From the abstract of one of the papers: Three new zooplankton nets have been designed to enable improved collection of zooplankters from ice-covered waters. These nets also enable quantitative sampling of species not adequately sampled by other methods. The first net is a vertical tow net which can be folded like an umbrella to pass through a small ice hole (10 cm). This 'Umbrella Net' takes an integrated sample of zooplankton from all sample depths. The second net is a collapsible free-fall net designed to collect mobile zooplankters capable of avoiding towed nets. This was the only net used which was capable of collecting all furcilia stages of Euphausia crystallorophias from Ellis Fjord, Vestfold Hills, Antarctica. The third net is a diver-operated push net designed to collect zooplankters in the top 15 cm of the under-ice column. Because of the high standing crop of pytoplankton at and near the under-ice surface at particular times of the year, some species of zooplankton tend to congregate there. These species, particularly Paralabidocera antarctica, were collected in great abundance using the push net, but were rare in samples collected by other methods. The fields in this dataset are: species species density site sample

The Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) has been the largest cooperative marine geology program in history. The Australian Antarctic Division contributed to the Australian ODP budget while ODP was drilling in Antarctic or sub-Antarctic waters. Although initially related to ODP Leg 120 on Kerguelen Plateau (1988), the spirit of this project can also extend to Leg 188 (2000). These involvements have been primarily on foraminifera from the Cretaceous and Neogene but have also contributed to understanding of the sediments and changes of environment with time. A lot has been published and further papers are in press or in preparation. Leg 183 involvement was invited and turned down but Pat Quilty was then asked to present one paper on Late Cretaceous benthic foraminifera (published) and to act as external editor for the volume. This work is now almost final and is available on the WWW. Some sample data are available for download at the url below. For complete datasets, see the ODP website. The fields in this dataset are: Sample Accessory Depth (metres below surface) Species Planktonic percentage Barren

This project empirically measures the effects of human activity on the behaviour of King penguins on Macquarie Island, under ASAC project 1148. This was achieved by collecting behavioural responses of individual penguins exposed to pedestrian approaches across the breeding stages of incubation and guard. Information produced includes minimum approach guidelines. As of April 2003 all data are stored on Hi-8 digital tape, due to be transformed during 2003 - 2004 into a timecoded tab-delimited text format for analysis using the Observer (Noldus Information Technology 2002). The fields in this dataset are: Sample Date Breeding Phase Approach Colony Focal birds tape number Wide angle tape number Weather Time Windspeed Temperature Precipitation Cloud Pre-approach control Post-approach control Maximum approach distance

This dataset contains data revealing the incidence of bacterial, viral and parasitic disease causing agents in Antarctic bird populations. Samples for disease analysis have been collected from various species of Antarctic birds during the course of ASAC project 953 and are stored at the Department of Microbiology, University of Western Australia and CSIRO Australian Animal Health Laboratories (AAHL). All analysis is being performed at the Department of Microbiology, University of Western Australia. A summary of samples collected and stored for each species is listed below. Adelie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae): Serum (blood) and faecal (cloacal) swabs were collected from chicks and adults in the Mawson station area, the Vestfold Hills and Terra Nova Bay. Samples from approximately 1200 birds have been stored. Tissue samples have been collected from chick carcasses found in the Vestfold Hills area. Carcasses were collected on an opportunistic basis. Emperor penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri): Serum (blood) and faecal (cloacal) swabs were collected from chicks at Amanda Bay, Auster and Cape Washington. Tissue samples have been obtained from 20 chick carcasses collected from Auster Rookery. South polar skua (Catharacta maccormicki): Serum (blood) and faecal (cloacal) swabs were collected from 125 adult birds in the Vestfold Hills area. This project has close ties with ASAC project 1336 (ASAC_1336 - South polar skuas as vectors of disease). See that metadata record for related datasets. The fields in this dataset are: Infectious bursal disease virus Avian influenzae Avian adenovirus Sample Species Age Year Region Colony Location Stage of Breeding Season Blood Sample Cloacal Swab Serum

Metadata record for data from ASAC Project 2146 See the link below for public details on this project. From the abstracts of the referenced papers: Early season phytoplankton communities in both Omega and Taynaya Bays are characterised by diatoms sedimenting out of the overlying sea ice. Initial nitrate, phosphate and silicate levels are high and the bay waters are covered with ice and well mixed. In Taynaya Bay the ice cover is retained throughout the season while Omega Bay is free for 6-8 weeks. After ice break out in Omega Bay, the phytoplankton community changes from one dominated by diatoms to one dominated by the phtyoflagellates, Pyramimonas spp., Cryptomonas sp. and Gymnodinium sp. In Taynaya Bay the ice remained and even though phtyoflagellates became more common, diatoms still dominated. These differences in community composition result from differences in light climate, extent of stratification and nutrient levels. Sediment cores from Abel and Platcha Bays, in the Vestfold Hills, east Antarctica, contain evidence for a local late Holocene increase in fast ice extent and a possible ice cap retreat at approximately 1750 yr BP, a similar time to the Chelnock Glaciation. Prior to this time both bays experienced periods of isolation that lead to changes in their diatom flora, C:N ratio, percentage of biogenic silica and total organic carbon. Three new diatom indices are proposed; the fast ice index, based on the proportion of benthic taxa and the snow index, based on the proportion of Berkelaya adeliense and Thalassiosira australis. These indices show strong relationships with the percentage of biogenic silica, total organic carbon and percentage sand. A weak relationship exists between the fast ice index and delta 13 C and no relationship with the C:N ratio. The fields in these datasets are: Date Julian Day Sample Volume filtered (L) Acetone Volume (ml) Abs Chlorophyll Phytoplankton

