Antarctic microbes, endemism and environmental monitoring

Extract

The last decade of Antarctic ecological research has seen a growing awareness of the pre-eminent role played by microscopic life-forms throughout this region of the biosphere. Yet despite much new information, fundamental questions remain about the species diversity and community structure of the Antarctic microflora. There are major deficiencies in our knowledge of all microbial groups, and the information base is especially inadequate for the ice-free and coastal regions increasingly subject to human impacts.