An actinobacterial strain with antimicrobial activity, INACH3013, was isolated from soil collected from Antarctica. The taxonomic status of the isolate was established using a polyphasic approach. The strain was identified as belonging to the genus Streptomyces based on the scanning electron microscopic observation and partial 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis. The sequence analysis revealed that strain INACH3013 is closely related to Streptomyces fildesensis (99.8%), S. beijiangensis (98.1%) and S. purpureus (97.2%). A phylogenetic tree constructed using the partial 16S rRNA gene sequences of strain INACH3013 and closely related strains revealed that INACH3013 fell into the same subclade as S. fildesensis and S. purpureus. Strain INACH3013 was observed to be psychrotolerant, slightly halotolerant (up to 5% NaCl) and capable of inhibiting the growth of seven Gram-negative and eight Gram-positive foodborne pathogens. The GenBank/EMBL/DDBJ accession number for the 16S rRNA gene sequence of the strain is KJ624755.

Southern elephant seals Mirounga leonina within the Kerguelen province disperse between Marion Island (MI), Iles Crozet (IC) and Iles Kerguelen (IK) despite the high site fidelity characteristic of this species. From 1987–2002, 199 IC individuals, or 11.63% of the tagged population there, were resighted at MI. Resights of IC seals at MI peaked during the juvenile moult and seals aged 0–2 represent 66% of all resights made. Equal numbers of male and female seals (all age classes) were dispersing. Dispersing breeding females (n = 22, on 33 occasions) outnumbered dispersing breeding males (n = 6, on 16 occasions), after initially emigrating from IC to MI as juvenile seals (natal dispersal). Greater male-mediated gene flow was ultimately attained due to the polygynous mating system and some extremely successful males. Of 132 seals fitted with satellite-relay data loggers at MI, six hauled out at IC and three at IK. Two of the seals which migrated to IC were born at MI; all others were unmarked males likely to be native to IC or IK. Dispersal should ideally be considered when assessing vital rates for southern Indian Ocean elephant seal populations.

On innumerable occasions, Adélie (Pygoscelis adeliae) and emperor penguins (Aptenodytes forsteri) have been observed in close proximity to killer whales (Orcinus orca), with no whale-penguin interactions reported. On the other hand, killer whales reportedly harass and eat seabirds on occasion (Walker 1968: p. 1122, Stacey et al. 1990, Williams et al. 1990). Killer whales are known to prey on young king penguins (A. patagonica) as they are fledging (Guinet 1992, Guinet & Bouvier 1995) and occasionally take emperor penguins (Mikhalev et al. 1981). Thomas et al. (1981) report killer whales chasing Adélies. Here we report the only observations of Adélie-killer whale interactions observed in nine field seasons on Ross Island.

Palaeoclimate changes, such as the Medieval Climate Anomaly and the Little Ice Age, are well-defined in the Northern Hemisphere during the past 2000 years. In contrast, these anomalies appear to be either absent, or less well-defined, in high-latitude regions of the Southern Hemisphere. Here, we inferred environmental changes during the past two millennia from proxies in a sediment core from Mago Ike, an East Antarctic lake in Skarvsnes (Lützow Holm Bay). Variations in lake primary production were inferred from fossil pigments, sedimentological and geochemical proxies and combined with absolute diatom counts to infer past diatom productivity and community changes. Three distinct stratigraphic zones were recognized, resulting from a shift from marine to lacustrine conditions with a clear transition zone in between. The presence of open-water marine diatoms indicates a coastal zone seasonally free of sea ice between c. 2120–1500 cal yr bp. Subsequently, the lake became isolated from the ocean due to isostatic uplift. Freshwater conditions were established from c. 1120 cal yr bp onwards after which the proxies are considered highly sensitive to temperature changes. There is no evidence for a Medieval Climate Anomaly, Little Ice Age or twentieth century warming in our lake sediment record suggesting that studies that have imposed Northern Hemisphere climate anomalies onto Southern Hemisphere palaeoclimate records should be treated with caution.

