The Impact of Human Activities on Soil Organisms of the Maritime Antarctic and the Introduction of Non-Native Species in Antarctica

The present study aimed at determining the influence of human activities on Antarctic soil-organisms communities as well as the potential introduction of non-native species into Antarctic habitats. In the Antarctic summers of the years 2009/2010 and 2010/2011, soil organisms (plants and the soil fauna of the groups Nematoda, Tardigrada, Collembola, Actinedida, Oribatida and Gamasina) were collected from anthropogenically influenced and non-influenced areas of the total of 13 localities and compared