A diverse account of how life exists in extreme environments and these systems' susceptibility and resilience to climate change.

Life in extreme environments: insights in biological capability; Introduction Guido di Prisco, Ad Huiskes, Josef Elster and Howell Edwards; Part I. Extreme Environments: Responses and Adaptation to Change: 1. Physiological traits of the Greenland shark somniosus microcephalus obtained during the TUNU-expeditions to northeast Greenland Guido di Prisco, Nicoletta Ademollo, Stefania Ancora, Jørgen S. Christiansen, Daniela Coppola, Simonetta Corsolini, Sara Ferrando, Laura Ghigliotti, Daniela Giordano, Arve Lynghammar, Julius Nielsen, Eva Pisano, Roberta Russo, John F. Steffensen and Cinzia Verde; 2. Metazoan adaptation to deep-sea hydrothermal vents Stéphane Hourdez and Didier Jollivet; 3. Extremophiles populating a high level natural radiation area (HLNRA) in northern Iran Fatemeh Heidari, Hossein Riahi and Zeinab Shariatmadari; Part II. Biodiversity, Bioenergetic Processes, and Biotic and Abiotic Interactions: 4. Metazoan life in anoxic marine sediments Roberto Danovaro, Cinzia Corinaldesi, Antonio Dell'Anno, Cristina Gambi, Antonio Pusceddu and Michael Tangherlini; 5. How to survive winter? Adaptation and acclimation strategies of eukaryotic algae in polar terrestrial ecosystems Martina Pichrtová, Eva Hejduková, Linda Nedbalová and Josef Elster; 6. Viral infections of vertebrates including humans in the polar areas Ji¿í ¿erný, Jana Elsterová, Daniel R¿žek and Libor Grubhoffer; Part III. Life in Extreme Environments and the Responses to Change: The Example of Polar Environments: 7. Life in the extreme environments of our planet under pressure: climate-induced threats and exploitation opportunities Melody S. Clark, Cinzia Verde, Silvia Fineschi, Francesco Loreto, Lloyd S. Peck and Guido di Prisco; 8. The ecophysiology of responding to change in polar marine benthos Lloyd S. Peck; 9. The Southern Ocean: an extreme environment or just home of unique ecosystems? Julian Gutt and Gerhard Dieckmann; 10. Microorganisms in cryoturbated organic matter of arctic permafrost soils Ji¿í Bárta; 11. Chemical ecology in the Southern Ocean Carlos Angulo-Preckler, Paula de Castro-Fernandez, Rafael Martín-Martín, Blanca Figuerola and Conxita Avila; 12. Metabolic and taxonomic diversity in Antarctic subglacial environments Trista J. Vick-Majors, Amanda M. Achberger, Alexander B. Michaud and John C. Priscu; Part IV. Life and Habitability: Introduction: 13. Analytical astrobiology: the search for life signatures and the remote detection of biomarkers through their Raman spectral interrogation Howell G. M. Edwards and Jan Jehlicka; 14. Adaptation/acclimatization mechanisms of oxyphototrophic microorganisms and their relevance to astrobiology Jana Kviderova; 15. Life at the extremes Steven Chown.