See spreadsheets - Gentoo Experiment Details 18s Each number corresponds to each worksheet 1. Samples and Date Gentoo penguin scats were collected from Cumberland Bay, South Georgia (from the Maiviken colony). Visits were made weekly between 3 April and 19 Sep 2018 (one visit in June was missed owing to avalanche risk). During each of the 24 visits, 25 fresh scats were collected, producing a total of 600 samples. Samples were scooped into a 2 ml plastic screw-top tube containing 80% ethanol with a clean spatula and frozen at -20 degrees. DNA was extracted from ~30 mg of faecal material using the Promega Maxwell RSC Tissue DNA Kit. Each extraction contained a soft part or ~500ml of EtOH slurry. The samples were spun down, the EtOH was poured off, the sample was re-suspended in 120ul of S.T.A.R buffer and homogenised. 100ul of the supernatant was added to well number 1 and samples were eluted in 100ul of TE. 2. Plate Layout Samples were diluted 1/10 and plated out on 96 well plates. Each plate had a positive control (fish, squid, shrimp DNA mix) and a negative PCR control. 3. 1st Round PCR. All samples were analysed using a highly conserved metazoan primer set that amplifies a region of the nuclear 18S gene ( McInnes et al. 2017a). The first round PCR is to amplify the target marker and add sample-specific (7bp) multiplex-identifier (MID) tags (forward and reverse primer) and Illumina sequencing primers. See sheet for PCR conditions. 4. 2nd Round PCR The second round PCR is to add sequencing adapters and additional 8 bp MIDs. See sheet for PCR conditions. 5. Miseq MiSeq genome sequencer (Illumina), using the MISEQ V2 reagent kits (300 cycles). See sheet for sample layout, i5 and i7 adapters and first round MID tags ########################################################################################### See spreadsheet - Gentoo Experiment Details Fish and Krill The scat samples containing prey DNA sequences from the 18S analysis (n=222) were characterised with two other primer pairs allow species-level identification for fish and krill. 1. Samples The samples positive for prey DNA and their plate layout 2. and 3. 1st Round PCR Krill /Degenerate The first round PCR is to amplify the target marker and add sample-specific (6bp) multiplex-identifier (MID) tags (forward and reverse primer) and Illumina sequencing primers. See sheet for PCR conditions. 4. 2nd Round PCR The second round PCR is to add sequencing adapters and additional 10 bp MIDs. See sheet for PCR conditions. 5. Miseq MiSeq genome sequencer (Illumina), using the MISEQ V2 reagent kits (300 cycles). See sheet for sample layout, R and F adapters and first round MID tags. This work was completed as part of AAS project 4556.

---- Public Summary from Project ---- Leopard seals are usually seen in the pack-ice where they pup on the ice and where they must first face life at sea. However at Macquarie Island, well to the north of the ice, for 50 years now there has been the odd phenomenon of 'Leopard seal years'. At seemingly semi-regular periods (~3-4 years) considerable numbers (can be greater than 100) of leopard seals arrive at the island; and then virtually none are seen for some more years. The periodicity of these arrivals has been striking. Thus it seems that young leopard seals (which is the group arriving in poor condition on Macquarie Island) suffer acute food shortages in the pack-ice zone every 3-4 years. This project will continue to record these events and tag and weigh the seals which come ashore. This will allow the long-term dataset to continue and give some more information about the seals which arrive. It is also planned to glue some satellite recorders to the seals so that their journeys after M.I. can be known. Data are collected when seals are seen on beach. Since the 1980s few seals have been seen so data are sparse but significant. Currently the dataset contains the number of leopard seals sighted at Macquarie Island each year and a record of sightings of Leopard Seals from 1948 till 2002 (some years are omitted due to unavailability of data, see quality information). Details on the sightings include date and location of sighting and condition of the seal. The fields in the dataset for the number of seals sighted each year at Macquarie Island are: Year Number of seals. The fields in the dataset detailing the sightings of Leopard Seals on Macquarie Island from 1948 till 2002 include the following: Seal ID: Each seal has been allocated a unique ID number. This acts as a means of tracking the seal if a tag is replaced or removed. Tag #1 and Tag #2: Tag numbers include plastic tags attached to the seals flippers and substitute tag numbers allocated to those seals marked with paint in 1959 and those seals resighted by length and/or a distinguishing feature or injury. Information on plastic tags: -All tags used from 1976-1981 were yellow plastic - except 50 (30/9/76) which is red plastic diamond shaped, and 90a which is metal. -Tag numbers followed by a in 1976 are coffin shaped (note: a prefix of 0 was used in original tag rather than an a following the number). -Tag numbers followed by a in 1977 are combinations of shovel and coffin shaped parts (note: a prefix of 0 was used in original tag rather than an a following the number). -Tag numbers not followed by a in 1977 are shovel-shaped. -Tags used by 1986 were the 'Jumbo Rototag' which are smaller and made of less flexible plastic than the 'Allflex' tags originally used. -See references below for further information on tags and methods of tagging used. Information on substitute or'S' tags -Tags prefixed with S are substitute tags. Seals with a tag prefixed by S were not physically tagged with a plastic or metal tag. This 'tag number' was allocated when collating data from years when plastic tagging were not used