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Abstract AN OVERVIEW oF BIOLOGICAL RESEARCH AT THE POLES Donal T. Manahan The pioneering work of the early adventurers and scientists who
conducted the first scientific experiments in polar regions over
a century ago greatly enhanced the public's awareness of the importance
of these regions to Earth's global systems. Organisms living in
polar regions have been actively studied throughout this period,
in part because of the unique biology associated with living in
"extreme environments." Biological studies in polar regions
have, however, a wider applicability because the "Cold Biosphere"
is a major environment on Earth, comprising approximately 90% of
the volume of the living biosphere (including the deep ocean). Current
models predicting species' extinction in cold environments with
climate change are often limited by a lack of scientific data regarding
the mechanisms of adaptation and the extent of biological tolerance
to temperature. Relationships of climate change, shifts in environmental
temperature, and the evolution of life have long been studied in
the fields of biological and earth sciences. Understanding the mechanisms
and evolution of cold-temperature adaptation is crucial for accurately
predicting how organisms will respond to temperature increases.
The degree to which variation in biological tolerance is genetically
fixed is a central issue in defining the relative importance of
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