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Introduction
Soils play a significant role in the Antarctic environment, its evolution and sustainability. The soil cover and soil properties of the Antarctic region have been investigated with regard to taxonomy and genesis, chemistry and pollution, micromorphology, and organic matter quality and composition. The severe conditions in which the soil and biota exist result in the formation of weakly developed organic soils and specific soil covers, with Cryosols, Leptosols and Regoliths dominating (Bockheim et al. 2015). The ecosystems of the western region of the Antarctic Peninsula are strongly influenced by both the periglacial conditions and proximity to the ocean. Compared to the eastern side of the peninsula and continental parts of the Antarctic, the climate in this region is relatively warm and humid, affecting the thickness of the active layer and soil thermal regime. This region of the Antarctic Peninsula coastal zone is known as the Maritime Antarctic. Here, the terrestrial ecosystems are characterized by relatively high pedo- and biodiversity. One of the specific pedological features of this region’s ecosystems is the relatively long period of soil biological activity, which in some years reaches up to 100 days per year. The other one is the accumulation of guano and related compounds in proximity to penguin rookeries and near the feeding and nesting sites of other birds. All these factors lead to increased soil diversity, which in turn plays a key role in biodiversity. The temperature and humidity conditions of the Maritime Antarctic differ from those in other parts of the Antarctic continent; therefore, the soils of this region are the most vertically developed, as well as more weathered and differentiated. The most investigated area in West Antarctica in terms of pedological alterations of the solum is King George Island, particularly the Fildes Peninsula. The soil diversity and genesis have been described in relation to environmental conditions (Bolter 2001), and the soils of King George Island are considered to be the most developed in the whole of the Antarctic Peninsula (Simas et al. 2015). This is why they are of special interest in terms of evaluating their physical characteristics.
Due to the diversity of its soils, the Fildes Peninsula is also the focus of many microbiological studies, using both culture-based and culture-independent methods...