Epibenthic macrofauna associated with the shelf and slope of a young and isolated Southern Ocean island
Abstract The remote South Sandwich arc is an archipelago of small volcanic islands and seamounts entirely surrounded by deep water and about 600 km away from the closest island, South Georgia. As some of the youngest islands (< 5 m.y.) in the Southern Ocean they are ideal for studying colonizatio...
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crcambridgeupr:10.1017/s0954102008001107 2024-03-24T08:56:22+00:00 Epibenthic macrofauna associated with the shelf and slope of a young and isolated Southern Ocean island Kaiser, Stefanie Barnes, David K.A. Linse, Katrin Brandt, Angelika 2008 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0954102008001107 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0954102008001107 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms Antarctic Science volume 20, issue 3, page 281-290 ISSN 0954-1020 1365-2079 Geology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics Oceanography journal-article 2008 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/s0954102008001107 2024-02-26T15:35:11Z Abstract The remote South Sandwich arc is an archipelago of small volcanic islands and seamounts entirely surrounded by deep water and about 600 km away from the closest island, South Georgia. As some of the youngest islands (< 5 m.y.) in the Southern Ocean they are ideal for studying colonization processes of the seabed by benthic fauna, but are rarely investigated because of remoteness and extreme weather. The current study attempted to quantify the richness and abundance of the epibenthic macrofauna around the Southern Thule group by taking five epibenthic sledge samples along a depth transect including three shelf (one at 300 m and two at 500 m) and two slope stations (1000 and 1500 m). Our aim was to investigate higher taxon richness and community composition in an isolated Antarctic locality, since recent volcanic eruptions between 1964 and 1997. We examined patterns across all epibenthic macrofauna at phylum and class levels, and investigated trends in some model groups of crustaceans to order and family level. We found that abundance was highest in the shallowest sample and decreased with depth. Shelf samples (300 and 500 m) were dominated by molluscs and malacostracans while at the deeper stations (1000 and 1500 m) nematodes were the most abundant taxon. Surprisingly, the shallow shelf was dominated by animals with restricted dispersal abilities, such as direct developing brooders (malacostracans) or those with lecithotrophic larvae (bivalves of the genus Yoldiella , most bryozoan species). Despite Southern Thule's geological youth, recent eruptions, and its remoteness the shallow shelf was rich in higher taxa (phyla/classes) as well as orders and families of our model groups. Future work at higher taxonomic resolution (species level) should greatly increase understanding of how life has reached and established on these young and highly disturbed seabeds. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Science Southern Ocean Southern Thule Ocean Island Cambridge University Press Antarctic Southern Ocean Southern Thule ENVELOPE(-27.200,-27.200,-59.433,-59.433) Southern Thule Group ENVELOPE(-27.200,-27.200,-59.433,-59.433) Antarctic Science 20 3 281 290 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Cambridge University Press |
op_collection_id |
crcambridgeupr |
language |
English |
topic |
Geology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics Oceanography |
spellingShingle |
Geology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics Oceanography Kaiser, Stefanie Barnes, David K.A. Linse, Katrin Brandt, Angelika Epibenthic macrofauna associated with the shelf and slope of a young and isolated Southern Ocean island |
topic_facet |
Geology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics Oceanography |
description |
Abstract The remote South Sandwich arc is an archipelago of small volcanic islands and seamounts entirely surrounded by deep water and about 600 km away from the closest island, South Georgia. As some of the youngest islands (< 5 m.y.) in the Southern Ocean they are ideal for studying colonization processes of the seabed by benthic fauna, but are rarely investigated because of remoteness and extreme weather. The current study attempted to quantify the richness and abundance of the epibenthic macrofauna around the Southern Thule group by taking five epibenthic sledge samples along a depth transect including three shelf (one at 300 m and two at 500 m) and two slope stations (1000 and 1500 m). Our aim was to investigate higher taxon richness and community composition in an isolated Antarctic locality, since recent volcanic eruptions between 1964 and 1997. We examined patterns across all epibenthic macrofauna at phylum and class levels, and investigated trends in some model groups of crustaceans to order and family level. We found that abundance was highest in the shallowest sample and decreased with depth. Shelf samples (300 and 500 m) were dominated by molluscs and malacostracans while at the deeper stations (1000 and 1500 m) nematodes were the most abundant taxon. Surprisingly, the shallow shelf was dominated by animals with restricted dispersal abilities, such as direct developing brooders (malacostracans) or those with lecithotrophic larvae (bivalves of the genus Yoldiella , most bryozoan species). Despite Southern Thule's geological youth, recent eruptions, and its remoteness the shallow shelf was rich in higher taxa (phyla/classes) as well as orders and families of our model groups. Future work at higher taxonomic resolution (species level) should greatly increase understanding of how life has reached and established on these young and highly disturbed seabeds. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Kaiser, Stefanie Barnes, David K.A. Linse, Katrin Brandt, Angelika |
author_facet |
Kaiser, Stefanie Barnes, David K.A. Linse, Katrin Brandt, Angelika |
author_sort |
Kaiser, Stefanie |
title |
Epibenthic macrofauna associated with the shelf and slope of a young and isolated Southern Ocean island |
title_short |
Epibenthic macrofauna associated with the shelf and slope of a young and isolated Southern Ocean island |
title_full |
Epibenthic macrofauna associated with the shelf and slope of a young and isolated Southern Ocean island |
title_fullStr |
Epibenthic macrofauna associated with the shelf and slope of a young and isolated Southern Ocean island |
title_full_unstemmed |
Epibenthic macrofauna associated with the shelf and slope of a young and isolated Southern Ocean island |
title_sort |
epibenthic macrofauna associated with the shelf and slope of a young and isolated southern ocean island |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
2008 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0954102008001107 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0954102008001107 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-27.200,-27.200,-59.433,-59.433) ENVELOPE(-27.200,-27.200,-59.433,-59.433) |
geographic |
Antarctic Southern Ocean Southern Thule Southern Thule Group |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Southern Ocean Southern Thule Southern Thule Group |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Science Southern Ocean Southern Thule Ocean Island |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Science Southern Ocean Southern Thule Ocean Island |
op_source |
Antarctic Science volume 20, issue 3, page 281-290 ISSN 0954-1020 1365-2079 |
op_rights |
https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/s0954102008001107 |
container_title |
Antarctic Science |
container_volume |
20 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
281 |
op_container_end_page |
290 |
_version_ |
1794401771123113984 |