During the period 2011 – 2014, starting a new International Antarctic project, granted by Ministry of Science and Education, named “Ecological and population-genetic research on biodiversity of bryophytes and sea mammals on the Livingston Island, Antarctica. Common and specific radiation analyses.”
      The scientific researches in a project aimed to reveal the potential of adaptation and ecological flexibility in model populations of bryophytes (mosses) and sea mammals (seals) on Livingston Island, under the progressive climate warming and changed radiation background, by the researches of their biodiversity, biology and ecology.
      The submitted project  researches have not been still conducted on Livingston Island and in order to perform the aimed tasks, new modern approaches will be applied. The project studies will contribute to the creation of considerable data base and for the increasing of the capacity of Bulgarian scientific researches in Antarctica 

     Permafrost is central to the carbon cycle and to the climate system, especially due to CH4 and CO2 release following thaw of organic-rich sediments. Compared with the Arctic, very little is known about the distribution, thickness, and properties of permafrost in the Antarctic. The main reason for this is the scarce network of permafrost temperature monitoring boreholes, as well as the short number of
active layer monitoring sites. There is also a general lack of section exposures and a need for observation by drilling. The main objectives of the project (March 2007 - February 2009) are:
 1) Installing boreholes (deep 6 to 25 m) for permafrost temperature monitoring
(GTN-P) and sites for active layer monitoring (CALM-S); 
2) Installing long-term sites for monitoring the present-day geomorphodynamics in order to evaluate the effects of climate change on landscape dynamics; 
3) Identifying permafrost characteristics and spatial distribution. 
4) Identifying the climate controls on permafrost temperatures and its sensitivity to climate change;
5) Studying volcano-permafrost interactions;
6) Modeling the climate variability of the Antarctic Peninsula region; 
7) Evaluating the possibilities for downscaling of mesoscale atmospheric models in order to estimate ground temperatures in the South Shetlands;
8) Modeling permafrost distribution and temperature in space and time in order to assess the potential effects of climate change.
     The study area is the South Shetlands, one of the Earth’s regions where warming has been more significant in the last 50 years. Field activities focus in two islands with similar climate, but contrasting geological and geomorphological settings: Livingston Island (62º39’S, 60º21’W) and Deception Island (62º43’S, 60º57’W) – see map (fig. 1). Livingston island shows high mountain relief, is 90% covered by glaciers and the bedrock in the research area (Hurd Peninsula) is a low-grade metasedimentary sequence of sandstone, shales and quartzite. The island geological setting provides an excellent site for studying and monitoring the relationships between permafrost, geomorphodynamics and climate. Deception Island is an active volcanic cone with a collapse caldera and several smaller cones. 60% of the island is occupied by glaciers. Thermal anomalies occur at several localities and the island is a very good site for studying the interactions between volcanic activity, geomorphodynamics and permafrost.
      PERMANTAR – Permafrost and Climate Change in the Maritime Antarctic - contributes to the Global scientific effort to bridge the gap in the knowledge of Antarctic permafrost characteristics, sensitivity and implications for climate change. 
The expected scientific results of the project focus on the influence of climate change on permafrost temperature regimes, modeling the climate variability of the Antarctic Peninsula region using mesoscale climate models (ERA-40) and spatial and temporal modeling of permafrost distribution and characteristics. A significant contribution will be the evaluation of the possibilities for using the modeling approaches to other areas of the Antarctic Peninsula where permafrost hasn’t been studied in detail. Another important contribution is the implementation of an open-access database on physical properties of the bedrock and deposits of both study areas, a service that may be at a later stage
extended to other regions of the Antarctic. These types of data archive provide invaluable ground truth for the modeling community.
      PERMANTAR involves 3 Portuguese research centers rated Excellent by the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, a Spanish research group working in the South Shetlands since 1989 and involved in 11 Antarctic campaigns and the Bulgarian Antarctic Institute contribute with logistic support of his Antarctic base and also scientists involved in the realization of the project. Argentinean researchers from the University of Buenos Aires also participated in the scientific work. An experienced Swiss company is responsible on permafrost drilling and guarantee the success in the complex drilling in the Antarctic rough environment. The project is strongly interdisciplinary in nature and there is multinational collaboration between all the research centers in all science tasks.
     PERMANTAR is major contribution to the International Polar Year (IPY) core projects “TSP -Thermal State of Permafrost: an International Network of Permafrost Observatories” (IPA) and “ANTPAS - Antarctic and sub-Antarctic Permafrost, Soils and Periglacial Environments”. Antarctic logistics are provided by the Spanish Antarctic Program and by the Bulgarian Antarctic Institute (member of PERMANTAR). These countries have three research stations in the study area.