Note: ANTARCTIC ECOSYSTEMS: An Extreme Environment in a Changing World -- CONTENTS -- Contributors -- INTRODUCTION: ANTARCTIC ECOLOGY IN A CHANGING WORLD -- Introduction -- Climate change -- The historical context -- The importance of scale -- Fisheries and conservation -- Concluding remarks -- References -- PART 1: TERRESTRIAL AND FRESHWATER HABITATS -- 1 SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL VARIABILITY IN TERRESTRIAL ANTARCTIC BIODIVERSITY -- 1.1 Introduction -- 1.2 Variation across space -- 1.2.1 Individual and population levels -- 1.2.2 Species level -- 1.2.3 Assemblage and ecosystem levels -- 1.3 Variation through time -- 1.3.1 Individual level -- 1.3.2 Population level -- 1.3.3 Species level -- 1.3.4 Assemblage and ecosystem levels -- 1.4 Conclusions and implications -- Acknowledgments -- References -- 2 GLOBAL CHANGE IN A LOW DIVERSITY TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEM: THE MCMURDO DRY VALLEYS -- 2.1 Introduction -- 2.2 The McMurdo dry valley region -- 2.3 Above-belowground interactions -- 2.4 The functioning of low diversity systems -- 2.5 Effects of global changes on coupled above-belowground subsystems -- 2.6 Temperature change: warming -- 2.7 Temperature change: cooling -- 2.8 Direct human influence: trampling -- 2.9 UV Radiation -- 2.10 Concluding remarks -- Acknowledgements -- References -- 3 ANTARCTIC LAKES AS MODELS FOR THE STUDY OF MICROBIAL BIODIVERSITY, BIOGEOGRAPHY AND EVOLUTION -- 3.1 The variety of antarctic lake types -- 3.2 The physical and chemical lake environment -- 3.3 The microbial diversity of antarctic lakes -- 3.3.1 Methods for exploring Antarctic lake biodiversity -- 3.3.2 Microbial groups -- 3.3.3 Protists -- 3.3.4 Crustacea -- 3.4 Biogeography -- 3.4.1 Spatial variation and the global ubiquity hypothesis -- 3.4.2 Temporal variation and palaeolimnology -- 3.5 Evolution -- 3.5.1 Prokaryote physiology -- 3.5.2 Eukaryote physiology. , 3.6 Future perspectives -- 3.7 Acknowledgement -- References -- PART 2: MARINE HABITATS AND REGIONS -- 4 THE IMPACT OF REGIONAL CLIMATE CHANGE ON THE MARINE ECOSYSTEM OF THE WESTERN ANTARCTIC PENINSULA -- 4.1 Introduction -- 4.1.1 The oceanographic setting -- 4.1.2 The historical context -- 4.2 Predicted environmental changes along the western antarctic peninsula -- 4.3 Environmental variability and ecological response -- 4.3.1 Biotic responses to climate change: some general points -- 4.4 Responses of individual marine species to climate change -- 4.4.1 Acclimation and evolutionary responses to environmental change in antarctic marine organisms -- 4.5 Community level responses to climate change -- 4.6 Ecosystem level responses to climate change -- 4.7 What biological changes have been observed to date? -- 4.8 Concluding remarks -- Acknowledgements -- References -- 5 THE MARINE SYSTEM OF THE WESTERN ANTARCTIC PENINSULA -- 5.1 Introduction -- 5.2 Climate and ice -- 5.2.1 Surface air temperature -- 5.2.2 Sea ice -- 5.2.3 Climate co-variability -- 5.3 Physical oceanography -- 5.4 Nutrients and carbon -- 5.4.1 Nutrients and UCDW intrusions -- 5.4.2 Carbon cycle -- 5.4.3 Dissolved organic carbon -- 5.4.4 Sedimentation and export -- 5.5 