Distribution and composition of macrozoobenthic communities along a Victoria-Land transect (Ross Sea, Antarctica)

• Published in: Polar Biology
• Main Authors: Rehm, Peter, Thatje, S., Arntz, Wolf, Brandt, A., Heilmayer, Olaf
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2006
• Subjects: Antarctic; Cape Russell; Italica; Ross Sea; The Antarctic; Victoria Land; Antarc*; Antarctica; Polar Biology
• Online Access: https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/14111/; https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/14111/1/Reh2006a.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-006-0115-8; https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.24447; https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.24447.d001

The Victoria-Land Transect Cruise with the Italian research vessel "Italica", carried out in February 2004, was the first large-scale attempt to obtain benthic samples systematically along a latitudinal transect on the Antarctic Ross Sea shelf. Data presented from this survey are based on Rauschert dredge samples, which were taken at four areas at depth ranging from 84 m to 515 m. A cluster analysis based on relative numbers of abundance was performed and demonstrated a change in community structure depending on the location along the latitudinal transect, a change in community structure with depth was not recorded. Dominant taxon of the Ross Sea fauna were the Arthropoda (61 %), followed by Polychaeta (20 %), Mollusca (14 %) and Echinodermata (3 %). Total number of abundance decreased with depth with an exception at Cape Russell, whereas a trend in biomass was not documented. Abundance and biomass proportions of major taxa changed gradually along the latitudinal transect.