Our publications

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Heterozygosity at neutral and immune loci is not associated with neonatal mortality due to microbial infection in Antarctic fur seals

22 July, 2019 by Jaume Forcada

Numerous studies have reported correlations between the heterozygosity of genetic markers and fitness. These heterozygosity–fitness correlations (HFCs) play a central role in evolutionary and conservation biology, yet their mechanistic basis…

Read more on Heterozygosity at neutral and immune loci is not associated with neonatal mortality due to microbial infection in Antarctic fur seals

A new vent limpet in the genus Lepetodrilus (Gastropoda: Lepetodrilidae) from Southern Ocean hydrothermal vent fields showing high phenotypic plasticity

16 July, 2019 by Katrin Linse

The recently discovered hydrothermal vent ecosystems in the Southern Ocean host a suite of vent-endemic species, including lepetodrilid limpets dominating in abundance. Limpets were collected from the chimneys, basalts and…

Read more on A new vent limpet in the genus Lepetodrilus (Gastropoda: Lepetodrilidae) from Southern Ocean hydrothermal vent fields showing high phenotypic plasticity

Is reproductive strategy a key factor in understanding the evolutionary history of Southern Ocean Asteroidea (Echinodermata)?

16 July, 2019 by Chester Sands

Life traits such as reproductive strategy can be determining factors of species evolutionary history and explain the resulting diversity patterns. This can be investigated using phylogeographic analyses of genetic units.…

Read more on Is reproductive strategy a key factor in understanding the evolutionary history of Southern Ocean Asteroidea (Echinodermata)?

Geochronology and geochemistry of the northern Scotia Sea: a revised interpretation of the North and West Scotia ridge junction

15 July, 2019 by Alexander Tate, Alex Burton-Johnson, Philip Leat, Teal Riley

Understanding the tectonic evolution of the Scotia Sea is critical to interpreting how ocean gateways developed during the Cenozoic and their influence on ocean circulation patterns and water exchange between…

Read more on Geochronology and geochemistry of the northern Scotia Sea: a revised interpretation of the North and West Scotia ridge junction

Morphological and geological features of Drake Passage, Antarctica, from a new digital bathymetric model

3 July, 2019 by Alexander Tate, Elanor Gowland, Philip Leat, Robert Larter, Teal Riley

The Drake Passage is an oceanic gateway of about 850 km width located between South America and the Antarctic Peninsula that connects the southeastern Pacific Ocean with the southwestern Atlantic Ocean.…

Read more on Morphological and geological features of Drake Passage, Antarctica, from a new digital bathymetric model

Education and outreach by the Antarctic Treaty Parties, Observers and Experts under the framework of the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meetings

1 July, 2019 by Linda Capper

The development of formal discourse about education and outreach within the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meetings (ATCM), and the influence of major international activities in this field, are described. This study…

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A validation of ERA5 reanalysis data in the southern Antarctic Peninsula – Ellsworth Land region, and its implications for ice core studies

29 June, 2019 by Claire Allen, Dieter Tetzner, Liz Thomas

Climate reanalyses provide key information to calibrate proxy records in regions with scarce direct observations. The climate reanalysis used to perform a proxy calibration should accurately reproduce the local climate…

Read more on A validation of ERA5 reanalysis data in the southern Antarctic Peninsula – Ellsworth Land region, and its implications for ice core studies

Structure, variability, and mean-flow interactions of the January 2015 quasi-two-day wave at middle and high southern latitudes

27 June, 2019 by Andrew Kavanagh

The structure, variability, and mean-flow interactions of the quasi-2-day wave (Q2DW) in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere during January 2015 were studied employing meteor and medium-frequency radar winds at eight…

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Physiological diversity, biodiversity patterns and global climate change: testing key hypotheses involving temperature and oxygen

17 June, 2019 by Simon Morley

Documenting and explaining global patterns of biodiversity in time and space have fascinated and occupied biologists for centuries. Investigation of the importance of these patterns, and their underpinning mechanisms, has…

Read more on Physiological diversity, biodiversity patterns and global climate change: testing key hypotheses involving temperature and oxygen

Individual spatial consistency and dietary flexibility in the migratory behaviour of northern gannets wintering in the Northeast Atlantic.

