ORIGINAL PAPER Antarctic nematode communities: observed and predicted responses to climate change Uffe N. Nielsen • Diana H. Wall • Byron J. Adams • Ross A. Virginia Received: 6 December 2010 / Revised: 10 April 2011 / Accepted: 11 April 2011 / Published online: 27 April 2011 Ó Springer-Verlag 2011 Abstract The rapidly changing climate in Antarctica is impacting the ecosystems. Since records began, climate changes have varied considerably throughout Antarctica with both positive and negative trends in temperatures and precipitation observed locally. However, over the course of this century a more directional increase in both temperature and precipitation is expected to occur throughout Antarc- tica. The soil communities of Antarctica are considered simple with most organisms existing at the edge of their physiological capabilities. Therefore, Antarctic soil com- munities are expected to be particularly sensitive to climate changes. However, a review of the current literature reveals that studies investigating the impact of climate change on soil communities, and in particular nematode communities, in Antarctica are very limited. Of the few studies focusing on Antarctic nematode communities, long-term monitoring has shown that nematode communities respond to changes in local climate trends as well as extreme (or pulse) events. These results are supported by in situ experiments, which show that nematode communities respond to both tem- perature and soil moisture manipulations. We conclude that the predicted climate changes are likely to exert a strong influence on nematode communities throughout Antarctica and will generally lead to increasing abundance, species richness, and food web complexity, although the opposite may occur locally. The degree to which local communities respond will depend on current conditions, i.e., average temperatures, soil moisture availability, vegetation or more importantly the lack thereof, and the local species pool in combination with the potential for new species to colonize. Keywords Antarctica Á Climate change Á Community composition Á Diversity Á Nematode Á Precipitation Á Soil Á Temperature Introduction It is generally accepted by the scientific community that climate changes will occur worldwide, but that changes are likely to occur faster and reach greater magnitudes in the Polar Regions (IPCC 2007). Accordingly, the most rapid climate warming to date has been observed in maritime Antarctica, where temperature increases of almost 3°C have been measured over the second half of the twentieth century (Turner et al. 2005). The observed changes in climate in Antarctica do however show high spatial vari- ability, and both increases and decreases in temperature and precipitation have been observed locally. However, a more directional warming and increased rates of precipi- tation are predicted for the twenty-first century (Steig et al. 2009; Turner et al. 2009). Antarctic terrestrial ecosystems represent some of the harshest environments on earth (Fountain et al. 1999). The main limit to life in these systems is low temperature, which controls primary productivity and growth and sur- vival rates, and also impairs water availability. This is confounded by low precipitation rates, particularly in U. N. Nielsen (&) Á D. H. Wall Department of Biology and Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA e-mail: uffe@nrel.colostate.edu B. J. Adams Department of Biology and Evolutionary Ecology Laboratories, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USA R. A. Virginia Environmental Studies Program, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH 03755, USA 123 Polar Biol (2011) 34:1701–1711 DOI 10.1007/s00300-011-1021-2