Microbial diversity in Antarctic soils

南极洲是最南端的大陆，它覆盖了南极。南极洲的大部分地区被冰覆盖，但在大陆边缘的许多地方，以及南极洲周围海洋中的许多岛屿上，都有一些不结冰的土地。这片无冰之地包括南奥克尼群岛(包括位于西格尼岛的英国南极调查基地)、南设得兰群岛、阿德莱德岛(包括位于罗瑟拉的BAS基地)和亚历山大岛(包括位于Fossil Bluff的BAS站点)的部分地区。这些地方都位于南美洲南部的南极洲，将成为本次研究项目中使用的地点。这些遗址长约1600公里，从61°S(信号)到72°S(化石峭壁)，随着向南距离的增加，条件变得更加寒冷和干燥，这对生活在陆地上的生物的数量、不同类型和活动产生了重要影响。这些生物包括一些变得非常稀有并最终在南方消失的植物，以及生活在土壤中的微生物，包括细菌和真菌。这项研究项目的目的是确定哪些生物生活在不同地点的土壤中，它们如何在不同的群落中生活，以及它们如何受到环境因素变化的影响，如温度和液态水的可用性。了解生物如何受到环境因素变化的影响非常重要，因为整个南极洲，特别是该项目所在的南极洲部分，对气候变化的反应最快，对世界其他地区来说，这是一个重要的变化指标。

Antarctica is the most southerly continent and it covers the south pole. Most of Antarctica is covered by ice, but in many places around the edges of the continent and on many of the islands in the ocean around Antarctica there is some ice-free land. This ice-free land includes parts of the South Orkney Islands (including the British Antarctic Survey [BAS] base at Signy Island), the South Shetland Islands, Adelaide Island (including the BAS base at Rothera), and Alexander Island (including the BAS station at Fossil Bluff). These places are all in the part of Antarctica directly to the south of South America and are going to be the sites used in this research project. These sites cover a distance of about 1600 km stretching from about 61ºS (Signy) to 72ºS (Fossil Bluff) and with increasing distance to the south, the conditions become colder and drier, and this has an important effect on the numbers, the different types and the activities of the organisms that live on the land. These organisms include some plants, which become very rare and eventually disappear in the south, and microorganisms, including bacteria and fungi living in the soil. The aim of this research project is to determine which organisms live in the soils of the different sites, how they live together in the different communities and how they are affected by changes to environmental factors such as temperature and the availability of liquid water. Knowing how the organisms are affected by changing environmental factors is important because Antarctica in general and especially the part of Antarctica where this project will be based is responding fastest to climate changes and is an important indicator of change for the rest of the world.