12 June, 2019 by Richard Phillips

Migration is a fundamental behavioural process prevalent among a wide variety of animal taxa. As individuals are increasingly shown to present consistent responses to environmental cues for breeding or foraging,…

Read more on Individual spatial consistency and dietary flexibility in the migratory behaviour of northern gannets wintering in the Northeast Atlantic.

Sex-specific effects of fisheries and climate on the demography of sexually dimorphic seabirds

11 June, 2019 by Andrew Wood, Deborah Pardo, Jaume Forcada, Louise Ireland, Richard Phillips

1.Many animal taxa exhibit sex‐specific variation in ecological traits, such as foraging and distribution. These differences could result in sex‐specific responses to change, but such demographic effects are poorly understood.…

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Back to the Future: Using long-term observational and paleo-proxy reconstructions to improve model projections of Antarctic climate

7 June, 2019 by Liz Thomas, Louise Sime, Thomas Bracegirdle

Quantitative estimates of future Antarctic climate change are derived from numerical global climate models. Evaluation of the reliability of climate model projections involves many lines of evidence on past performance…

Read more on Back to the Future: Using long-term observational and paleo-proxy reconstructions to improve model projections of Antarctic climate

Subglacial hydrological control on flow of an Antarctic Peninsula palaeo-ice stream

5 June, 2019 by Alexander Tate, Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand, James Smith, James Kirkham, Kelly Hogan, Robert Larter, Zoe Roseby

Basal hydrological systems play an important role in controlling the dynamic behaviour of ice streams. Data showing their morphology and relationship to geological substrates beneath modern ice streams are, however,…

Read more on Subglacial hydrological control on flow of an Antarctic Peninsula palaeo-ice stream

Arrhenian growth thermodynamics in marine-derived tropical Fusarium equiseti and polar Pseudogymnoascus spp. in a liquid culture system

1 June, 2019 by Peter Convey

We hypothesised that the activation energy (Ea) of growth in a marine-derived tropical strain of Fusarium equiseti and polar strains of Pseudogymnoascus spp. grown for 10 days in a liquid…

Read more on Arrhenian growth thermodynamics in marine-derived tropical Fusarium equiseti and polar Pseudogymnoascus spp. in a liquid culture system

A comparative study of phycobilliprotein production in two strains of Pseudanabaena isolated from Arctic and tropical regions in relation to different light wavelengths and photoperiods

1 June, 2019 by Peter Convey

Phycobiliproteins, which include phycocyanin, allophycocyanin and phycoerythrin, are the group of coloured accessory photosynthetic pigments present in cyanobacteria (blue-green algae). Pseudanabaena is a genus of microscopic cyanobacteria, cosmopolitan in distribution…

Read more on A comparative study of phycobilliprotein production in two strains of Pseudanabaena isolated from Arctic and tropical regions in relation to different light wavelengths and photoperiods

Antarctic clouds, supercooled liquid water and mixed-phase investigated with DARDAR: geographical and seasonal variations

21 May, 2019 by Amelie Kirchgaessner, John King, Thomas Lachlan-Cope

Antarctic tropospheric clouds are investigated using the radar-lidar DARDAR (raDAR/liDAR)-MASK products. The cloud fraction is divided into the supercooled liquid water (SLW)-containing clouds and the all-ice clouds. The low-level SLW…

Read more on Antarctic clouds, supercooled liquid water and mixed-phase investigated with DARDAR: geographical and seasonal variations

On the importance of gradients in the low energy electron phase space density for relativistic electron acceleration

17 May, 2019 by Hayley Allison, Richard Horne, Sarah Glauert

Observations of the electron radiation belts have shown links between increases in the low-energy seed population and enhancements in the >1-MeV flux. During active times, low-energy electrons are introduced to…

Read more on On the importance of gradients in the low energy electron phase space density for relativistic electron acceleration

Predicting future distributions of lanternfish, a significant ecological resource within the Southern Ocean

