Some "driving forces" structuring communities of the sublittoral Antarctic macrobenthos
Community analyses of the macrobenthos living on the the Weddell Sea shelf revealed a distinct horizontal patchiness. Within some systematic groups a specific faunistic classification could clearly be defined, e.g. for asterozoans and holothurians. For fish, however, only a general zoogeographical p...
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ftawi:oai:epic.awi.de:1127 2023-09-05T13:13:57+02:00 Some "driving forces" structuring communities of the sublittoral Antarctic macrobenthos Gutt, Julian 2000 https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/1127/ https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.11716 unknown Gutt, J. (2000) Some "driving forces" structuring communities of the sublittoral Antarctic macrobenthos , Antarctic Science, 12 (3), pp. 297-313 . hdl:10013/epic.11716 EPIC3Antarctic Science, 12(3), pp. 297-313 Article isiRev 2000 ftawi 2023-08-22T19:42:28Z Community analyses of the macrobenthos living on the the Weddell Sea shelf revealed a distinct horizontal patchiness. Within some systematic groups a specific faunistic classification could clearly be defined, e.g. for asterozoans and holothurians. For fish, however, only a general zoogeographical pattern was discernible, in addition there were some recognisable relationships to different microhabitats. The extreme differences in the distribution of sponges observed seems to reflect their highly variable biological characteristics. Studies using underwater imaging methods for benthic research have provided strong evidence for the ecological significance of two factors. The first, iceberg scouring leads to a variety of simultaneous stages of recolonization, which result in an increase in beta-diversity. As a consequence, it is unlikely that regionally a stage approaching a theoretical climax will ever be attained. Secondly, the structural diversity of living substrata provides the basis for an additional variety of epibiotic species. Only weak or non-detectable correlations have been found between benthic assemblages and physical parameters, such as water depth, sediment type, bathymetric features and the abundance of deposited phytodetritus. This indicates a benthic system which is relatively uncoupled from processes in the water column. The combination of stable environmental conditions and disturbances taking place over long periods of time, which are partly a special feature of Antarctica?s glacial history, shaped the diversity and faunal composition of the macrobenthos. Consequently, neither Houston's "intermediate-disturbance-hypothesis" nor Sander's "stability-time-hypothesis" can be rejected for this part of the antarctic ecosystem. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Science Antarctica Iceberg* Weddell Sea Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar- and Marine Research (AWI): ePIC (electronic Publication Information Center) Antarctic The Antarctic Weddell Weddell Sea |
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Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar- and Marine Research (AWI): ePIC (electronic Publication Information Center) |
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ftawi |
language |
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description |
Community analyses of the macrobenthos living on the the Weddell Sea shelf revealed a distinct horizontal patchiness. Within some systematic groups a specific faunistic classification could clearly be defined, e.g. for asterozoans and holothurians. For fish, however, only a general zoogeographical pattern was discernible, in addition there were some recognisable relationships to different microhabitats. The extreme differences in the distribution of sponges observed seems to reflect their highly variable biological characteristics. Studies using underwater imaging methods for benthic research have provided strong evidence for the ecological significance of two factors. The first, iceberg scouring leads to a variety of simultaneous stages of recolonization, which result in an increase in beta-diversity. As a consequence, it is unlikely that regionally a stage approaching a theoretical climax will ever be attained. Secondly, the structural diversity of living substrata provides the basis for an additional variety of epibiotic species. Only weak or non-detectable correlations have been found between benthic assemblages and physical parameters, such as water depth, sediment type, bathymetric features and the abundance of deposited phytodetritus. This indicates a benthic system which is relatively uncoupled from processes in the water column. The combination of stable environmental conditions and disturbances taking place over long periods of time, which are partly a special feature of Antarctica?s glacial history, shaped the diversity and faunal composition of the macrobenthos. Consequently, neither Houston's "intermediate-disturbance-hypothesis" nor Sander's "stability-time-hypothesis" can be rejected for this part of the antarctic ecosystem. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Gutt, Julian |
spellingShingle |
Gutt, Julian Some "driving forces" structuring communities of the sublittoral Antarctic macrobenthos |
author_facet |
Gutt, Julian |
author_sort |
Gutt, Julian |
title |
Some "driving forces" structuring communities of the sublittoral Antarctic macrobenthos |
title_short |
Some "driving forces" structuring communities of the sublittoral Antarctic macrobenthos |
title_full |
Some "driving forces" structuring communities of the sublittoral Antarctic macrobenthos |
title_fullStr |
Some "driving forces" structuring communities of the sublittoral Antarctic macrobenthos |
title_full_unstemmed |
Some "driving forces" structuring communities of the sublittoral Antarctic macrobenthos |
title_sort |
some "driving forces" structuring communities of the sublittoral antarctic macrobenthos |
publishDate |
2000 |
url |
https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/1127/ https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.11716 |
geographic |
Antarctic The Antarctic Weddell Weddell Sea |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic The Antarctic Weddell Weddell Sea |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Science Antarctica Iceberg* Weddell Sea |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Science Antarctica Iceberg* Weddell Sea |
op_source |
EPIC3Antarctic Science, 12(3), pp. 297-313 |
op_relation |
Gutt, J. (2000) Some "driving forces" structuring communities of the sublittoral Antarctic macrobenthos , Antarctic Science, 12 (3), pp. 297-313 . hdl:10013/epic.11716 |
_version_ |
1776205065613213696 |