Welcome to the Dry Valley Invertebrates project
The Dry Valleys, though appearing barren and lifeless, are home to a wide array of life. The largest invertebrates, and indeed, the largest year round terrestrial organism on the Antarctic mainland, are the springtails. This project studies springtails, along with mites, nematodes and tardigrades, to investigate the genetic diversity of invertebrate life in Antarctica. Populations of animals like springtails are rare, and careful searching and sampling is required to find them
Mission
Project Leader: Dr Ian Hogg
The Invertebrate project focuses on the genetic diversity of invertebrate life in the Dry Valleys of Antarctica, particularly nematodes, mites and springtails. Since the realization that the Dry Valleys are not the lifeless environments originally suggested by Captain Scott, this project has endeavoured to determine the extent of invertebrate species within this area.
Collecting samples in the field Over the last 15 years, various students and researchers have visited the Dry Valleys in an attempt to map the location and diversity of Antarctic invertebrates. In more recent years, the project has focused on the springtails, or Collembola, a type of soil arthropod common throughout the world. These small invertebrates are found in the few sheltered places under rocks, or in the infrequent patches of moss and lichens in this harsh environment. These are the largest animals able to survive year round in the Dry Valleys, and larger mammals like penguins and seals quickly die and become mummified by the cold, dry conditions. It is believed that diversity of the springtails may help to identify areas of refugia, where organisms have been able to live through periods of extreme glaciation and re-colonise an area afterwards. These locations would be very important from an ecological perspective, and may need protection once identified.
Previously, a location known as Mt Seuss has been targeted due to the apparent presence of three springtail species on this isolated mountain top. This is three times as diverse as the area around it, as only one species is known from this region of Victoria Land. However, one of the species, Antarcticinella monoculata, has not been found for the last several seasons, and it is possible that it has become extinct.