and resights of seals were determined by either coloured markings painted on the seals (as in 1959) or by a combination of length, sex, distinguishing features or injuries. -S Tag numbers were allocated in date order of the original or 'New' sighting. Hence 'tag' S1 was allocated to the first seal sighted and then resighted in 1949. -Note: There are some instances where the original recorder of the sightings did not note any distinguishing features or paint markings on the seal but later recorded that the seal had been resighted. When this occurred the 'word' of the recorder was taken and an S tag allocated. Date: Date of sighting whether initial sighting or a resighting of the same seal. Location Codes: This field notes the location code for the area on Macquarie Island where the seal was sighted. The code corresponds to a grid reference on Macquarie Island that was originally used for locating Elephant Seal sightings. A listing of these reference codes is also attached to this dataset. The fields in the location code dataset are: Location Name, Location ID, Latitude and Longitude. Within the original records a number of locations were noted using outdated or informal names. These locations were renamed with the reference code now used for that location. A listing of the informal names and the location codes they respond to has been included in the Location Codes worksheet for reference. Sex: the sex of the seal is noted in this column as either: M = Male or F = Female. Length: The nose to tail length of the seal is noted in centimetres. Condition: This field details the general condition of the Leopard Seal. The coding is as follows: G = Good, F = Fair, P = Poor, T = Thin, E = Emancipated, D = Dead and K = Killed. Comments on Condition: This field is used to note any additional details regarding the condition of the animal including; whether the seal was moulting or had it's full fur, if the seal was solid or thin, the condition of the mouth, teeth and eyes; injuries including lacerations, tears, puncture / bite wounds or scars; and prominent features that could be used to recognise the seal if sighted again. Descriptions detailing the seal's health or temperament were also noted, these comments included: lively, aggressive, timid, sleepy and sluggish. Comments on movement and tagging: This field notes additional details on where the seal was sighted, it's movements and information regarding the tags used. Location of tag: UL = Upper left, UR = Upper right, LL = Lower left and LR = Lower right. W or E: What W and E relate to in regards to the seal sighting is currently unknown, however the information has been included as it may prove to be significant / useful. Sighting: This field defines the sighting as either N = New sighting or R = Resighting, ie the seal has been sighted previously and either 1) has been tagged or 2) has a predominant marking or feature that has made the seal recognisable. Note: if information was unknown the fields were left blank.

Exopolysaccharide (EPS) is complex sugar made by many microbes in the Antarctic marine environment. This project seeks to understand the ecological role of microbial EPS in the Southern Ocean, where it is known to strongly influence primary production. We will investigate the chemical composition and structure of EPS obtained from Antarctic microbes, which will improve our knowledge of its ecological significance and biotechnological potential. Dataset includes the following: 1) Information on Exopolysaccharide-producing bacterial isolates, isolation sites, media used and growth conditions. 2) 16S rRNA gene sequence and fatty acid data of isolates for strain identification. 3) Exopolysaccharide chemistry data including EPS carbohydrate composition, organic acid composition, sulfate content, molecular weight. 4) Physiology of exopolysaccharide synthesis. Effects of temperature and other factors on EPS yield and glucose conversion efficiency. 5) Iron binding properties. The download file includes: 11 files File 1. Bacterial isolate 16S rRNA gene sequences obtained from Southern Ocean seawater or ice samples. The sequences are all deposited on the GenBank nucleotide (NCBI) database. Sequences are in FASTA format. File 2. Seawater and sea-ice sample information including sites samples, sample type. File 3. Data for exopolysaccharide (EPS)-producing bacteria isolated and subsequently selected for further studied. Information indicates special treatments used to obtain strains including plankton towing, filtration method, and enrichment. Identification to species level was determined by 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis. File 4. EPS-producing bacterial isolate fatty acid content determined using GC/MS procedures. File 5. Basic chemical data for EPS from Antarctic isolates including protein, sulfate, and sugar type relative content (determined by chemical procedures), molecular weight in kilodaltons and polydispersity (determined by gel-based molecular seiving). File 6 Monosaccharide unit composition determined by GC/MS of EPS from Antarctic isolates. File 7. Effect of temperature on culture viscosity and growth of EPS-producing bacterium Pseudoalteromonas sp. CAM025 as affected by temperature. File 8. Effect of temperature on EPS and cell yields and EPS synthesis efficiency (as indicated by glucose consumption) of EPS-producing bacterium Pseudoalteromonas sp. CAM025 as affected by temperature. File 9. Efficiency of copper and cadmium metal ion adsorption onto EPS from EPS-producing bacterium Pseudoalteromonas sp. CAM025. File 10. Phenotypic characteristics data for novel EPS-producing Antarctic strain CAM030. Represents type strain of Olleya marilimosa. File 11. Effect of temperature on chemical make up of EPS from EPS-producing bacterium Pseudoalteromonas sp. CAM025.

