1980) Low temperature tolerance in an Antarctic insect: a relict adaptation? Cryo-Lett 1: 360–371
Baust JG, Edwards JS (1979) Mechanisms of freezing tolerance in an Antarctic midge (Belgica antarctica). Physiol Ent 4:1–5
Block W (1977) Oxygen consumption of the terrestrial mite Alaskozetes antarcticus (Acari: Cryptostigmata). J exp Biol 68:69–87
Block W (1984) Terrestrial microbiology, invertebrates and ecosystems. In Laws RM (ed) Antarctic ecology, vol. 1. Academic Press, London, pp. 163–236
Block W (1990) Cold tolerance of insects and other arthropods. Phil Trans R Soc Ser B 326:613–633
Block W, Young SR (1978) Metabolic adaptations of Antarctic terrestrial microarthropods. Comp Biochem Physiol 61A:363–368
Block W, Burn AJ, Richard KJ (1984) An insect introduction to the maritime Antarctic. Biol J Linn Soc 23:33–39
Campbell IB, Claridge GGC (1987) Antarctica: soils, weathering processes and environment. Elsevier, Amsterdam
Cannon RJC, Block W (1988) Cold tolerance of microarthropods. Biol Rev 63:23–77
Croxall JP, Rootes DM, Price RA (1981) Increases in penguin populations at Signy Island, South Orkney Islands. Br Antarct Sur Bull 54:47–56
Davis RC (1981) Structure and function of two Antarctic terrestrial moss communities. Ecol Monogr 51:125–143
Edwards JA (1980) An experimental introduction of vascular plants from South Georgia to the maritime Antarctic. Br Antarct Surv Bull 49:73–80
Ellis-Evans JC, Walton DWH (1990) The process of colonization in Antarctic terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems. Proc. NIPR Symp Pol Biol 3:151–163
Friedmann EI (1977) Microorganisms in Antarctic desert rocks from dry valleys and Dufek Massif. Ant J US 12:26–30
Friedmann EI, Ocampo R (1976) Endolithic blue-green algae in the dry valleys: primary producers in the Antarctic desert ecosystem. Science 193:1247–1249
Friedmann EI, McKay CP, Nienow JA (1987) The cryptoendolithic microbial environment in the Ross Desert of Antarctica: satellitetransmitted continuous nanoclimate data, 1984 to 1986. Pol Biol 7:273–287
Hall K (1990) Mechanical weathering rates on Signy Island, maritime Antarctic. Permafrost & Periglacial Processes 1:61–67
Harrisson PM, Walton DWH, Rothery P (1989) The effects of temperature and moisture on CO2 uptake and total resistance to water loss in the Antarctic foliose lichen Umbilicaria antarctica. New Phytol 111:673–682
Holdgate MW (1977) Terrestrial ecosystems in the Antarctic. Phil Trans R Soc Ser B 279:5–25
Janetschek H (1970) Environments and ecology of terrestrial arthropods in the high Antarctic. In: Holdgate MW (ed) Antarctic ecology vol. 2. Academic Press, London, pp 871–885
Kappen L (1985) Lichen-habitats as micro-oases in the Antarctic the role of temperature. Polarforschung 55:49–54
Kappen L (1988) Ecophysiological relationships in different climatic regions. In Galun M (ed) Handbook of Lichenology, vol. II. CRC Press, Inc, Boca Raton, Florida, pp 37–100
Kappen L (1989) Field measurements of carbon dioxide exchange of the Antarctic lichen Usnea sphacelata in the frozen state. Ant Sci 1:31–34
Kappen L (1993) Lichens in the Antarctic region. In Friedmann EI (ed) Antarctic microbiology. Wiley-Liss, Inc, New York, pp. 433–490
Kappen L, Lange OL (1972) Die Kälteresistenz einiger Makrolichen. Flora 161:1–29
Kappen L, Redon J (1984) Microclimate influencing the liehen Vegetation on different aspects of a coastal rock in the maritime Antarctic. Inst Ant Chileno, Ser Scient 31:53–65
Kappen L, Friedmann EI, Garty J (1981) Ecophysiology of lichens in the Dry Valleys of Southern Victoria Land, Antarctica. I. Microclimate of the cryptoendolithic lichen habitat. Flora 171:216–235
Kennedy AD (1993) Water as a limiting factor in the Antarctic terrestrial environment: a biogeographical synthesis. Arctic & Alpine Res 25:308–315
Lister A, Block W, Usher MB (1988) Arthropod predation in an Antarctic terrestrial community. J Anim Ecol 57:957–971
