Adaptation is Key
Adaptation to the environment has been the key to success for polar wildlife. The environment of the Arctic is sufficiently different from that of the Antarctic that unique flora and fauna have developed in each region.
Antarctica is very cold, very dry, and very windy.
These three qualities inhibit life to a great extent. The harsh climate tends to freeze living organisms, dry them, and blow them away. These conditions also help to prevent formation of mature soils. Normally rocks, are broken down into gravel, sand, clay and silt, bacteria and algae generate a basic flora in the mineral soil. In other parts of the world higher plants then move in to colonize the new soil and through chemical processes cause the release of various minerals which can then be utilized by the growing plants. In Antarctica, however, this process is inhibited in several ways.
Arctic ecosystems are relatively new.
Arctic ecosystems (communal alliances of plants and animals) are believed to be relatively new when compared with southern ecosystems. In the north, the advancement of glaciers has periodically interrupted biological evolution. The long-term biological stability of Arctic ecosystems also is much less steady than those in southern latitudes. They have larger biomasses and lower overall productivity. Rather than having many species with small numbers of individuals, (i. e. herds of caribou and vast swarms of mosquitoes). However, in spite of these populations, the mortality rate of each season’s young is so great that counts do not remain stable. The violent weather can play havoc with some Arctic populations and numbers can change drastically in a short time.
From Quark Expeditions Antarctica: The Reader and from Arctic Reader which are presented to travelers on respective expeditions.