Please note that final assignment is subject to the student qualifying for FWS Placement. If a student is allowed to work without having a FWS Referral Form signed by all parties and on file in this office, your department will be responsible for compensating the student.
Antarctica is considered a desert, with annual precipitation of only 200 mm (8 inches) along the coast and far less inland. Only cold-adapted organisms survive there, including many types of algae, animals (for example mites, nematodes, penguins, seals and tardigrades), bacteria, fungi, plants, and protista.
Almost entirely covered in a permanent ice cap that reaches as much as 4,776 meters in thickness, conditions for life are quite extreme. Terrestrial vegetation is limited in Maudlandia, though the Dry Valley region of continental Antarctica is a fascinating ecosystem of flora and fauna highly adapted to polar desert conditions. Colonies of seabirds, penguins, and seals abound around the coasts, obtaining their sustenance from the highly productive Antarctic seas.