Biodiversity in Antarctic Soils May Be Greatly Underestimated After Surprising Discovery

Scientists Studying Life Forms at the Base of a Glacier in Antarctica Make a Shocking Discovery

A team of scientists studying the biodiversity of microscopic organisms living at the base of a slowly retreating glacier on the southern coast of Antarctica has made an intriguing discovery: separate life forms are working in collaboration to survive and thrive in one of the planet’s most extreme environments. The researchers believe their findings could force a significant recalculation of previous Antarctic soil biodiversity estimates and pro…

Biodiversity in Antarctic soils may be greatly underestimated after surprising discovery

Two important concepts in evolutionary biology, mutualism and altruism, were first made famous by the colorful anarchist prince Peter Kropotkin. He argued that cooperation could be an equally powerful driver of evolution as competition.

Researcher Kurt Panter digs up new discoveries in 11th trip to the bottom of the earth – BG Independent News

By DAVID DUPONT BG Independent News BGSU Professor Kurt Panter recently returned from a three-month expedition to Antartica that led to explosive findings. At least what he and his team discovered were explosive within the last 9,000 years. Panter, a professor of igneous petrology and geochemistry, and two graduate students, Jacci Kalemba and Katie Shanks traveled this semester to the Antartica to study volcanic activity near the far southern con

Scientists Discover Hidden World Thriving Beneath Antarctic Ice

Scientists have uncovered a surprisingly rich microbial diversity thriving in some of the harshest soils on Earth — those of Antarctica. This discovery challenges longstanding assumptions about the limits of life in extreme environments and reveals complex biological interactions that support survival in cold, dry, and nutrient-poor conditions. The findings, detailed in a recent study published in Frontiers in Microbiology, shed new light on how…

Biodiversity boom in Antarctic soils driven by microbial cooperation

Berlin, Germany (SPX) May 22, 2025 In a surprising twist to assumptions about life in Earth's harshest environments, scientists have discovered a rich and diverse community of microbes thriving in Antarctic glacier forefields, suggesting biodiversity in these soils has been vastly underestimated. Led by Dr Dirk Wagner from the GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences and the University of Potsdam, the research uncovered thousan

When Antarctic glaciers retreat, they first leave a stone desert. Now a study shows how bacteria, fungi and microalgae make a living environment out of it in teamworkIn a previously unknown teamwork, cold-resistant species colonize the stony soil of Antarctica, which the melting ice releases.In minus degrees, nitrogen-binding bacteria, tiny algae and fungi form the vanguard for another settlement, as a team led by Dirk Wagner from the GFZ Helmho…