ABSTRACT
The biogeography of the Antarctic is influenced by spatial variation in environmental controls, and these conditions the way in which flora and fauna adjust to cope. The extremes of the Antarctic environment have resulted in organism adaptations to allow life at low temperatures within a strongly seasonal regime via physiological, ecological and behavioural adaptation. Antarctic animals are also physiologically adapted to cope with the effects of low temperatures, and the poikilotherms, which exist close to the environmental temperature, adopt strategies such as slow growth. Two types of indicator have been used to examine the potential impacts of climate change on physical systems: direct and indirect. The ensuing sea-level rise might further threaten the stability of the West Antarctic ice sheet. However, while local warming may be responsible for the collapse of some ice shelves in the Antarctic Peninsula area, the stability of the large southerly ice shelves is not yet in question.