Longton RE (1985) Terrestrial habitats — vegetation. In Bonner WN, Walton DWH (eds) Key environments Antarctica. Pergamon Press, Oxford, pp 73–105
Longton RE (1988) The biology of polar bryophytes and lichens. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
McKay CP, Friedmann EI (1985) The cryptoendolithic microbial environment in the Antarctic cold desert: temperature variations in nature. Pol Biol 4:19–25
Nienow JA, Friedmann EI (1993) Terrestrial lithophytic (rock) communities. In: Friedmann EI (ed) Antarctic microbiology. Wiley-Liss, Inc, New York, pp 343–412
Pickup J (1990a) Seasonal variation in the cold hardiness of three species of free-living Antarctic nematodes. Funct Ecol 4:257–264
Pickup J (1990b) Strategies of cold-hardiness in three species of Antarctic dorylaimid nematodes. J Comp Physiol 160:167–173
Smith RI Lewis (1984) Terrestrial plant biology of the sub-Antarctic and Antarctic. In Laws RM (ed), Antarctic ecology, vol. 1. Academic Press, London, pp 61–162
Smith RI Lewis (1988) Destruction of Antarctic terrestrial ecosystems by a rapidly increasing fur seal population. Biol Conserv 45:55–72
Smith RI Lewis (1990) Signy Island as a paradigm of biological and environmental change in Antarctic terrestrial ecosystems. In: Kerry KR, Hempel G (eds), Antarctic ecosystems. Ecological change and conservation. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York pp 32–50
Smith RI Lewis (1993) The role of bryophyte propagule banks in primary succession: case study of an Antarctic fellfield soil. In: Miles J, Walton DWH (eds) Primary succession on land. Blackwell, Oxford, pp 55–78
Southwood TRE (1977) Habitat, the templet for ecological strategies? J Anim Ecol 46:337–365
Usher MB, Block W, Jumeau PJAM (1989) Prédation by arthropods in an Antarctic terrestrial community. In: Heywood RB (ed), University research in Antarctica. British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge, pp 123–129
Walton DWH (1984) The terrestrial environment. In Laws RM (ed) Antarctic ecology vol. 1. Academic Press, London, pp 1–60
Walton DWH (1985) A preliminary study of the action of crustose lichens on rock surfaces in Antarctica. In: Siegfried WR, Condy PR, Laws RM (ed) Antarctic nutrient cycles and food webs. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York pp 180–185
Walton DWH (1990a) Simplicity and survival: terrestrial ecosystems of the Antarctic. Biological Sciences Review, September 1990, 7–11
Walton DWH (1990b) Colonization of terrestrial habitats — organisms, opportunities and occurrence. In Kerry KR, Hempel G (ed) Antarctic ecosystems. Ecological change and conservation. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York pp 51–60
Walton DWH (1993) The effects of cryptogams on mineral substrates. In: Miles J, Walton DWH (eds) Primary succession on land. Blackwell, Oxford, pp 33–53
Wharton DA, Block W (1993) Freezing tolerance in some Antarctic nematodes. Funct Ecol 7:578–584
Wharton DA, Brown IM (1991) Cold tolerance mechanisms of the Antarctic nematode Panagrolaimus davidi. J Exp Biol 155:629–641
Wynn-Williams DD (1988) Television image analysis of microbial communities in Antarctic fellfields. Polarforschung 58:239–250
Wynn-Williams DD (1990) Microbial colonization processes in Antarctic fellfield soils an experimental overview. Proc NIPR Symp Pol Biol 3:164–178
Wynn-Willaims DD (ed) (1992) BIOTAS Manual of methods. Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research, Cambridge
Wynn-Willaims DD (1993) Microbial processes and initial stabilization of fellfield soil. In Miles J, Walton DWH (eds) Primary succession on land. Blackwell, Oxford, pp 17–32
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Block, W. Terrestrial ecosystems: Antarctica. Polar Biol 14, 293–300 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00238443
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00238443