This book is the third in aseries of publications devoted to the
biogeographieal and ecological research in the Southern Hemisphere,
published in the "Monographiae Biologicae". After dealing with Australia
(vol. VIII) and Southern Africa (Vol. XIV) it was thought essential to
include Antarctiea in this series. Ever since the expedition of the
"Belgiea" made the first suc- cessful wintering within the antarctie
circle in 1898 and brought back a very rieh harvest of scientific data,
Belgium kept a vivid interest in Antarctiea and took an active part in
the modern and international exploration of this vast continent. As part
of their programs for the International Geophysieal Year (I. G. Y. )
twelve nations established permanent or semi-permanent bases on the
Antarctie Continent or on subantarctie islands. Thus a new era of vast
and free international scientific collaboration in the Antarctie was
opened and it culminated in the formulation and the signing of the
Antarctic Treaty (Washington 1959). It was recognized and accepted that
"Antarctiea" shall be used for peaceful purposes only and "Freedom of
scientific investigation in Antarctiea and coopera- tion toward that
end, as applied during the I. G. Y., shall continue . . " In order to
organize this collaboration e. g. by full exchange of programs and
resuIts a "Special Committee on Antarctie Research" (S. C. A. R. ) was
founded in 1957.