Meta-analysis of Antarctic phylogeography reveals strong sampling bias and critical knowledge gaps

Much of Antarctica’s highly endemic terrestrial biodiversity is found in small ice-free patches. Substantial genetic differentiation has been detected among populations across spatial scales. Sampling is, however, often restricted to commonly-accessed sites, and we therefore lack a comprehensive understanding of broad-scale biogeographic patterns, which could impede forecasts of the nature and impacts of future change. Here, we present a synthesis of published genetic studies across terrestrial Antarctica and the broader Antarctic region, aiming to identify current biogeographic patterns, environmental drivers of diversity, and future research priorities. A database of all published genetic research from terrestrial fauna and flora (excl. microbes) across the Antarctic region was constructed. This database was then filtered to focus on the most well-represented taxa and markers (mitochondrial COI for fauna, and nuclear ITS for flora). The final dataset comprised 7222 records, spanning 1...