Southern elephant seals haulout on land to moult, breed and for a third, unknown reason, which we refer to as the winter haulout. We used long-term mark-recapture data to estimate participation levels in the winter haulout by southern elephant seals at Marion Island. There was no evidence that participation levels varied between cohorts or between years. Participation differed between sexes, with males being more likely to haulout in winter, except in the first year of life where participation was equal. Within each sex, both age and reproductive status influenced participation, but age seemed to be the most influential determinant. Generally, immature male individuals hauled out year after year in winter. The results did not allow speculation as to the purpose(s) of the winter haulout.

Management of non-native species introductions is a conservation priority in the Antarctic region. However, despite the recognised importance of intra-regional propagule transfer, the majority of studies have focused on inter-regional pathways (i.e. from outside of the Antarctic region). Here we quantify the number of seeds carried by expeditioners who have visited sub-Antarctic Marion Island. We recorded 420 seeds from 225 items of clothing, with seeds found on 52% of the items and soil on 45% of them. The median number of seeds for field-based and station-based personnel was 20.5 and 3 per person, respectively. Waterproof trousers and socks, particularly those of field workers, carry the greatest number of propagules (for field workers, medians of 5 and 6.5, respectively) and therefore should be the focus of intra-regional management interventions. Amongst the seeds found entrained within clothing several were from species which are widespread aliens in the Antarctic region including Agrostis stolonifera, Poa annua and Sagina procumbens, and indigenous zoochorous species (Acaena magellanica, Uncinia compacta) were also well represented. The present data provide quantitative evidence in support of previous, largely hypothetical concerns about the risks of intra-regional propagule transfer in the Antarctic.

Water tracks are zones of high soil moisture that route shallow groundwater down-slope, through the active layer and above the ice table. A water track in Taylor Valley, McMurdo Dry Valleys, was analysed for surface hydrogeological, geochemical, and biological characteristics in order to test the hypothesis that water tracks provide spatial structure to Antarctic soil ecosystems by changing the physical conditions in the soil environment within the water tracks from those outside the water tracks. The presence of the water track significantly affected the distribution of biotic and abiotic ecosystem parameters: increasing soil moisture, soil salinity, and soil organic matter within the water track relative to soils outside the water track, and reducing soil phosphate, soil pH, and the population of nematodes and other invertebrates in water track soils relative to off track soils. These results suggest that water tracks are distinct and extreme ecological zones in Taylor Valley that provide long-range (kilometre to multi- kilometre) structure to Antarctic hillslope ecosystems through physical control on soil moisture and solute content. Contrary to expectations, these high soil-moisture sites are not hotspots for faunal biological activity because high soil salinity makes them suitable habitats for only the most halo-tolerant organisms.

The annual and diurnal behaviours of near surface wind speed, temperature, and the radiative budget at Concordia Station (Dome C) in different seasons are shown. The wind speed was lowest in summer when a daily cycle was also observed. The largest mean values were concurrent with boundary layer growth in the afternoon. In winter and spring the wind speed reached the highest mean values. Perturbations in the wind flow were due to warming events which occurred periodically at Dome C. The lowest temperatures were in April and at the end of August. The coreless winter behaviour was perturbed by warming events which in many cases produced an increase in temperature of c. 20°C. The average temperature profiles show permanent thermal inversion, with the exception of a few hours in the afternoons during the summer. The strongest ground-based thermal inversions were observed in the polar winter. The largest potential temperature gradients were limited to a 30–40 m deep layer close to the surface. The net radiation was negative almost all the time with the exception of the period from mid-December to mid-January.

