International Collaboration

The University of Waikato http://www.waikato.ac.nz/

Gateway Antarctica http://www.anta.canterbury.ac.nz/

Australian Antarctic Division http://www.aad.gov.au/

Autonomous University of Madrid http://www.uam.es/

Colorado State University http://www.colostate.edu/

Complutense University of Madrid http://www.ucm.es/

Durham University http://www.dur.ac.uk/

Gademann Instruments GmbH http://www.gademann.com/

University of Hong Kong http://www.hku.hk/

Plant ecology and systematics, Kaiserslautern University, Germany http://www.uni-kl.de/

University of Nevada http://www.unr.edu/home/

The University of Nottingham http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/

Biological Sciences, Salzburg University http://www.uni-salzburg.at/

Scottish Crop Research Insitute http://www.scri.ac.uk/

South Australian Museum http://www.samuseum.sa.gov.au/

Virginia Tech http://www.vt.edu/

University of the Western Cape http://www.uwc.ac.za/

Funding and Support

Antarctica New Zealand http://www.antarcticanz.govt.nz/

Foundation for Research, Science and Technology (FRST) http://www.frst.govt.nz/

New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade http://www.mfat.govt.nz/

Royal Society of New Zealand http://www.royalsociety.org.nz/

Related Projects

Molecular studies of the origins and dispersal patterns of invertebrates in the Antarctic and Sub-Antarctic
Australian Antarctic Program
Science Project 2355, Season 2009/10 – 2011/12

Dr. Mark Stevens - South Australian Museum (Principle Investigator)
Dr. Pete Convey - British Antarctic Survey
Ms. Penny Greenslade - Univ of Ballarat and SA museum
Dr. Ian Hogg - University of Waikato
Dr. Murray Potter - Massey Univ.
Dr. Chester Sands - BAS
Dr Byron Adams - Brigham Young Univ.

Project Outline
This project will provide an understanding of how Southern Hemisphere environmental change is likely to have modified, and will continue to modify, the distribution of invertebrate and endosymbiont bacterial assemblages and their genetic biodiversity. Specifically, this project will help to (i) identify the processes that cause natural variation in the distribution and abundance of key species, (ii) create a database of molecular and genetic biodiversity data, and (iii) predict the effect of global warming on temperature-sensitive species. Our aims are to decipher the evolutionary history of populations from maritime- and continental- Antarctica and from the subantarctic by: 1) examining phylogenetic relationships and correlating genetic findings with information on geological (e.g. tectonic, oceanographic and glacial) history; and 2) resolving population 'origins'. Collembola, Acari, Nematoda, Tardigrada, and Rotifera represent the most abundant and diverse invertebrate groups in the Antarctic region. But even greater levels of 'hidden' diversity are expected, for example our work on Collembola has revealed that several new species of Collembola are present in the Antarctic and on subantarctic islands. Molecular studies are needed to examine relationships among populations of these species, and to delineate species boundaries and dispersal patterns further. Only with this information is it possible to make accurate assessments of the patterns and processes of biodiversity of Collembola, Acari, Nematoda, Tardigrada, Rotifera, and their endosymbionts, which will provide critical information on the evolutionary history over long-term climate change throughout the Southern Hemisphere, and one of the few studies to carry out such a study that can include extant species assemblages from the Antarctic continent.


Biogeochemistry of cyanobacterial mats and hyporheic zone microbes in McMurdo Dry valley glacial meltwater streams
This project is a US National Science Foundation (NSF) funded project comprised of a collaboration between three universities, specificially Prof. Doug Capone and Jill Sohm at the University of Southern California, Prof. Edward Carpenter and Joelle Tirindelli at San Francisco State University and Prof S. Craig Cary and Thomas Niederberger at the Univeristy of Delaware.

Project Outline
Unique, but poorly characterized habitats of the Antarctic Dry Valleys are the seasonally wetted soils of the glacial melt-water streams. These streams typically have extensive cyanobacterial mats which are a probable source of fixed C and N to the Valleys. However, to date, no comprehensive biogeochemical/microbial biological studies exist on these systems. We are studying the interplay between the microbial mats in the ephemeral glacial streams and the microbiota of the hyporheic soils (wetted soil zone) underlying and adjacent to those mats. We hypothesize that these mats are important sources of organic carbon and fixed nitrogen for the soil communities of the hyporheic zone. Furthermore, we posit that because of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and nitrogen (DON) release from mats, the hyporheic zone is a microbial oasis and a major source of fixed C and N for the entire Dry Valley ecosystem. Specifically, we will assess the importance of N and C fixation by the mats to the microbiota, the release of DOC, DON and inorganic N and the physiological and species composition response of the soil microbiota through this seasonally phased release.

International Programs

Latitudinal Gradient Project (LGP)

The Latitudinal Gradient Project (LGP) is a framework within which interdisciplinary and international collaborations can be supported logistically towards the common goals of understanding the complex ecosystems that exist along the Victoria Land coast; and determining the effects of environmental change on these ecosystems.
http://www.lgp.aq/

Evolution and Biodiversity in the Antarctic (EBA)

The Evolution and Biodiversity in the Antarctic (EBA) programme combines the research communities and aims of the past SCAR programmes of RiSCC, EVOLANTA and EASIZ. EBA seeks to: understand the evolution and diversity of life in the Antarctic; determine how these have influenced the properties and dynamics of present Antarctic ecosystems and the Southern Ocean system; make predictions on how organisms and communities are responding and will respond to current and future environmental change; and identify EBA science outcomes that are relevant to conservation policy and communicate this science via the SCAR Antarctic Treaty System Committee.
http://www.eba.aq/

International Polar Year (IPY)

The International Polar Year (IPY) is a collaborative, international effort researching the polar regions. On three occasions over the past 125 years scientists from around the world banded together to organize concentrated scientific and exploring. The 2007-2009 International Polar Year is the third international cooperative effort, the first occurred in 1882-1883, fifty years later in 1932-1933 the second was held. International cooperative programs share the costs and maximize the number of coordinated scientific observations.
http://www.ipy.org/