The Antarctic provides a source of fascination and excitement. The last continent to be discovered and explored, it is still possible to travel to locations that have never experienced a human footfall. Antarctica is often and justifiably described as a continent of extremes. It is the coldest, windiest and highest continent on the planet. Twice the size of Australia, and holding the majority of the Earth's ice on its surface, it is central to our understanding of the planet's climate and oceanic circulation systems. With parts of the continent currently facing some of the most rapid environmental changes seen on the planet, Antarctica is today a focus for research, amongst many other things, on the processes and consequences of global and regional environmental change.

 It surprises many that this vast continent, despite the domination of ice and cryosphere processes, also hosts important terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems in the small proportion of its total area that is ice-free. These lie at the end of a range of global gradients in physical environmental variables. As a result, over many years, they has provided a focus for ecological and physiological studies, as it is clear that the study of organisms at extremes provides key insights to the mechanisms and functioning of biological processes and their sensitivities to change. Recent advances in biochemical and molecular methodologies, particularly in the ‘omics’ disciplines, are providing exciting opportunities both for previously unattainable advances at this scale of organisation, and to step back and provide overview and synthesis across organisational scales that are truly from 'genes to ecosystems'.

 In parallel, the application of different molecular approaches within phylogeography, and the development of the disciplines of macroecology and macrophysiology, promise integration with the traditional disciplines of ecology and biogeography, to increase understanding of patterns across timescales from the immediate to the evolutionary. In particular, recent advances here have emphasised the potential of Antarctic biological studies, addressing processes over recent to Gondwana-breakup timescales, to feed in to and provide crucial novel constraints that can be integrated into physical science disciplines seeking to better understand the geological and glaciological evolution of Antarctica, themselves central to the accurate reconstruction of Antarctica's role in the control of the global climate system over time.

This Special Collection aims to provide integration across the various disciplines active in Antarctic terrestrial and freshwater biology, and the biological, physical and temporal timescales relevant to the evolution and functioning of the continent’s unique ecosystems and organisms. Submissions of all article types considered by the Journal are invited addressing research across these fields. We also encourage submissions that rise to the urgent challenge of turning 'science into policy', given the current and rapid increase in human engagement with the continent, and in potentially damaging anthropogenic impacts on its ecosystems and biodiversity.

Editorial Panel 

Prof Peter Convey, British Antarctic Survey

Prof Uffe Nielsen, University of Western Sydney

Dr Stef Bokhorst, Free University of Amsterdam

Dr Tamara Contador, University of Magallanes