The data presented provides new information on the distribution of Antarctic squids and on the summer diet of the emperor penguins. The diet of 58 adult emperor penguins (Aptenodytes forsteri) on the fast ice of the Drescher Inlet, Vestkapp Ice Shelf (72°52′S, 19°25′W) in the eastern Weddell Sea was investigated. Prey consisted principally of squid, fish, krill, amphipods and isopods. Squids were identified by the lower beaks and allometric equations were used to estimate the squid biomass represented. Beaks occurred in 93% of the stomach samples. Each sample contained a mean of 27 beaks (range 1–206). Ninety-two percent of the squids could be identified by the lower beaks and belonged to four families (Onychoteuthidae, Psychroteuthidae, Neoteuthidae and Gonatidae). The most abundant squid was Psychroteuthis glacialis which occurred in 52 samples with lower rostral lengths (LRL) ranging from 1.4–7.2 mm. Forty-five samples contained Alluroteuthis antarcticus (LRL range 1.8–5.8 mm), 17 Kondakovia longimana (LRL range 4–12.1 mm), and four Gonatus antarcticus (LRL range 4.1–6.1 mm). In terms of biomass K. longimana was the most important species taken by the penguins comprising 50% of total estimated squid wet mass (245348 g) in 1990 and 48% in 1992 (154873 g). However, if only fresh beaks were considered for estimations of squid consumption, i.e. beaks that have been accumulated for not longer than 5–6 days in the stomachs, squid diet was of minor importance. Then total squid wet mass accounted for only 4809 g in 1990 and 5445 g in 1992 which implies that one penguin took c.30 g squid d−1 with P. glacialis and A. antarcticus being the most important by mass. The prey composition suggests that emperor penguins take squid at the steep slope regions of the eastern Weddell Sea.

Within the Western Ross Sea, there are six emperor penguin colonies of widely different size that occur exclusively on sea ice. In 1990 a survey of all six sites, two by close overflights and four from the ground, showed that the breeding habitats were highly variable. The most important physical characteristics of these habitats appear to be stable fast ice, nearby open water, access to fresh snow, and shelter from the wind.

Notothenioid fish of the artedidraconid genus Artedidraco are a little studied, component of the bottom fauna on the Antarctic continental shelf. Trawling in the south-western Ross Sea, especially in shallow areas with sponge beds, yielded a collection of 65 specimens of Artedidraco. These included all four species occurring in the Ross Sea as well as a new species. The new species Artedidraco glareobarbatus is described and illustrated. This species is most similar to A. orianae, but is distinguished by barbel morphology, by higher counts for dorsal rays and vertebrae, by lower counts for upper lateral-line scales and by colour pattern and visceral anatomy. A distinctive spotted colour morph of A. shackletoni is also documented and compared with the typical barred morph. Depth distribution and meristic variation among species of Artedidraco are summarized, and a taxonomic key to the six species is provided.

To evaluate the avian influenza virus (AIV) circulation in Antarctic and sub-Antarctic penguins we carried out a serosurvey on six species from Livingston, Marion and Gough islands. Seropositivity against AIV was performed on serum samples using a competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and haemagglutination and neuraminidase inhibition assays. Some oropharyngeal and cloacal swabs were also assayed to detect influenza virus genomes by real time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. Overall, 12.1% (n = 140) penguins were seropositive to AIV. By species, we detected 5% (n = 19) and 11% (n = 18) seroprevalence in sub-Antarctic rockhopper penguins (Eudyptes spp.) from Gough and Marion islands, respectively, 42% (n = 33) seroprevalence in macaroni penguins (Eudyptes chysolophus Brandt), but no positives in the three other species, gentoo (Pygoscelis papua Forster; n = 25) and chinstrap penguins (P. antarctica Forster; n = 16), from Livingston Island and king penguins (Aptenodytes patagonicus Miller; n = 27) from Marion Island. While seropositivity reflected previous exposure to the AIV, the influenza genome was not detected. Our results indicate that AIV strains have circulated in penguin species in the sub-Antarctic region, but further studies are necessary to determine the precise role that such penguin species play in AIV epidemiology and if this circulation is species (or genus) specific.

