Antarctic Safari

The Biosphere

Antarctic Fauna

Adelie Penguin

Fur Seal

Killer Whale

Brown Skua

Toothfish

Terrestrial Ecosystem

Ancient glacial deposits and weathering create the soils that make up this desert pavement. There is no sign of organic matter yet between the spaces

of small rocks, microbes are protected from wind scouring

Primary producers of the food chain Moss Lichen

Algae Blue-Green Algae

Loads of moss cover here !

Moss

Algae & Moss are most abundant in the moist or saturated soils found closer to the coast and around ponds and lakes.

The most abundant producer is Blue-Green algae, also known as Cyano-bacteria or Nostock.

Sampling What lives in the soil and under rocks?

Biological activity is limited to just the top 10-12cm , with soil being permanently frozen at 30cm depth (permafrost)

Animals that live under the rocks !

Springtail Mite

These animals seem to be restricted to areas with high soil moisture and/or access to water.

Springtail

Gomphiocephalus hodgsoni (actual size 1.3mm), collected from the nzTABS study site (77oS) © University of Waikato

Feeds on algae, lichens & microbes

Mite

Stereotydeus mollis (actual size 0.7mm)

Feed on algae, lichens & microbes.

Animals that live in the soil Nematode worm – outnumber any other animal in the ecosystem. 1kg of soil might produce 800 – 4000 worms!

Tardigrade - also known as waterbears or moss piglets. They live in water and are found in moss and lichens where they feed on plant cells. They feed on algae.

Rotifer - eats detritus, dead bacteria and algae. They live in the water and can be found swimming in-between soil particles

Nematodes“Carbon appears to be more important than moisture in defining good habitats for nematodes in the Dry Valleys of Antarctica”(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antarctic_microorganism#cite_note-baskin-5)

In most ecosystems the top predator is a large carnivore but in the Dry Valleys it is a nematode worm! Being an omnivore it consumes algae and bacteria.

Click the link below to find out about the Nematode named Rambo.

http://www.aaaspolicyfellowships.org/sci-fly/thin-skin-nematodes

Pitfall TrapsThis is Gemma. As part of her MSc she is studying the behaviour of springtails. She has set some traps to collect the ‘wee beasties’.

Lichen ActivityThis is Rolf. He has invented a device to measure the photosynthetic activity of lichens. Data is transmitted to his office in Germany so that he knows when they are photosynthesising!

Lichens growing in rocks!

• A Lichen layer is green in colour

In the winter strong winds blast sand at the rocks. This means that in some places lichens and mosses rarely grow rocks.

Here we can see that Some lichens are actually found living inside rocks!

The transparent crystals let sunlight through and the rocks warm up during the daytime. At night they may occasionally get a little water in the form of dew.

A lichen is two organisms living together, in a symbiotic relationship - each being dependent on the other. Lichen is mainly a fungus species along with cyano-bacteria.

Scientists from the Universities of Waikato and Canterbury and from around the world bring together experience in all areas of terrestrial Antarctic biology.

The aim of the research is to record the diversity of life living in the Dry Valleys. But most importantly it is exploring how the biological (organisms), physical (climate) and chemical (soil chemistry) environments interact with each other to control species diversity. Basically put, why do species live where they do, when they do?

The research is used to creating a scientific model which will help us to predict the effects of climate change and other global, regional and local impacts.

GO TO nzTABS to find out more:http://nztabs.ictar.aq/index.php