Meiobenthic biodiversity and fluxes within the Antarctic biogeochemical environment

In the Antarctic, where the availability of the food resources - produced as well in situ as imported - strongly depends on the seasonal variations of the environmental conditions, the space and temporal variations of the various relations between the various communities have a fundamental importance.

The structure and the functioning of the antarctic biota are also determined by typical phenomena resulting from the dynamics of the sea ice. One thinks here of the capacity of recovery of the biota subjected to disturbances due to the action of icebergs in the coastal zone and at the edge of the ice cap. Special attention will be paid to the association between meiofauna, interstitial nutrients, organic matter (dissolved and particulate), pigments, sediments texture and bacteria.