Macrofaunal abundance and community structure along a strong latitudinal sea-ice gradient on the Western Antarctic Peninsula Shelf
Macrofaunal abundance and community structure along a strong latitudinal sea-ice gradient on the Western Antarctic Peninsula Shelf
Date
2013-05
Authors
Srsen, Pavica
Contributor
Advisor
Department
Instructor
Depositor
Speaker
Researcher
Consultant
Interviewer
Annotator
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
[Honolulu] : [University of Hawaii at Manoa], [May 2013]
Volume
Number/Issue
Starting Page
Ending Page
Alternative Title
Abstract
The West Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) region exhibits one of the strongest warming trends in the world, reducing duration of winter sea-ice cover and altering pelagic-benthic coupling. That pelagic-benthic coupling in the WAP is highly modulated by the sea-ice is well documented; however the effects of sea-ice duration on benthic community structure of the deep Antarctic shelf have not been examined. We studied Antarctic shelf communities along a 5-station transect from Smith Island (63°S) to Marguerite Bay (68°S) spanning annual sea-ice duration from 2 to >8 months. Megacore samples elucidated changes in macrofaunal abundance, community structure and diversity along the sea-ice gradient. We found a non-monotonic trend in macrofaunal abundance versus sea-ice gradient, with northernmost station, Stn. AA (63°S), exhibiting the highest mean abundance. We speculate that this trend might be due to either different hydrographic conditions relative to stations B-G, or to a threshold effect related to declines in sea-ice duration. A strong latitudinal trend was observed in community structure, with increasing dominance by a single, polychaete species, Aurospio foodbancsia from the north to south ends of our transect. We hypothesize that the latitudinal sea-ice gradient along the WAP is causing increased community stress with increasing latitude due to shorter duration of food pulses.
Description
M.S. University of Hawaii at Manoa 2013.
Includes bibliographical references.
Includes bibliographical references.
Keywords
Antartica
Citation
Extent
Format
Geographic Location
Time Period
Related To
Theses for the degree of Master of Science (University of Hawaii at Manoa). Oceanography.
Table of Contents
Rights
Rights Holder
Local Contexts
Collections
Email libraryada-l@lists.hawaii.edu if you need this content in ADA-compliant format.