Phytoplankton dynamics -- 5.5.1 Seasonal scale dynamics -- 5.5.2 Role of light -- 5.5.3 Role of nutrients -- 5.5.4 Annual variability in phytoplankton -- 5.6 Microbial ecology -- 5.7 Zooplankton -- 5.7.1 Community composition and distribution -- 5.7.2 Long-term trends and climate connections -- 5.7.3 Grazing and biogeochemical cycling -- 5.8 Penguins -- 5.8.1 Contaminants in penguins -- 5.9 Marine mammals -- 5.10 Synthesis: food webs of the wap -- 5.11 Conclusions -- Acknowledgements -- References -- 6 SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL OPERATION OF THE SCOTIA SEA ECOSYSTEM -- 6.1 Introduction -- 6.2 Oceanography and sea ice. , 6.2.1 Upper-ocean circulation and characteristics in the Scotia Sea -- 6.2.2 Physical variability and long-term change -- 6.3 Nutrient and plankton dynamics -- 6.4 Krill in the scotia sea food web -- 6.4.1 Krill distribution in the Scotia Sea -- 6.4.2 Krill growth and age in the Scotia Sea -- 6.4.3 Krill reproduction and recruitment in the Scotia Sea -- 6.4.4 Krill - habitat interactions in the Scotia Sea -- 6.4.5 Krill population variability and change in the Scotia Sea -- 6.4.6 Krill in the Scotia Sea food web -- 6.5 Food web operation -- 6.5.1 Trophic links -- 6.5.2 Spatial operation of the food web -- 6.6 Ecosystem variability and long-term change -- 6.7 Concluding comments -- Summary -- Acknowledgements -- References -- 7 THE ROSS SEA CONTINENTAL SHELF: REGIONAL BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLES, TROPHIC INTERACTIONS, AND POTENTIAL FUTURE CHANGES -- 7.1 Introduction -- 7.2 Physical setting -- 7.3 Biological setting -- 7.3.1 Lower trophic levels -- 7.3.2 Mid-trophic levels -- 7.3.3 Fishes and mobile predators -- 7.3.4 Upper trophic levels -- 7.3.5 Benthos -- 7.4 Food web and biotic interactions -- 7.5 Conclusions -- 7.5.1 Uniqueness of the Ross Sea -- 7.5.2 Potential impacts of climate change -- 7.5.3 Conservation and the role of commercial fishing activity in the Ross Sea -- 7.5.4 Research needs and future directions -- Acknowledgements -- References -- 8 PELAGIC ECOSYSTEMS IN THE WATERS OFF EAST ANTARCTICA (30 E-150 E) -- 8.1 Introduction -- 8.2 The region -- 8.2.1 The east (80 E-150 E) -- 8.2.2 The west (30 E-80 E) -- 8.3 Ecosystem change off east antarctica -- Summary -- References -- 9 THE DYNAMIC MOSAIC -- 9.1 Introduction -- 9.2 Historical and geographic perspectives -- 9.3 Disturbance -- 9.3.1 Ice effects -- 9.3.2 Asteroid impacts -- 9.3.3 Sediment instability and hypoxia -- 9.3.4 Wind and wave action -- 9.3.5 Pollution -- 9.3.6 UV irradiation. , 9.3.7 Volcanic eruptions -- 9.3.8 Trawling -- 9.3.9 Non-indigenous species (NIS) -- 9.3.10 Freshwater -- 9.3.11 Temperature stress -- 9.3.12 Biological agents of physical disturbance -- 9.4 Colonisaton of antarctic sea-beds -- 9.4.1 Larval abundance -- 9.4.2 Hard substrata -- 9.4.3 Soft sediments -- 9.5 Implications of climate change -- 9.6 Conclusion -- Acknowledgements -- References -- 10 SOUTHERN OCEAN DEEP BENTHIC BIODIVERSITY -- 10.1 Introduction -- 10.2 History of antarctic biodiversity work -- 10.3 Geological history and evolution of the antarctic -- 10.3.1 Indian Ocean -- 10.3.2 South Atlantic -- 10.3.3 Weddell