Research in Antarctica in the past two decades has fundamentally changed
our perceptions of the southern continent. This volume describes typical
terrestrial environments of the maritime and continental Antarctic. Life
and chemical processes are restricted to small ranges of ambient
temperature, availability of water and nutrients. This is reflected not
only in life processes, but also in those of weathering and pedogenesis.
The volume focuses on interactions between plants, animals and soils. It
includes aspects of climate change, soil development and biology, as
well as above- and below-ground results of interdisciplinary research
projects combining data from botany, zoology, microbiology, pedology,
and soil ecology.