The concept of the International Polar Year (IPY) 2007–2008 is of an intensive burst of internationally coordinated, interdisciplinary, scientific research and observations focused on the Earth's Polar Regions. The research will address six themes organized around the environmental status of the Polar Regions and their relationship to change, the links between the poles and the rest of the globe, utilization of the unique features of the regions for science, and the human dimensions of communities in the Polar Regions. IPY will seek to exploit new technological and logistical capabilities, and make major advances in knowledge and understanding. Key objectives are to attract and develop the next generation of polar researchers and engineers, and to engage the interest and involvement of polar residents, and of schoolchildren, the general public, and decision makers, worldwide. The official observing period of IPY 2007–2008 will be from 1 March 2007 until 1 March 2009, under the international oversight of a Joint ICSU-WMO Committee.

The high degree of isolation of Antarctica may well have protected its seals and birds from many of the diseases found in related species outside the continent. Our recent review of diseases in penguins has shown that birds taken into captivity are susceptible to a wide range of diseases, many of which have not been recorded in the wild. The same situation presumably applies to Antarctic seals. Adélie penguins in Antarctica have been shown to have antibodies to Newcastle disease virus, avian influenza virus and the Chlamydia group of bacteria. From this we could infer that wild birds have had contact with these diseases but, in the cases of viral diseases at least, a more likely explanation could be that the antibodies are the result of cross-infection with related but benign viral strains. There is no evidence to date that any major exotic diseases have been introduced into the Antarctic ecosystem. However, unless non-pathogenic strains are present to provide cross-immunity, all birds and seals are likely to be highly susceptible to such introductions.

Many pycnogonids are ectoparasites of benthic invertebrates. Even gastropods are on their menu (reviewed in Dietz et al. 2018). It is somewhat ironic that a marine gastropod, Dickdellia labioflecta (Dell, 1990), might have reversed this principle. Hedgpeth (1964), Sirenko (2000) and Schiaparelli et al. (2008) observed clutches of eggs and young Dickdellia snails on pycnogonids. Sirenko (2000) suggested that this might be a case of ectoparasitism and not just phoresy.

The moss banks of the Maritime Antarctic composed of one or both of the mosses Chorisodontium aciphyllum and Polytrichum strictum form peat banks up to 3.4 m thick and 5500 years of age. They represent perhaps the simplest peat-forming systems in the world, so studying their dynamics can help in the understanding of peatland dynamics generally, particularly those of temperate blanket peat. They can provide insights into how the balance of growth, decomposition and compaction of peat results in peat formation, how downhill creep can be the cause of both vertical edges and the creation of patterned bogs and how erosion of peat can be a natural process.

Antarctic ice-free areas are dominated by wind-dispersed organisms. However, which organisms arrive and circulate in Antarctica and how remain poorly understood. Due to their proximity to South America and less extreme conditions, the South Shetland Islands are likely to receive higher diaspore numbers. One possible consequence of climate change is that newcomers will be able to colonize ice-free areas, altering community compositions and impacting the native biota. We used DNA metabarcoding to identify non-fungal eukaryotic DNA present in the air that could potentially reach and circulate in Antarctica. Air was sampled near the Brazilian Comandante Ferraz Antarctic Station on King George Island between December 2019 and January 2020. Sequences representing a total of 35 taxa from 10 phyla and 3 kingdoms were assigned: Chromista (Ciliophora, Cercozoa, Haptophyta and Ochrophyta), Plantae (Chlorophyta, Bryophyta and Magnoliophyta) and Animalia (Mollusca, Arthropoda and Chordata). The most diverse group were the plants (26 taxa), followed by Chromista (6 taxa). The most abundant sequences represented the green algae Chlamydomonas nivalis. The two angiosperm sequences represent exotic taxa; Folsomia is also exotic and was recorded only on Deception Island. Metabarcoding revealed the presence of previously undocumented airborne diversity, suggesting that the Antarctic airspora includes propagules of both local and distant origin.

The geology of the Schroeder Hill region near the head of the Shackleton Glacier, central Transantarctic Mountains, consists of Triassic Fremouw Formation and overlying Falla Formation strata intruded by Jurassic Ferrar Dolerite sills. At ‘Alfie’s Elbow', south-east of Schroeder Hill, upper Fremouw strata are overlain by Upper Cenozoic Sirius Group deposits. These upper Fremouw beds differ from all other examined upper Fremouw strata in the Shackleton Glacier region in being carbonaceous. Quartz-pebble conglomerate characterizes the basal Falla beds, emphasizing a change in provenance. Sirius Group beds occur as a stratigraphic succession draped on modern topography and as structureless sand wedged in modern microtopography. Fremouw beds locally are arched with the fold axis approximately parallel to regional normal faulting related to the uplift and formation of the Transantarctic Mountains.

Located east of the Antarctic Peninsula, Cockburn Island is a small island in the James Ross Archipelago. Studies of mosses on the island are scarce. The oldest studies date from the first half of the nineteenth century to the most recent in 1993. The number of records of mosses is very small due to the difficulty of accessing the area. Here, we report an updated composition of the moss flora of the plateau, in which four new records have been found: Bryoerythrophyllum antarcticum, Ceratodon purpureus, Pohlia wilsonii and Schistidium lewis-smithii. The occurrence of these species on the plateau shows that the ranges of these species have expanded from the Antarctic Peninsula to the east. This collection highlights the need for further research into the dynamics of moss flora in the context of climate change.

Understanding the distribution, abundance and habitat preferences of species in the Southern Ocean provides a foundation for assessing the impacts of environmental change and anthropogenic disturbance on Antarctic ecosystems. In near-shore waters at Casey and Davis Stations, photoquadrat surveys were used to determine sea anemone distribution and abundance, habitat preferences, associations with other species and the impact of human disturbance on sea anemone distribution. Two distinct sea anemone morphotypes were found in this study: large sea anemones that require hard substrate for attachment and small, burrowing sea anemones found in muddy sediment. The large sea anemones were found in rocky habitats, with the exception of some sedimentary habitats where other biota were used as substrate. The large sea anemones were associated with a diverse community of epibenthic species found in rocky habitats. The burrowing sea anemones were associated with a less diverse assemblage of sediment-dwelling epibenthos. At Casey Station, sea anemones were more abundant in habitats adjacent to a former waste disposal site than at control sites. The reason for this is not yet known, but may be due to high organic matter inputs or, alternatively, a longer sea ice duration providing protection from ice scour.

New reference gravity values are provided for gravity base stations at McMurdo Station and Scott Base. The new values are obtained by a relative survey including the Hut Point base station (an International Satellite Triangulation station; 77.8448°S, 166.6418°E; 982975.65 mGal) located 110 m north of Scott’s 1901 Discovery Hut at McMurdo Station. This site is the only remaining station tied by previous surveys to the now defunct SATGRAV base Station located in the former Building 57, which was, in turn, measured by an absolute meter in 1995. New values are 982970.41 mGal for the THIEL-1 Station (77.8490°S, 166.6794°E) at McMurdo Station, 982973.40 mGal for the MMD-N Station (77.8491°S, 166.7567°E) at Scott Base, and 982977.83 mGal for the newly established SBG-1 Station (77.8499°S, 166.7667°E) under the flagpole at Scott Base. Our difference values are very consistent with previous surveys, including Nakagawa’s value for MMD-N at Scott Base, which is within 0.2 mGal of our new value.