All sampling sites were located on King George Island
(62°020S 58°210W/62.033°S 58.35°W), the major island of
the Shetland South Archipelago (Figure 1). A total of 34
soil and 14 water samples were collected in January of
2009. The temperature and altitude of the sampling sites
varied from 0 to 11.9°C and from 0 to 182 m, respectively.
For soil samples, sterile 50 ml tubes were filled
with soil, sealed and stored at −20°C. For water samples,
200–500 ml of water were collected from terrestrial
sources and processed in situ using the 55-PLUS™
MONITOR system (Millipore, Billerica, MA, USA,) with
cellulose filter for yeasts and molds, as specified by the
manufacturer. The dishes were then stored at 4°C until
processing.