Biogeography and Regional Classifications of Antarctica

In this chapter we refer to the ‘Antarctic’ in its widest
sense. On land, we include the Antarctic continent and
Peninsula, the various archipelagos of the Scotia arc,
and the sub- and peri-Antarctic islands. In the marine
environment, we include the entire Southern Ocean,
formed by the provinces of the Atlantic, Indian and
Pacific Oceans that are south of the mean position of the
Antarctic Polar Front. Within this vast area of the
planet’s surface (Figure 15.1) are found a wide range
of environments and biota. We also consider biological
diversity, as defined by the Convention on Biological
Diversity, to encompass ‘the variability among living
organisms from all sources including, inter alia, terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the
ecological complexes of which they are part; this includes
diversity within species, between species, and of
ecosystems’ (Anon, 2009).