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Impacts of climate change on Antarctic ecosystems

Guest edited by Iván Gómez, Pirjo Huovinen, and Nelson Valdivia. 

The maritime Antarctica is one of the regions experiencing the most severe impacts of climate change in the world and its marine and terrestrial ecosystems are vulnerable to environmental shifts produced by rapid warming, acidification and enhanced UV radiation. King George Island, the largest of the South Shetlands, is characterized by a rich biodiversity, which is strongly influenced by regional oceanographic and climatic processes. In virtue of its strategic position, this island has been a key area for the study of Antarctic ecology and evolution. This series, published in Revista Chilena de Historia Natural, compiles results of recent studies carried out in King George Island by different work groups. The main goal is to improve our understanding of the across-ecosystem impacts of climate change in Antarctica at ecological, physiological, and molecular levels.

This collection of articles has not been sponsored and articles have undergone the journal’s standard peer-review process. The Guest Editors declare no competing interests.

View all collections published in Revista Chilena de Historia Natural.

  1. Mosses dominate much of the vegetation in the Antarctic, but the effect of climatic change on moss growth and sexual reproduction has scarcely been studied. In Antarctica, mosses infrequently produce sporophyt...

    Authors: A. Casanova-Katny, G. A. Torres-Mellado and S. M. Eppley
    Citation: Revista Chilena de Historia Natural 2016 89:13
    Content type: Research Published on:

  2. Maritime Antarctica is severely affected by climate change and accelerating glacier retreat forming temporal gradients of soil development. Successional patterns of soil development and plant succession in the...

    Authors: Jens Boy, Roberto Godoy, Olga Shibistova, Diana Boy, Robert McCulloch, Alberto Andrino de la Fuente, Mauricio Aguirre Morales, Robert Mikutta and Georg Guggenberger
    Citation: Revista Chilena de Historia Natural 2016 89:6
    Content type: Research Published on:

  3. Early life stages of macroalgae, especially from polar species, can be highly vulnerable to physical stressors, leading to important consequences for the fate of the whole population in scenarios of changing e...

    Authors: Nelso P. Navarro, Pirjo Huovinen and Iván Gómez
    Citation: Revista Chilena de Historia Natural 2016 89:5
    Content type: Research Published on:

  4. Photosynthetic characteristics and the effect of UV radiation and elevated temperature measured were studied in Chlorella sp. isolated from a snow microalgal community at King George Island, Maritime Antarctica t...

    Authors: C. Rivas, N. Navarro, P. Huovinen and I. Gómez
    Citation: Revista Chilena de Historia Natural 2016 89:7
    Content type: Research Published on:

  5. This is a study of current pollen rain on soil disturbed by human use on the Fildes Peninsula, King George Island, South Shetland Islands. A sector strongly affected by human activity, an area between the Edua...

    Authors: Eduardo Fuentes-Lillo, J. Max Troncoso-Castro, Marely Cuba-Díaz and Mauricio J. Rondanelli-Reyes
    Citation: Revista Chilena de Historia Natural 2016 89:4
    Content type: Short report Published on:

  6. Prevailing environmental conditions can modulate the structuring role of biotic interactions. In intertidal habitats, less stressful environmental conditions and/or higher grazer densities may allow grazing ef...

    Authors: V. Segovia-Rivera and N. Valdivia
    Citation: Revista Chilena de Historia Natural 2016 89:3
    Content type: Research Published on:

  7. Antarctic marine organisms have evolved a variety of physiological, life-history and molecular adaptations that allow them to cope with the extreme conditions in one of the coldest and most temperature-stable ...

    Authors: Karina González, Juan Gaitán-Espitia, Alejandro Font, César A. Cárdenas and Marcelo González-Aravena
    Citation: Revista Chilena de Historia Natural 2016 89:2
    Content type: Research Published on: