Location Location Location: Survival of Antarctic biota requires the best real-estate

The origin of terrestrial biota in Antarctica has been debated since the
discovery of springtails on the first historic voyages to the southern
continent more than 120 years ago. A plausible explanation for the
long-term persistence of life requiring ice-free land on continental
Antarctica has, however, remained elusive. The default glacial eradication
scenario has dominated because hypotheses to date have failed to provide a
mechanism for their widespread survival on the continent, particularly
through the Last Glacial Maximum when geological evidence demonstrates
that the ice sheet was more extensive than present. Here, we provide
support for the alternative nunatak refuge hypothesis – that ice-free
terrain with sufficient relief above the ice sheet provided refuges and
was a source for terrestrial biota found today. This hypothesis is
supported here by an increased understanding from the combination of
biological and geological evidence, and we outline a mechanism for these
refuges during successive glacial maxima that also provides a source for
coastal species. Our cross-disciplinary approach provides future
directions to further test this hypothesis that will lead to new insights
into the evolution of Antarctic landscapes and how they have shaped the
biota through a changing climate.