This project empirically measures the effects of human activity on the behaviour and reproductive success of Gentoo penguins on Macquarie Island. This was achieved by 1) collecting behavioural responses of individual penguins exposed to pedestrian approaches across the breeding stages of guard, creche and moult, and 2) collecting reproductive success data (chicks raised to creche age per nesting pair) for gentoo penguins colonies in areas of high and low human activity. Information produced includes minimum approach guidelines. As of April 2003 all data are stored on Hi-8 digital tape, due to be transformed during 2003 - 2004 into a timecoded tab-delimited text format for analysis using the Observer (Noldus Information Technology 2002). This work was carried out as part of ASAC project 1148 (ASAC_1148). The fields in this dataset are: Sample Date Breeding Phase Stimulus Type Colony Focal birds tape number Wide angle tape number Location within colony Weather Time Windspeed Temperature Precipitation Cloud Pre-approach control Approach Post-approach control Maximum approach distance

Metadata record for data from ASAC Project 2337 See the link below for public details on this project. ---- Public Summary from Project ---- The experimental krill research program is focused on obtaining life history information of use in managing the krill fishery - the largest Antarctic fishery. In particular, the program will concentrate on studies into schooling, growth and ageing of krill. From the abstracts of some of the referenced papers: Nucleic acid contents of tissue were determined from field-caught Antarctic krill to determine whether they could be used as an alternative estimator of individual growth rates which can currently only be obtained by labour intensive on-board incubations. Krill from contrasting growth regimes from early and late summer exhibited differences in RNA-based indices. There was a significant correlation between the independently measured individual growth rates and the RNA-based indices. There was a significant correlation between the independently measured individual growth rates and the RNA:DNA ratio and also the RNA concentration of krill tissue, although the strength of the relationship was only modest. DNA concentration, on average, was relatively constant, irrespective of the growth rates. The moult stage did not appear to have a significant effect on the nucleic acid contents of tissue. Overall, the amount of both nucleic acids varied considerably between individuals. Nucleic acid-based indicators may provide information concerning the recent growth and nutritional status of krill and further experimentation under controlled conditions is warranted. The are, however, reasonably costly and time-consuming measurements. Growth rates of Antarctic krill Euphausia superba Dana in the Indian Ocean sector of the Southern Ocean were measured in 4 summers. Growth rate was measured using an 'instantaneous growth rate' technique which involved measuring the mean change in length if the uropods at moulting. In the first 4 days following collection mean growth rates ranged from 0.35 to 7.34% per moult in adults and 2.42 to 9.05% in juveniles. Mean growth rates of adult and juvenile krill differed between areas and between the different years of the investigation. When food was restricted under experimental conditions, individual krill began to shrink immediately and mean population growth rates decreased gradually, becoming negative after as little as 7 days. Populations of krill which exhibited initial growth rates began to shrink later than those which had initially been growing more slowly. Data were collected on growth rates of krill. These data were collected as part of ASAC projects 34, 1074, 2220 and 2337. ASAC_34 - Ecophysiology of Antarctic Krill 'Euphausia superba' ASAC_1074 - Seasonal growth in krill ASAC_2220 - Collection of live Antarctic krill ASAC_2337 - Experimental studies into growth and ageing of krill The fields in this dataset are: Field season (eg FS9596 = Field Season 1995-1996) Area (eg Indian Ocean) Cruise Month Date Latitude Longitude Total Number of Krill Dead Krill Moulted Krill Experiment ID Station ID Sample ID Sex Growth (IGR%) (% growth at time of moulting) Uropod Size (mm) Days after capture (when moulted) Standard length

This project empirically measures the effects of human activity on the behaviour, heart rate and egg-shell surface temperature of Royal penguins on Macquarie Island, as part of ASAC project 1148. This was achieved by collecting behavioural and physiological responses of individual penguins exposed to pedestrian approaches across the breeding stages of incubation, guard, creche and moult. Both single person and group approaches were also investigated. Information produced includes minimum approach guidelines. As of April 2003 all data are stored on Hi-8 digital tape, due to be transformed during 2003 - 2004 into a timecoded tab-delimited text format for analysis using the Observer (Noldus Information Technology 2002). Some notes about some of the fields in this dataset: Temp file refers to whether or not egg shell surface temperature was also recorded for the sample, with the code below refering to the file name. Neighbour refers to the behavioural control file for each sample (neighbouring nests did not recieve an artificial egg, and provide a behavioural control for responses to human approaches without the scientific treatment). Nest refers to the randomly used nest markers for each sample. Heart rate refers to whether heart rate was concurrently recorded with behaviour on the sample (both stored on Hi-8 tape). Stimulus refers to whether single persons or groups of persons (5 -7, recorded within each sample) were used for the human approaches. Environment refers to whether approaches were conducted from colony sections abuting pebbly beach or from poa tussock environs (tussock approaches less than 50 m of the poa / pebbly beach junction). The code system for nest simply refers to the numbered tag placed at the nest (using three colours, g=green, w=white, b=brown) which were used randomly. The fields in this dataset are: Sample Date Breeding Phase Stimulus Type Environment Colony Nest Tape Heart Rate Temp File Neighbour