16 May, 2019 by Geraint Tarling, Jennifer Freer, Martin Collins

Aim: Lanternfish (Myctophidae) are one of the most abundant and ecologically important families of pelagic teleosts, yet how these species will respond to climate change is unclear, especially within polar…

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RAD sequencing sheds new light on the genetic structure and local adaptation of European scallops and resolves their demographic histories

15 May, 2019 by Luca Telesca

ecent developments in genomics are advancing our understanding of the processes shaping population structure in wild organisms. In particular, reduced representation sequencing has facilitated the generation of dense genetic marker…

Read more on RAD sequencing sheds new light on the genetic structure and local adaptation of European scallops and resolves their demographic histories

Processes and patterns of glacier-influenced sedimentation and recent tidewater glacier dynamics in Darbel Bay, western Antarctic Peninsula

14 May, 2019 by Kelly Hogan, Robert Larter

Bathymetric data of unprecedented resolution are used to provide insights into former ice dynamics and glacial processes in a western Antarctic Peninsula embayment. An assemblage of submarine glacial landforms, which…

Read more on Processes and patterns of glacier-influenced sedimentation and recent tidewater glacier dynamics in Darbel Bay, western Antarctic Peninsula

Endemic and cosmopolitan fungal taxa exhibit differential abundances in total and active communities of Antarctic soils

1 May, 2019 by Kevin Newsham

Our understanding of the diversity and community dynamics of soil fungi has increased greatly through the use of DNA‐based identification. Community characterisation of metabolically active communities via RNA sequencing has…

Read more on Endemic and cosmopolitan fungal taxa exhibit differential abundances in total and active communities of Antarctic soils

Fur seal microbiota are shaped by the social and physical environment, show mother‐offspring similarities and are associated with host genetic quality

1 May, 2019 by Jaume Forcada

Despite an increasing appreciation of the importance of host‐microbe interactions in ecological and evolutionary processes, the factors shaping microbial communities in wild populations remain poorly understood. We therefore exploited a…

Read more on Fur seal microbiota are shaped by the social and physical environment, show mother‐offspring similarities and are associated with host genetic quality

Integrated taxonomy combining morphological and molecular biological analyses of soil nematodes from maritime Antarctica

1 May, 2019 by Peter Convey, Rolf Maslen

Nematodes are one of the key organisms in the terrestrial ecosystems of Antarctica. Their exceptional cryptobiotic adaptations against freezing and desiccation stress have attracted significant research attention. However, even today,…

Read more on Integrated taxonomy combining morphological and molecular biological analyses of soil nematodes from maritime Antarctica

Evidence for a decline in the population density of Antarctic krill Euphausia superba Dana 1850, still stands: A comment on Cox et al. (J Crust Biol, 2018)

1 May, 2019 by Simeon Hill

Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba Dana, 1850) exemplifies the key role of marine crustaceans in fisheries, foodwebs, and biogeochemical cycles. Ecological understanding and policy decisions require information on population trends. We…

Read more on Evidence for a decline in the population density of Antarctic krill Euphausia superba Dana 1850, still stands: A comment on Cox et al. (J Crust Biol, 2018)

Paleocirculation and ventilation history of Southern Ocean sourced deep water masses during the last 800,000 years

1 May, 2019 by Claire Allen, Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand, James Smith, Thomas Williams

Most conceptual models of ocean circulation during past glacial periods invoke a shallowed North Atlantic‐sourced water mass overlying an expanded, poorly ventilated Southern Ocean (SO)‐sourced deep water mass (Southern Component…

Read more on Paleocirculation and ventilation history of Southern Ocean sourced deep water masses during the last 800,000 years

Cryptic speciation in Southern Ocean Aequiyoldia eightsii (Jay, 1839): Mio-Pliocene trans-Drake Passage separation and diversification

1 May, 2019 by Simon Morley

The species of the genus Aequiyoldia Soot-Ryen, 1951, previously known as Yoldia, are common, soft-substratum, sareptid bivalves. In the Southern Ocean, Aequiyoldia eightsii (Jay, 1839) was originally described from the…

Read more on Cryptic speciation in Southern Ocean Aequiyoldia eightsii (Jay, 1839): Mio-Pliocene trans-Drake Passage separation and diversification