contributed by Louise Newman, APECS representative on the SCAR EBA Committee

The March Evolution and Biodiversity in Antarctica (EBA) Newsletter is being put together by the SCAR EBA Committee. Inspired by several of the presentations at the SCAR Biology Symposium in Sapporo, they would like to highlight how technology has helped to advance our knowledge and understanding in the areas we study – e.g. the use of submersibles, Google Earth imaging, GIS, genetic sequencing advances etc.

If you would like to contribute to the next newsletter on this topic, or if you have something else you would like to contribute, please contact Louise Newman (louise.newman[at]pages.unibe.ch) or Shulamit Gordon (S.Gordon[at]antarcticanz.govt.nz) by 1st February. Submissions will not be due till the end of February and can be from 200-900 words long.

In case you are wondering what the EBA Committee does, here is a little more information:

Evolution and Biodiversity in the Antarctic: The Response of Life to Change or EBA is an international, multidisciplinary programme that has been approved by the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) for 2006 - 2013.

Under the SCAR umbrella, EBA is the flagship scientific research programme of SCAR's Standing Scientific Group on the Life Sciences. As well as several other active SCAR programmes, EBA incorporates the Census on Antarctic Marine Life (CAML), the Southern Ocean Continuous Plankton Recorder Survey (SO-CPR), SCAR-MarBIN, the Expert Group on Birds and Marine Mammals, and SCAR services like the Antarctic Biodiversity Database. All of these contribute in one way or another to EBA.

The EBA team is also working closely with the SCAR scientific research programme on Antarctica and the Global Climate System (AGCS) to produce a book length review on "Antarctic Climate Change and the Environment" (ACCE), which is intended to be an equivalent of the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment.

EBA will provide biological information of interest and use to Treaty Parties, including the activities of the Committee on Environmental Protection (CEP) and the Commission on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR). From time to time papers on EBA results and implications will be forwarded to the meetings of the CEP and CCAMLR as appropriate. As do all SCAR programmes, EBA stands ready to listen to the needs of other groups with interests in both marine and terresterial biology.
To find out more, visit their website: http://www.eba.aq/