Further Investigations of the effects of the Nella Dan oil spill at Macquarie Island: Have benthic communities recovered?

• Other Authors: AADC (originator), AU/AADC > Australian Antarctic Data Centre, Australia (resourceProvider)
• Format: Dataset
• Language: unknown
• Published: Australian Ocean Data Network
• Subjects: biota; environment; oceans; ISLANDS; EARTH SCIENCE; BIOSPHERE; TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEMS; CONTAMINANT LEVELS/SPILLS; HUMAN DIMENSIONS; ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS; INTERTIDAL ZONE; COASTAL PROCESSES; OCEAN WAVES; MACROFAUNA; LAND SURFACE; SOILS; MACROALGAE (SEAWEEDS); BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION; PLANTS; COMMUNITY STRUCTURE; ECOLOGICAL DYNAMICS; COMMUNITY DYNAMICS; Holdfast Macrofauna; Macquarie Island; Shore zones; Spatial variation; Wave exposure; FIELD SURVEYS; FIELD INVESTIGATION; AMD/AU; CEOS; AMD; OCEAN > SOUTHERN OCEAN; SOUTHERN OCEAN > GEOGRAPHIC REGION > POLAR; Antarctic; Southern Ocean; Holdfast; Moon Bay; Half Moon Bay; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: https://researchdata.ands.org.au/investigations-effects-nella-communities-recovered/686007; https://data.aad.gov.au/metadata/records/ASAC_756; https://secure3.aad.gov.au/proms/public/projects/report_project_public.cfm?project_no=756; http://data.aad.gov.au/aadc/portal/download_file.cfm?file_id=2327; http://data.aad.gov.au/aadc/metadata/citation.cfm?entry_id=ASAC_756

This record has been updated by the Australian Antarctic Data Centre, and as such guarantees cannot be made for the accuracy of its contents. Dates provided in temporal coverage are approximate only. From one of the referenced papers: Sampling locations (corresponding to control locations sampled as part of an investigation into the effects of the Nella Dan oil spill) were established at Sandy Bay and Green Gorge on the eastern coast of Macquarie Island. On the western coast, corresponding sampling locations were established at Bauer Bay and Half Moon Bay. Rocky shore communities at each location were sampled using randomly placed, replicated quadrats to evaluate the percentage cover of each species of algae, and the densities of the main faunal species, primarily molluscs and echinoderms. See the paper for further details. Metadata record for data from ASAC Project 756 See the link below for public details on this project. From the abstract of one of the referenced papers: The shore environments of most sub-Antarctic islands have been described in a number of previous studies. However there have been few attempts to quantify the population and community patterns over different spatial scales. The objectives of this study were to provide an analysis of the differences in the community structure of the biota of three exposed shore zones and of the macrofauna inhabiting holdfasts of the kelp Durvillaea antarctica across spatial scales of hundreds of metres, kilometers, and between a sheltered and exposed coast. Data were collected using a combination of quadrat, transect and direct sampling methods over the 1994-95 summer season. The results indicated that there were significant differences between coast for some of the biotic variables in most of the habitats examined but that differences at the smaller spatial scales were more often significant. Thus, although wave exposure exerts an obvious effect on the shore biota of Macquarie Island, these effects are modified by other factors operating at smaller spatial scales. For the holdfast macrofauna, the overall patterns of community structure are likely to be due to the differential response of the component taxa to variation in holdfast volume and holdfast sediment content as well as other, currently undetermined factors.