Recent trawling in the Southern Ocean has yielded individuals of a number of species of the deep sea octopod genus Thaumeledone. This paper provides the first molecular study of the genus, employing molecular sequences from five mitochondrial (12S rDNA, 16S rDNA, COI, COIII, cytochrome oxidase b) and a single nuclear gene (rhodopsin) and includes representatives of each of the known Southern Ocean species. Thaumeledone rotunda, believed to be circumpolar in distribution and found in relatively deep water is the sister taxa to T. gunteri, known only from South Georgia. A notable level of sequence variability was evident between a T. peninsulae individual recently captured from the Powell Basin, and two T. peninsulae individuals captured from the continental slope, north of the South Shetland Islands. This is likely to represent population level intraspecific variation within this species.

Deposition of the Upper Cambrian succession of the Ellsworth Mountains was influenced by major, episodic tectonically-driven changes to the depositional basin geometry. We subdivide the succession into four stratigraphical sequences based on the recognition of three sequence-bounding unconformities. The upper part of Sequence 1 is composed of the laterally equivalent Liberty Hills, Springer Peak and Frazier Ridge formations, a siliciclastic fluvial to marine deltaic association displaying NW-directed palaeocurrents. A switch in the position of the Late Cambrian depocentre from the north-west to the south coincided with cessation of terrigenous clastic deposition and accumulation of Sequence 2, the limestones of the Minaret Formation. Previously unreported talus breccias from the Independence Hills provide important clues to basin configuration at this time. A brief period of emergence of the Minaret Formation is inferred, prior to rapid subsidence and disconformable deposition of Sequence 3 (the ‘transition beds’) in outer-inner shelf environments. Localized intra-basinal uplift occurred prior to the deposition of Sequence 4 (the lower Crashsite Group), the base of which is locally an erosive unconformity, with a correlative conformity exposed elsewhere. We interpret the Upper Cambrian succession as representing the ‘rift-drift’ transition from initial rifting (preceded by Middle Cambrian volcanism) to thermal subsidence along the South African sector of the palaeo-Pacific margin of Gondwana.

As a result of the recent application of DNA based technology to the investigation of maritime Antarctic freshwater lakes, patterns have begun to emerge in the bacterioplankton communities that dominate these systems. In this study, the bacterioplankton communities of five Antarctic and five Arctic freshwater lakes were assessed and compared with existing data in the literature, to determine whether emerging patterns in Antarctic lakes also applied to Arctic systems. Such a bipolar comparison is particularly timely, given the current interest in biogeography, the global distribution of microorganisms and the controversy over the global ubiquity hypothesis. In addition, it has recently been discovered that commonly encountered bacterial sequences, often originating from uncultivated bacteria obtained on different continents, form coherent phylogenetic freshwater clusters. In this study we encountered both identical sequences and sequences with a high degree of similarity among the bacterioplankton in lake water from both poles. In addition, Arctic freshwater lakes appeared to be dominated by some of the same groups of bacterioplankton thought to be dominant in Antarctic lakes, the vast majority of which represented uncultivated groups.

Fortyeight freshwater algae (excluding Cyanophyceae) were identified from nine lakes and pools at Hope Bay (Antarctic Peninsula). The geographic distribution in Antarctica and the ecological characteristics of the sampling sites are given for each taxa. Sixteen of them, new records for Antarctica, are described and illustrated. Among the algal classes treated here, Bacillariophyceae and Chlorophyceae constitute the most diverse groups. Most of the species found have been recorded from Antarctica, and many of them are widespread. Some degree of polymorphism was observed in Bacillariophyceae and Tribophyceae taxa.

