Antarctica is a natural laboratory for studying the small number of plant and animal species that live in communities. Microbial life, invisible to the naked eye, plays a vital role in Antarctic ecosystems. State-of-the-art genetic methods to study the DNA of these microbes may lead to discoveries that could help in the production of new antibiotics and other compounds.

Remote and hostile, Antarctica harbours some of the most amazing creatures on the planet. It is also a powerful natural laboratory for studying biodiversity, evolution and the impacts of climate change. Cut off from the rest of planet, Antarctica’s isolation and its cold climate have allowed some unique species to evolve.

Mostly covered in ice and snow, Antarctica is the driest, coldest and windiest continent on Earth. Little of its land surface can support life, so the communities of plants and animals that survive there consist of only a small number of species living in simple relationships. Because of the simplicity of these communities, Antarctica is an exceptionally useful place for scientists to uncover how ecosystems work.

Some of the creatures in these communities are particularly interesting. Known as nematodes, their ancestors survived on tiny areas of land left uncovered during the last ice ages, more than one million years ago. By studying these nematodes, scientists at British Antarctic Survey (BAS) are able to increase our understanding of evolution and help reconstruct Antarctica’s glacial history.

Unlike the land, the seas around Antarctica are home to a rich and diverse group of species that have evolved some unique ways of coping with the cold. Some Antarctic fish, for example, are the only vertebrates in the world that do not use red blood cells to carry oxygen around their bodies.

But because they are so well adapted to the cold, some of these species may not be able to cope with life in a warmer world. Climate change is likely to have a major impact on Antarctic species. From their research stations on and around the Antarctic Peninsula – one of the fastest warming parts of the planet – BAS scientists are well placed to study how these species are responding to climate change.

Compared with our understanding of the continent’s plants and animals, we know very little about Antarctica’s microbial life. Invisible to the naked eye, these organisms play a vital role in Antarctic ecosystems and, because they may help us produce new antibiotics and other compounds, are rich but untapped resource. At BAS, scientists are using state-of-the-art genetic methods to study the DNA of these microbes and, hopefully, harness their potential.

CACHE-ITN

Pushing forward our understanding of calcium production in the marine environment

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SONA

The Southern Ocean Network of Acoustics (SONA) represents a group of scientific institutes and industrial partners who have united to measure an under-sampled component of the ecosystem – the mid-trophic …

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Long term monitoring of plastics

This long-term study monitors the impact of marine plastics and other debris on breeding seabirds at Bird Island. Researchers have monitored the levels of marine plastics and other material from …

ASCCC

The ASCCC Project  has been funded by ACE (Antarctic Circumnavigation Expedition) to investigate, quantify and understand the role of polar and subpolar seabeds in the carbon cycle, particularly in response …

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Penguins and climate change

30 June, 2022

Introduction Reports suggest that climate change is putting some penguin species in peril. Scientists at British Antarctic Survey investigating long-term changes in penguin populations report what’s happening to these iconic …

Emperor penguins

Climate change risk to emperor penguins

3 August, 2021

British Antarctic Survey scientists have contributed to a new study published today (3 August)  which provides valuable new data highlighting how emperor penguins extinction risk is increased due to rapid …

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Acoustic research sheds new light on whale sounds 

2 July, 2021

Scientists from British Antarctic Survey (BAS), Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS), and international collaborators have this week published the first detailed research on the sounds made by southern right …

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End of giant iceberg A-68

19 April, 2021

The mission to determine the impact of the giant A-68a iceberg on the important marine ecosystem of sub-Antarctic South Georgia is a success.

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Drones ‘effective method’ for counting seabirds

5 March, 2021

Drones, or un-crewed aerial vehicles, are helping scientists to survey remote colonies of seabirds more rapidly and efficiently than ever before. The results, which show population change in three seabird …

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Rock lobsters’ long-distance relationship

2 March, 2021

Rock lobsters may have lived further north in the past, and may be vulnerable to climate change in the future, according to a new study published this month (March 2021). …