Climate change and glacier retreat drive shifts in an Antarctic benthic ecosystem
The Antarctic Peninsula (AP) is one of three places on Earth that registered the most intense warming in the last 50 years, almost five times the global mean. The cryosphere was rapidly affected registering the largest ice-shelves collapses ever observed and 87 % of glaciers in retreat. Ecosystem re...
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Online Access: | https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/38943/ https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/38943/1/Sahade_etalSciAdv2015.pdf https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.46367 https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.46367.d001 |
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ftawi:oai:epic.awi.de:38943 2023-05-15T13:40:27+02:00 Climate change and glacier retreat drive shifts in an Antarctic benthic ecosystem Sahade, Ricardo Lagger, Cristian Torre, Luciana Momo, Fernando Monien, Patrick Schloss, Irene R. Barnes, David K.A. Servetto, Natalia Tarantelli, Soledad Tatián, Marcos Zamboni, Nadia Abele, Doris 2015-11-13 application/pdf https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/38943/ https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/38943/1/Sahade_etalSciAdv2015.pdf https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.46367 https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.46367.d001 unknown AMER ASSOC ADVANCEMENT SCIENCE https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/38943/1/Sahade_etalSciAdv2015.pdf https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.46367.d001 Sahade, R. , Lagger, C. , Torre, L. , Momo, F. , Monien, P. , Schloss, I. R. , Barnes, D. K. , Servetto, N. , Tarantelli, S. , Tatián, M. , Zamboni, N. and Abele, D. orcid:0000-0002-5766-5017 (2015) Climate change and glacier retreat drive shifts in an Antarctic benthic ecosystem , Science Advances . doi:10.1126/sciadv.1500050 <https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1500050> , hdl:10013/epic.46367 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess EPIC3Science Advances, AMER ASSOC ADVANCEMENT SCIENCE Article isiRev info:eu-repo/semantics/article 2015 ftawi https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1500050 2021-12-24T15:40:48Z The Antarctic Peninsula (AP) is one of three places on Earth that registered the most intense warming in the last 50 years, almost five times the global mean. The cryosphere was rapidly affected registering the largest ice-shelves collapses ever observed and 87 % of glaciers in retreat. Ecosystem responses, although increasingly predicted, have been mainly reported for pelagic systems. However, and despite that most Antarctic species being benthic, registered responses in the Antarctic benthos were restricted to few species and major effects at community level are unknown. This is probably due to the scarcity of baselines against which to assess change. We performed repeat surveys of coastal benthos in 1994, 1998 and 2010 analyzing community structure and environmental variables at King George Island, Antarctica. Here we report a marked shift in an Antarctic benthic community that can be linked to ongoing climate change. However, rather than temperature as the primary factor, we highlight the resulting increased sediment run-off, triggered by glacier retreat as the potential causal factor. The sudden shift from a “filter feeders-ascidian domination” to a “mixed assemblage” suggests that thresholds (e.g. of tolerable sedimentation) and alternative equilibrium states, depending on the reversibility of the changes, could be possible traits in this ecosystem. Sedimentation processes will be increasing under the current scenario of glacier retreat and attention needs to be paid to its effects along the AP. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Antarctica Ice Shelves King George Island Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar- and Marine Research (AWI): ePIC (electronic Publication Information Center) Antarctic The Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula King George Island Science Advances 1 10 e1500050 |
institution |
Open Polar |
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Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar- and Marine Research (AWI): ePIC (electronic Publication Information Center) |
op_collection_id |
ftawi |
language |
unknown |
description |
The Antarctic Peninsula (AP) is one of three places on Earth that registered the most intense warming in the last 50 years, almost five times the global mean. The cryosphere was rapidly affected registering the largest ice-shelves collapses ever observed and 87 % of glaciers in retreat. Ecosystem responses, although increasingly predicted, have been mainly reported for pelagic systems. However, and despite that most Antarctic species being benthic, registered responses in the Antarctic benthos were restricted to few species and major effects at community level are unknown. This is probably due to the scarcity of baselines against which to assess change. We performed repeat surveys of coastal benthos in 1994, 1998 and 2010 analyzing community structure and environmental variables at King George Island, Antarctica. Here we report a marked shift in an Antarctic benthic community that can be linked to ongoing climate change. However, rather than temperature as the primary factor, we highlight the resulting increased sediment run-off, triggered by glacier retreat as the potential causal factor. The sudden shift from a “filter feeders-ascidian domination” to a “mixed assemblage” suggests that thresholds (e.g. of tolerable sedimentation) and alternative equilibrium states, depending on the reversibility of the changes, could be possible traits in this ecosystem. Sedimentation processes will be increasing under the current scenario of glacier retreat and attention needs to be paid to its effects along the AP. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Sahade, Ricardo Lagger, Cristian Torre, Luciana Momo, Fernando Monien, Patrick Schloss, Irene R. Barnes, David K.A. Servetto, Natalia Tarantelli, Soledad Tatián, Marcos Zamboni, Nadia Abele, Doris |
spellingShingle |
Sahade, Ricardo Lagger, Cristian Torre, Luciana Momo, Fernando Monien, Patrick Schloss, Irene R. Barnes, David K.A. Servetto, Natalia Tarantelli, Soledad Tatián, Marcos Zamboni, Nadia Abele, Doris Climate change and glacier retreat drive shifts in an Antarctic benthic ecosystem |
author_facet |
Sahade, Ricardo Lagger, Cristian Torre, Luciana Momo, Fernando Monien, Patrick Schloss, Irene R. Barnes, David K.A. Servetto, Natalia Tarantelli, Soledad Tatián, Marcos Zamboni, Nadia Abele, Doris |
author_sort |
Sahade, Ricardo |
title |
Climate change and glacier retreat drive shifts in an Antarctic benthic ecosystem |
title_short |
Climate change and glacier retreat drive shifts in an Antarctic benthic ecosystem |
title_full |
Climate change and glacier retreat drive shifts in an Antarctic benthic ecosystem |
title_fullStr |
Climate change and glacier retreat drive shifts in an Antarctic benthic ecosystem |
title_full_unstemmed |
Climate change and glacier retreat drive shifts in an Antarctic benthic ecosystem |
title_sort |
climate change and glacier retreat drive shifts in an antarctic benthic ecosystem |
publisher |
AMER ASSOC ADVANCEMENT SCIENCE |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/38943/ https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/38943/1/Sahade_etalSciAdv2015.pdf https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.46367 https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.46367.d001 |
geographic |
Antarctic The Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula King George Island |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic The Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula King George Island |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Antarctica Ice Shelves King George Island |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Antarctica Ice Shelves King George Island |
op_source |
EPIC3Science Advances, AMER ASSOC ADVANCEMENT SCIENCE |
op_relation |
https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/38943/1/Sahade_etalSciAdv2015.pdf https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.46367.d001 Sahade, R. , Lagger, C. , Torre, L. , Momo, F. , Monien, P. , Schloss, I. R. , Barnes, D. K. , Servetto, N. , Tarantelli, S. , Tatián, M. , Zamboni, N. and Abele, D. orcid:0000-0002-5766-5017 (2015) Climate change and glacier retreat drive shifts in an Antarctic benthic ecosystem , Science Advances . doi:10.1126/sciadv.1500050 <https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1500050> , hdl:10013/epic.46367 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1500050 |
container_title |
Science Advances |
container_volume |
1 |
container_issue |
10 |
container_start_page |
e1500050 |
_version_ |
1766134709614542848 |