Sea -- 10.3.4 Drake Passage and Scotia Sea -- 10.4 Benthic composition and diversity of meio-, macro- and megabenthos -- 10.4.1 Meiofauna -- 10.4.2 Macrofaunal composition and diversity -- 10.4.3 Megafaunal composition and diversity -- 10.5 Phylogenetic relationships of selected taxa -- 10.5.1 Foraminifera -- 10.5.2 Isopoda -- 10.5.3 Tanaidacea -- 10.5.4 Bivalvia -- 10.5.5 Polychaeta -- 10.5.6 Cephalopoda -- 10.6 Biogeography and endemism -- 10.6.1 Porifera -- 10.6.2 Foraminifera -- 10.6.3 Metazoan meiofauna -- 10.6.4 Peracarida -- 10.6.5 Mollusca -- 10.6.6 Echinodermata -- 10.6.7 Brachiopoda -- 10.6.8 Polychaeta -- 10.6.9 Bryozoa -- 10.7 Relationship of selected faunal assemblages to environmental variables -- 10.7.1 Large-scale patterns with depth -- 10.7.2 Patterns influenced by other environmental or physical factors -- 10.7.3 Isopoda -- 10.8 Similarities and differences between antarctic and other deep-sea systems -- 10.8.1 The environment -- 10.8.2 A direct comparison between the deep sea of the SO and the World Ocean -- 10.8.3 Dispersal and recruitment between the SO and the rest of the world -- 10.8.4 The special case of chemosynthetically-driven deep-sea systems -- 10.9 Conclusions -- Acknowledgements -- References. , 11 ENVIRONMENTAL FORCING AND SOUTHERN OCEAN MARINE PREDATOR POPULATIONS -- 11.1 Climate change: recent, rapid, regional warming -- 11.2 Using oscillatory climate signals to predict future change in biological communities -- 11.3 Potential for regional impacts on the biosphere -- 11.4 Confounding isues in identifying a biological signal -- 11.5 Regional ecosystem responses as a consequence of variation in regional food webs -- 11.6 Where biological signals will be most apparent -- 11.7 The southwest atlantic -- 11.8 The indian ocean -- 11.9 The pacific ocean -- 11.10 Similarities between the atlantic, indian and pacific oceans -- 11.11 What ENSO can tell us -- 11.12 Future scenarios -- References -- PART 3: MOLECULAR ADAPTATIONS AND EVOLUTION -- 12 MOLECULAR ECOPHYSIOLOGY OF ANTARCTIC NOTOTHENIOID FISHES* -- 12.1 Introduction -- 12.2 Surviving the big chill - notothenioid freezing avoidance by antifreeze proteins -- 12.2.1 Freezing challenge in frigid Antarctic marine environment -- 12.2.2 Historical paradigm of teleost freezing avoidance -- 12.2.3 Paradigm shift I: the 'larval paradox' -- 12.2.4 Paradigm shift II: liver is not the source of blood AFGP in notothenioids -- 12.2.5 Gut versus blood - importance of intestinal freeze avoidance -- 12.2.6 Non-hepatic source of plasma AFGP -- 12.2.7 Alterations in environments and dynamic evolutionary change in notothenioid AFGP gene families -- 12.2.8 Summary comments - antifreeze protein gain in Antarctic notothenioid fish -- 12.3 Haemoprotein loss and cardiovascular adaptation in icefishes - dr. no to the rescue? -- 12.3.1 Vertebrates without haemoglobins - you must be kidding! -- 12.3.2 Haemoprotein loss in icefishes: an evolutionary perspective -- 12.3.3 Cellular correlates of haemoprotein loss -- 12.3.4 The icefish cardiovascular system. , 12.3.5 Compensatory adjustment of the icefish cardiovascular system in a regime of reduced interspecific competition? Enter Dr. NO.