Palmaria decipiens (Reinsch) R.W. Ricker (1987) represents one of the dominant rhodophyte species in Antarctic coastal ecosystems. Due to its high abundance in the intertidal and upper subtidal it plays a key role in ecosystem structure and function, providing habitat, food and shelter for a multitude of associated organisms. The physiology, reproductive strategy and life cycle of P. decipiens is considered as being well adapted to the Antarctic environment, which is characterized by permanent low water temperatures and a strong seasonality in light climate. With its obvious ecological significance and adaptive strategies P. decipiens was frequently studied as a typical representative of an endemic Antarctic macroalga. Here we provide an overview of the recent literature, summarizing the knowledge gained about the alga during the last 25 years. This review focuses on the species life cycle and physiological responses, such as temperature requirements, photosynthetic characteristics, pigment content and protective mechanisms with regard to enhanced ultraviolet radiation (UV-B radiation, 280–315 nm and UV-A radiation, 315–400 nm). The ecology of P. decipiens is reviewed focussing on grazing activity and abundance patterns. Since most studies on P. decipiens have been conducted at King George Island off the western Antarctic Peninsula this overview serves as a summary of baseline data from an ecosystem particularly prone to environmental change.

The diet of the Antarctic blue-eyed shag Phalacrocorax atriceps bransfieldensis was analysed based on the identification of the prey items in 50 regurgitated casts collected at Duthoit Point, Nelson Island, in February 1991. Fish remains occurred in 100% of the casts and represented 68% by number and 90% by weight of the total prey items. From a total of 2112 otoliths found, 1176 fish specimens were identified belonging to four demersalbenthic species: Harpagifer antarcticus, Notothenia neglecta, Nototheniops nudifrons and Trematomus newnesi. Equations to estimate total length and weight from otolith length are provided. H. antarcticus and N. neglecta were the most frequent (92%) and important by weight (66%) respectively. Cephalopod beaks found indicate benthic octopods as the second group in importance after fish. Other invertebrates such as polychaetes, gastropods, bivalves and crustaceans were only occasional. The presence of algae and stones in the casts is attributed to accidental ingestion. Our results are in general agreement with those published for other Antarctic localities which indicate that P. atriceps is a benthic coastal feeder, with fish as its main food.

Polychaetes, the dominant macrofaunal taxa of the Antarctic soft sediments, provided more than 40% of the animals found in Martel Inlet. However, little information is available on the composition of meiofaunal communities in polar areas. This study identified the meiofaunal polychaete species and described their bathymetric distribution in the nearshore zone. Sediment cores were taken by divers from 6–25 m depth in the summer of 1991 and 1994 in front of the Brazilian Antarctic Station (Martel Inlet, Admiralty Bay). Additional sampling was done at the 18 m depth in 1994 in order to study the influence of ice scouring. A total of 1895 specimens in 17 families were found. Three species (Apistobranchus glacierae, Leitoscoloplos kerguelensis and Ophryotrocha notialis), all of them belonging to the temporary meiofauna, provided more than 70% of the total polychaete fraction. This meiofaunal component showed similar distributional patterns to those of the macrofaunal polychaetes in this area.

The Scotia Arc and Amundsen Sea are contrasting regions within West Antarctica. The Scotia Sea shelf is well studied and central to the origin and diversity of the Southern Ocean benthic fauna, whilst the shelf of Amundsen Sea is one of the least studied shelf areas in the world; a ‘white spot’ on the map of benthic research. Here we report on the tanaidaceans collected using an epibenthic sledge on two expeditions, BIOPEARL 1 and 2, of the RRS James Clark Ross in 2006 and 2008, respectively. This study represents the first analysis of the tanaidacean fauna of those two basins. Thirty-seven species were found in the Amundsen Sea from 500–1500 m depth and 51 species were found at depths ranging from 200–1600 m in the Scotia Sea. In the Scotia Sea, many species were unique to each of the study sites which may be evidence of allopatric speciation episodes. Site specificity was especially evident for Typhlotanais and Pseudotanais. Only three species were common to both basins. Around 90% of the species were previously undescribed. Our findings increase the number of the tanaidaceans known in the Southern Ocean by 50%.