15 Soil Fauna of Antarctic Coastal Landscapes I.D. Hogg, M.I. Stevens 15.1 Introduction The endemic soil fauna of the maritime and continental Antarctic is taxo- nomically limited and consists almost entirely of arthropods, particularly the springtails (Collembola), and mites (Acari). Chironomid midges (Diptera) and beetles (Coleoptera) have also been recorded from the Antarctic Penin- sula and the South Shetland, and Orkney Islands (Gressitt 1964; Balfour- Browne and Tilbrook 1966; Wirth and Gressitt 1967). Notable exceptions to this generalisation are the smaller protozoans, tardigrades, rotifers and nema- todes, which are also commonly found in both continental and maritime areas (Gressitt 1965; Utsugi and Ohyama 1989; Bullini et al. 1994). Unfortu- nately, ecological work on these latter taxa is limited, and our focus here will be primarily on the larger, soil-dwelling arthropods. Much of the information available on the soil fauna has come from reports documenting the fauna and/or describing new species (e.g. Janetschek 1963; Weiner 1980; Miller et al. 1988), with comparatively few studies examining ecological and physiological aspects (e.g. Matsuda 1977; Block 1985). More recently, interest has been targeted towards predicting the responses of inver- tebrates to environmental change (e.g. Block and Harrison 1995; Kennedy 1995) as well as evaluating patterns of diversity and dispersal among locations through studies of population genetics (e.g.Valbonesi et al. 1994; Frati et al. 1996). As we will discuss, these latter issues may be inextricably linked. In this chapter we will discuss the invertebrate soil faunas of the continen- tal and maritime Antarctic. We use the criteria and terminology of Holdgate (1977), referring to the Antarctic Peninsula and South Shetland Islands as ‘maritime’ and all other regions on the Antarctic coast (and inland) as ‘conti- nental’. In keeping with the theme of this volume we pay particular attention to those taxa associated with the continental coastal regions (Windmill Islands and Ongul Island) of East Antarctica and those of the South Shetland Islands. The remainder of the chapter will consist of five sections. Sec- tions 15.2–15.3 will compare and contrast the faunal composition of soil invertebrates from the two regions, and discuss ecological and physiological factors affecting their distribution. Section 15.4 will consider the interhabitat Ecological Studies,Vol. 154 L. Beyer, M. Bölter Geoecology of Ant- arctic Ice-Free Costal Landescapes © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2002 Page proofs 10.12.2001/Kröner, Heidelberg