The Southern Ocean breeds a special ecosystem. The evolution and adaptability of Antarctic marine organisms is a key research field of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research. In this special issue, nine articles are merged, following the theme of “Marine Ecosystem and Climate Change in the Southern Ocean”, and other several solicited papers will be published in the subsequent issues after their acceptance. We expect that this issue will provide a forum and be a new step for the Southern Ocean ecosystem researches.

Three solicited articles of this Special Issue were subsequently published on Vol. 33, No. 2.

(1) Numerical simulation of the dynamic effects of grounding icebergs on summer circulation in Prydz Bay, Antarctica

(2) Comparison of ship-based CTD measurement of Circumpolar Deep Water in the Amundsen Sea based on World Ocean Database

(3) Community structure of mesopelagic fauna and the length-weight relationships of three common fishes in the Cosmonaut Sea, Southern Ocean