'Third SCAR/IUBS biology symposium:"adaptations within antarctic ecosystems"

W. TIMOTHY HUSHENCommittee on Polar ResearchNational Academy of SciencesNational Research Council

Washington, D.C. 20418

The Third Symposium on Antarctic Biology, co-sponsored by the Scientific Committee on AntarcticResearch (SCAR) and the International Union ofBiological Sciences (luBs), was held in Washington,D.C., August 26 through 30, 1974. The symposium'stheme was "adaptations within antarctic ecosystems."

Representatives from the 12 SCAR nations (Argen-tina, Australia, Belgium, Chile, France, Japan, NewZealand, Norway, South Africa, the Soviet Union,the United Kingdom, and the United States) andinvited speakers from Canada and the Food andAgriculture Organization presented 76 papers (in-cluding seven invited review papers). About 200scientists and observers participated in the sympo-sium's nine sessions.

The first antarctic biology symposium (Paris,France, 1962) included papers on microbiology,plant and animal biogeography, ecology, and physiol-ogy, and human physiology and psychology. Thesecond symposium (Cambridge, England, 1968) wason antarctic ecology; the papers covered all aspectsof antarctic biology except human physiology andpsychology.

The third antarctic biology symposium's generaltheme reflected a change in antarctic biological re-search: instead of reconnaissance and descriptiveecology, emphasis now is on quantitative ecology,resource management, and population, behavioral,and physiological studies. This new emphasis is aimedat understanding how antarctic organisms adapt totheir individual ecosystems, and at elucidating theenergy and nutrient cycles of selected ecosystems.

The symposium's general theme was organized intofour subthemes representing major areas of recentbiological research. The subthemes were: (1) struc-ture and function of marine ecosystems; (2) struc-ture and function of freshwater and terrestrial eco-systems; (3) development and evolution of antarcticecosystems; (4) ecosystem evaluation, modeling,monitoring, and management.

In his opening remarks, George A. Knox, convenorof the symposium and chairman of the SCAR biology

working group, stressed that antarctic biology, h2v-ing reached a crucial stage, will become increasinglyimportant during the next 10 years.

"There's no doubt that we will see increasingexploitation of antarctic resources; not only livbgresources of the antarctic oceans, fish and krill inparticular, but . . . the exploitation of mineral re-sources," Professor Knox said. "This will pose con-siderable problems in antarctic conservation, aadantarctic biologists will be deeply involved in seek-ing answers and in providing knowledge that will benecessary in order to avoid any unnecessary damageto the resources of the Antarctic."

Subtheme I: structure and function of marine eco-systems. This subtheme dominated five of nine sym-posium sessions, thus reflecting today's marine eon-systems emphasis in antarctic biological research. JoelW. Hedgpeth, Oregon State University, provided anoverview for this subtheme in his paper entitled"antarctic marine ecosystems." Other papers in thefirst session were on factors controlling primary prD-duction, distribution and significance of vitamins inantarctic waters, phytoplankton biomass and produc-tivity, and heterotropic potentials of microorganisms.

Patrick M. Arnaud, Station Marine D'Endoume etCentre d'Oceanographie (France), in session 2 pre-sented an invited paper on "some ecological com-parisons between antarctic and subantarctic marinebenthic communities." The marine benthic communitywas examined further by contributed papers on feed-ing characteristics of asteroids, population variationsin benthic organisms, diversities of benthic annelidpopulations, and densities of soft-bottom meiofaunain response to the antarctic marine environment.

Bruce L. Umminger, University of Cincinnati, pref-aced sessions 3 and 4 with his invited paper on"mechanisms of cold adaptations in polar marineanimals." Eleven contributed papers examined specificadaptations of fishes and birds to the antarctic marineenvironment. Studies of antarctic fishes discussed the

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ph iology of colorless blood, respiratory and circula-to ii adaptation to the absence of hemoglobin, andth€ role of glycoprotein as an antifreeze agent.

Studies of antarctic birds concerned the dynamicsof microflora in digestive tracts, the osmo- and thermo-regulatory responses of penguins, the body temperatureregulations of emperor penguins, and the cardio-vascular adaptations of giant petrels. Other studiesconcentrated on the behavior adaptations Adéliepenguins, rockhopper penguins, south polar skuas,and arctic and antarctic terns have made to theAntarctic.

Richard M. Laws, British Antarctic Survey, de-livered a paper on "the significance of vertebratesin the antarctic marine ecosystem," which providedthe background for session 5. Contributed papers dis-cussed the behavior, the life history, and the specialenvironmental adaptations of antarctic tooth whales,leopard seals, and young Weddell seals. Other papersexamined the development of temperature regulationin seals, the status of pelagic seals in pack ice, andthe food consumption of seals.

Subtheme II: structure and function of freshwaterand terrestrial ecosystems. R. Barry Heywood, BritishAntarctic Survey, gave an invited paper on "antarcticfreshwater ecosystems." His paper reviewed the. cur-rent status of limnological knowledge of freshwaterecosystems. Other papers in this session examinedproduction, periodicity, and the availabality of nutri-ents in the antarctic freshwater environment.

Specific adaptations to terrestrial ecosystems wereexplored by comparing climatic relationships amongmoss populations, measurement and prediction ofnet annual production, and reproduction and adap-tive strategies of subantarctic grasses. Other papersanalyzed seed germination, energy flow through mosscommunities, and adaptations of panantarctic mitesto the antarctic terrestrial environment.

Subtheme III: development and evolution of ant-arctic ecosystems. In his invited paper on "the evo-lution of polar ecosystems," Max J . Dunbar, McGillUniversity (Canada), discussed recent advances inresearch on the paleoecology of marine and terres-trial ecosystems and traced the development andevolution of antarctic ecosystems. Contributed papersin sessions 7 and 8 examined the evidence of ancientprecursors of the modern ecosystem, the evolution ofthe Kar Plateau ecosystem, and the distribution andeyolution of polychaete fauna. Other papers tracedtFe antarctic ecosystem development by means of fishspecies distribution, the ecological adaptations of ani-nal parasites, and the paleoecology of marine micro-plankton flora.

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U.S. Navy

Subtheme IV: ecosystems evaluation, modeling,monitoring, and management. John A. Gulland, Foodand Agriculture Organization, presented an invitedpaper on "the management of antarctic living re-sources," which opened session 9. Other papers ex-amined the effects of pollution and human activityon the structure and function of antarctic ecosystems.Reports were given on the management of krill as arenewable resource, the environmental impact studiesof antarctic research sites, and the competitive andadaptive responses of invading versus indigenousbiotas in the Antarctic. Other contributions discussedmathematical models of benthic and planktonic com-munities, effects of human disturbance on penguins,and adaptations of cattle to the subantarctic.

Professor Knox closed the symposium by askingscientists to view antarctic ecosystems in a globalcontext. He observed that antarctic ecosystems aresensitive to worldwide influences.

The symposium proceedings volume is beingtedby George A. Llano, National Science Fuum ion.Scheduled for publication later in 1975, ti.,, pro-ceedings will be issued by the Scientific Committeeon Antarctic Research, Scott Polar Research Institute,Cambridge, England.

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