8 December 2016:
A Special Issue of the journal Biodiversity has recently been published as a main product of SCAR’s AnT-ERA (Antarctic Thresholds – Ecosystem Resilience and Adaptation) Scientific Research Programme. It covers aspects of variation and function at all levels of biological organisation, from genomic expression, through biochemistry, physiology, life history, ecology, biogeography, up to macroecology, e.g. refering to the diversity of giant deep-sea amphipods, peat bog pools in Tierra del Fuego, ocean acidification, and chemical diversity of natural products.
Present patterns of biodiversity and distribution, in Polar Regions and elsewhere, are a consequence of processes occurring on physiological, ecological and evolutionary timescales, which can be modified by environmental changes. The Antarctic is a fundamental part of the Earth System, and the study of its biota is intimately linked to its climate and tectonic history, through the interconnection between living and abiotic environments. Due to the speed of current changes, and the broad relevance of Antarctica in the study of biodiversity, in 2004 SCAR launched the flagship programme ‘Evolution and Biodiversity in the Antarctic – The Response of Life to Change’ (EBA; www.eba.aq), aimed at understanding life processes, evolution and adaptations in Antarctic marine and terrestrial environments.