This record relates to the Australian component of the Latitudinal Gradient Project. The LGP is largely a New Zealand, US and Italian venture, but a small contribution has been made by Australian scientists. The Australian component of this work was completed as part of ASAC projects 2361 and 2682 (ASAC_2361, and ASAC_2682). Data from this project were entered into the herbarium access database, which has been linked to this record. The list below contains details of where and when samples were collected, and also the type of sample and the method of sampling. Cape Hallett and vicinity (2000, 2004): Biodiversity assessment of terrestrial plants (mosses, lichens); Invertebrate collections (mites, Collembola); plant ecology and community analysis; photosynthetic physiology of mosses and lichens; molecular genetics of mosses and lichens. Random sampling for biodiversity studies; point quadrats, releves for vegetation analysis, field laboratory experiments for physiological studies. Dry Valleys: Taylor Valley (1989, 1996), Garwood Valley (2001), Granite Harbour (1989; 1994, 1996) - plant ecology; plant physiology; biodiversity; invertebrate collections; molecular genetics of mosses. Random sampling for biodiversity studies; point quadrats, releves for vegetation analysis, field laboratory experiments for physiological studies. Beaufort Island (1996) - plant biodiversity; molecular genetics of mosses. Random sampling for biodiversity studies; point quadrats, releves for vegetation analysis, laboratory studies for molecular genetics. Darwin Glacier (1994): plant biodiversity; molecular genetics of invertebrates and mosses (random sampling for biodiversity; laboratory studies of invertebrate and moss molecular genetics). Project objectives: 1. Investigate the distribution of bryophytes and lichens in continental Antarctica 1a). to test the null hypothesis that species diversity does not change significantly with latitude; 1b). to explore the relationships between species and key environmental attributes including latitude, distance from the coast, temperature, substrate, snow cover, age of ice-free substrate. 2. To continue to participate in the Ross Sea Sector Latitudinal Gradient Project and develop an Australian corollary in the Prince Charles Mountains, involving international collaborators, incorporating the first two objectives of this project. 3. To develop an international collaborative biodiversity and ecophysiological program in the Prince Charles Mountains that will provide a parallel N-S latitude gradient study to mirror the LGP program in the Ross Sea region as part of the present RISCC cooperative program (to be superseded by the EBA (Evolution and Biodiversity of Antarctica) program) to address the above objectives. Taken from the 2008-2009 Progress Report: Progress against objectives: Continuing identification of moss and lichen samples previously collected from Cape Hallett, Granite Harbour and Darwin Glacier region. Lecidea s.l. lichens currently being studied in Austria by PhD student. Field work in Dry Valleys significantly curtailed by adverse weather. Field work planned for Darwin Glacier region and McMurdo Dry Valleys, particularly Taylor Valley and Granite Harbour region was severely curtailed due to adverse weather, helicopter diversions due to a Medical Evacuation, and other logistic constraints. 10 days of field time were lost. Limitations on field travel in Darwin Glacier region restricted the field work to a biologically depauperate region. The Prince Charles Mountains N-S transect, the only continental transect possibility for comparison with the Ross Sea area, unfortunately appears to have been abandoned through lack of logistic support. Taken from the 2009-2010 Progress Report: Identification of samples collected from AAT and Ross Sea Region continued during the year, interrupted significantly by the packing of the collection and transfer of specimens to the Tasmanian Herbarium. Work is now proceeding at the Herbarium with sorting, databasing and incorporation of packets into the Herbarium collection. The merging of the collection provides long-term security of curation and significantly boosts the cryptogam collections (35000 numbers) of the Tasmanian Herbarium.