Biological and biochemical studies of the plant, invertebrate and microbial communities in the Ross Sea Region

An expedition was undertaken in the 84/85 season with the aim(s): 1) to survey plant and microbial communities in the Terra Nova Bay area, 2) to conduct ecophysiological studies on the insects at Cape Bird and 3) to survey plant communities in the Garwood Valley and in the Beacons. The areas visited include Mt Melbourne, Inexpressible Island, Edmunson Point, Cape Washington, Cape Royds, Cape Bird, Cape Crozier and the Garwood Glacier. At each of the sites, N2 fixation experiments were conducted on the flora, a general flora survey and estimation of plant cover was conducted and samples were collected. Ecological and physiological studies were undertaken on the terrestrial arthropods found at these sites, in particular the cold resistance of field populations of mites and springtails were studied experimentally to evaluate their survival characteristics. Additional aims were to assess the field movement and activity of species representative of extreme fellfield communities, to provide environmental data for the terrestrial arthropod study above and to collect small soil and vegetation samples from a variety of terrestrial habitats for subsequent analyses of the nematode and the protozoan fauna.