Polish Polar Research

A few specimens of a macroporid bryozoan were collected, from the Eocene La Meseta Formation from Seymour (Marambio) Island, Antarctic Peninsula. Based on the morphology of the studied specimens Macropora antarctica sp.n. has been erected. This is the stratigraphically oldest species of the genus which exhibits a number of similarities with the Tertiary fossils and some Recent macroporids reported from the Southern Hemisphere i.e., Australia, New Zealand and South America.

The results of a statistical analysis of the influence of the Hansbreen surface ablation relative to selectedmeteorological parameters (air temperature andsunshine duration) are presentedhere. Over the period1989 –2001 the lowest summer balance on the surface ablation of Hansbreen was recorded in 1994 (–0.56 m water equivalent). Concurrently, both the air temperature (mean seasonal ~2.3 °C) and the sunshine duration (seasonal sum ~278.9 h)were at their lowest. Owing to the relatively high sunshine duration (676.5 h),the highest values were in 1998 (–1.71 m w.e.); likewise,in 2001 (–1.84 m w.e.) when a high air temperature (mean of 3.6 °C) occurred. The statistical models erected on the basis of these data allow us to estimate fairly reliably the seasonal ablation of Hansbreen. The basis of these is the reasonably reliable relationship determinable between the seasonal sum of PDD (positive degree days) and the ablation intensity changes in respect of altitude above sea level. Sunshine duration is regarded here as being of very little significance in terms of increasing the accuracy of the models. The errors inherent in this models varies from 28% to as little as 7%. Shown models may eventually find application as a method of calculating the amount of water resulting from the decay of tidewater glaciers.

The population structures of Calanus finmarchicus, C.glacialis and C.hyperboreus were investigated in the recurrent polynya of the North Waters (NOW) in Baffin Bay during April –July 1998. Species were determined from samples collected by plankton nets of 300 ľm and 200 ľm mesh size. The highest concentration of all three species was found at the centre of study the area. C.hyperboreus was the most abundant species (44.54 ind.m –3).C.glacialis was recorded up to 27.14 ind.m –3, C.finmarchicus up to 5.63 ind.m –3 .C.finmarchicus was reproducing in the northern end of Baffin Bay.The life cycle for C.glacialis was estimated at 2 years,and that of C.hyperboreus to last at least 4 years.

Life cycles,number of eggs per female,minimal adult female length and reproductive costs are presented for 18 species of Amphipoda from the West Spitsbergen area, 77 –79 °N. Fifteen species incubated eggs during the polar night and released their offspring in early April. Three species incubated eggs from late spring till late summer. The appearance of the youngest juveniles, indicating the hatching period, is presented for 63 species. Most of the species studied were K strategists, with large eggs of over 1 mm diameter; only one species (Hyperoche medusarum ) was r – strategist.

Notothenia coriiceps, N.rossii and Lepidonotothen nudifrons were sampled from Admiralty Bay from March to November 1997 and from January to February 1999. The ratio of N.coriiceps to N.rossii individuals in catches regularly increased during 22 years from 0.4 in 1977 to 9.5 in 1999. Oving to its reproductive strategy and avoidance of shallow waters N.rossii may be more vulnerable to overfishing. The condition factor was the most stable (CV 6 -10%), variations in the of hepatosomatic index and index of stomach fullness were intermediate (21 -38%and 40 -43%,respectively), and the gonadosomatic index was the most variable (65 -100%). Lack of seasonality in two somatic indices (condition factor and index of stomach fullness) in N.coriiceps adults is a direct effect of high food availability and unlimited food detection all year round. In contrast, the seasonality of a reproductive index (gonadosomatic index) of these fish is a response to the highly seasonal trophic conditions for pelagic larvae.

The multidisciplinary journal Polish Polar Research is bibliometrically analysed as a medium of international scientific communication in light of current citation data from SCI Ex 1996 -2002. Despite its world-wide distribution and distinctive visibility in the polar society, the journal 's two-years impact factor is invariably not very high (below 0.35) because the cited papers are mostly from the 1980s. The increasing participation of foreign (co)authors in the Polish quarterly, paired with the slowly growing number of citing articles in SCI Ex are already promising steps to the immediate information transfer and subsequently improved brief-term journal impact. Citation links with polar investigators from Germany,and also from Great Britain, Spain and the USA are clearly manifested, especially in fields of marine Antarctic ecology and biology. Even if Polish Polar Research may successfully compete with several low-rated journals from different countries indexed in SCI Ex in related categories, its continuing internationalization is urgently required.