ITALIAN REPORT ON THE VICTORIA LAND

• Main Author: Riccardo Cattaneo-vietti
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: McMurdo Sound; Brown Hills; Beardmore Glacier and La Gorce Mountains; Adare; Antarctic; Beardmore; Beardmore Glacier; Cape Adare; La Gorce Mountains; Ross Dependency; Ross Sea; The Antarctic; Victoria Land; Antarc*; Antarctica; Sea ice
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.559.2196; http://www.lgp.aq/downloads/ItalianReport.pdf

extends across nearly 18 degrees of latitude, from Cape Adare at 68 S to the La Gorce Mountains at 86 S and represents the most extensive latitudinal gradient along the Antarctic coastline that can be studied within the existing logistics of national programs. Recently, we have recognised the opportunity to develop a large-scale, multidisciplinary project to study the unique inland and marine communities along the Victoria Land Coast. The Ross Sea region contains a number of environmental (ecological) spectra relating to cold, aridity, solar radiation, UV, light/dark conditions and highly variable sea ice dynamics including a major polynya. The land and coast within the Ross Dependency across this wide latitudinal range includes a variety of marine, terrestrial and freshwater habitats. Some of these systems are unique to the Antarctic. Moving along the Victoria Land Coast, changes of environmental parameters affect all the inland and marine environments, starting from nutrient cycles and primary production to top predators, leading to strong changes in community structure and function at any trophic level. Overlapping the gradually changing variables, abrupt local transitions and peculiarities may occur, because of strong wind action, peculiar edaphic features, melt-water inputs, grain size and sea-bottom morphology. It is presumable the presence of critical depth/altitude, over which community structures and life cycles are affected, while, beyond these limits, communities features should maintain relatively homogeneous along the coast. A comprehensive study of the Victoria Land Coast will yield invaluable information on the dynamic interactions between terrestrial and shallow water ecosystems, especially in light of current efforts to understand the impacts of climatic shifts in Antarctica.