Antarctic ecosystems. The freshwater lakes of Signy Island and their fauna

Prior to 1962 work on freshwater within the British Sector of the Antarctic had been confined to the collection of specimens and their subsequent taxonomic evaluation. Collections were made by such expeditions as the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition 1902- 04, the various Discovery Investigations in this region 1925-37, the British Graham Land Expedition 1934-37 and the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey 1945-62. During the 1961/1962 summer season an ecological investigation of the freshwater lakes of Signy Island, South Orkney Islands, was started. This paper is an interim report on that work.