The effect of location and sediment contamination on recruitment of soft-sediment assemblages were examined in field experiment at Casey Station, East Antarctica. Four locations were used, a polluted bay adjacent to an old disused tip site (Brown Bay), a bay adjacent to the Casey Station sewage outfall, and two undisturbed control locations in O'Brien Bay. At each location two types of defaunated sediment (polluted and control) were placed 12 - 18 m, in experimental trays. Half of the experimental sediments were left in place over the Austral winter, from March - November, and the remaining sediments were collected after a total of one year, in February 1999. There were large differences in recruitment between the two locations and significant differences between the polluted and control sediment. There were not only differences in abundance of taxa and assemblage structure but also in spatial variability and variability of populations of certain taxa, with recruitment to the control locations more variable than polluted locations, and recruitment in the control sediment more variable than the polluted sediment. The majority of fauna recruiting to the experiment were highly motile colonizing species with non-pelagic lecithotrophic larvae, usually brooded and released as dispersing juveniles, such as gammarids, tanaids, isopods and gastropods. A total of 64 recruitment samples were collected after 9 months and 52 samples after one year. Samples were sieved at 500 micro m and sorted mainly to species. Samples are rows in data sheet. Site codes include place name (e.g. BB2) and experimental treatment (e.g. C1 - control 1). See accompanying sheet for full details of codes, including species names. Sediment chemistry data are means (and standard errors) for each treatment (averaged over 2 trays). Also links to ASAC 1100. The fields in this dataset are: Species Site Sample Abundance Toxicity Arsenic Cadmium Copper Lead Silver Zinc

Sediment samples were collected from nine points along 3 parallel transects within the contaminated Brown Bay. The diatom spreadsheet (diatom_data) contains both initial diatom counts and the relative abundance of benthic species. The abbreviation used to identify species are explained in the separate file called sp_list. Metal, Total Purgeable Hydrocarbons (TPH), and grain-size data are all presented as separate files. This work was completed as part of ASAC project 1130 (ASAC_1130) and project 2201 (ASAC_2201). Public summary from project 1130: Algal mats grow on sea floor in most shallow marine environments. They are thought to contribute more than half of the total primary production in many of these areas, making them a critical food source for invertebrates and some fish. We will establish how important they are in Antarctic marine environments and determine the effects of local sewerage and tip-site pollution. We will also investigate the impact on the algal mats of the additional UV radiation which results from the ozone hole. Public summary from project 2201: As a signatory to the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty Australia is committed to comprehensive protection of the Antarctic environment. This protocol requires that activities in the Antarctic shall be planned and conducted on the basis of information sufficient to make prior assessments of, and informed judgements about, their possible impacts on the Antarctic environment. Most of our activities in the Antarctic occur along the narrow fringe of ice-free rock adjacent to the sea and many of our activities have the potential to cause environmental harm to marine life. The Antarctic seas support the most complex and biologically diverse plant and animal communities of the region. However, very little is known about them and there is certainly not sufficient known to make informed judgements about possible environmental impacts The animals and plants of the sea-bed are widely accepted as being the most appropriate part of the marine ecosystem for indicating disturbance caused by local sources. Attached sea-bed organisms have a fixed spatial relationship with a given place so they must either endure conditions or die. Once lost from a site recolonisation takes some time, as a consequence the structure of sea-bed communities reflect not only present conditions but they can also integrate conditions in the past. In contrast, fish and planktonic organisms can move freely so their site of capture does not indicate a long residence time at that location. Because sea-bed communities are particularly diverse they contain species with widely differing life strategies, as a result different species can have very different levels of tolerance to stress; this leads to a range of subtle changes in community structure as a response to gradually increasing disturbance, rather than an all or nothing response. This project will examine sea-bed communities near our stations to determine how seriously they are affected by human activities. This information will be used to set priorities for improving operational procedures to reduce the risk of further environmental damage. The fields in this dataset are: bbg_lat spreadsheet Site Latitude Longitude Easting Northing Diatoms spreadsheet Species Site Abundance Transect Metals Spreadsheet Sample Antimony Arsenic Cadmium Chromium Copper Iron Lead Manganese Mercury Nickel Silver Tin Zinc Total Organic Carbon Easting Northing TPH Spreadsheet Site Total Purgeable Hydrocarbons Fraction of Purgeable Hydrocarbons