Grounding icebergs enhance regional benthic diversity in Antarctica
Disturbances like forest fires, tree falls or hurricanes are natural and essential processes in ecosystems [1,2]. Their initially catastrophic impacts are followed by beneficial effects on biodiversity [3,4] which is increasingly recognized to be fundamental in ecosystem functioning [5]. Recently, i...
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ftawi:oai:epic.awi.de:8491 2023-09-05T13:13:03+02:00 Grounding icebergs enhance regional benthic diversity in Antarctica Gutt, Julian Piepenburg, D. 2003 https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/8491/ https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.19019 unknown Gutt, J. and Piepenburg, D. (2003) Grounding icebergs enhance regional benthic diversity in Antarctica , GFÖ-Symposium 2003. . hdl:10013/epic.19019 EPIC3GFÖ-Symposium 2003. Conference notRev 2003 ftawi 2023-08-22T19:47:29Z Disturbances like forest fires, tree falls or hurricanes are natural and essential processes in ecosystems [1,2]. Their initially catastrophic impacts are followed by beneficial effects on biodiversity [3,4] which is increasingly recognized to be fundamental in ecosystem functioning [5]. Recently, iceberg scouring of the Antarctica seabed has been identified as another important disturbance agent [6]. This finding is inconsistent with the paradigm that high benthic diversity on the deep Antarctic shelf [7] is primarily caused by long-lasting environmental stability.Here we show how iceberg scouring significantly shapes megabenthic structures. Sea-bed video-strips from the Weddell Sea provide evidence that at a local scale between 1 and 100 m, undisturbed glass sponge habitats were more diverse than disturbed ones. However, the increase in habitat heterogeneity caused by iceberg scouring enhanced species diversity at a regional scale (1-100 km). The recolonization seems to be highly variability and barely predictable in terms of time and species composition. Consequently, the Intermediate-Disturbance Hypothesis assuming the existence of competitive displacement at small spatial scales [4] can not be confirmed. Instead the coexistence of different successional stages generally described by the Patch-Dynamics Concept [2] leads to high benthic diversity in Antarctica. Conference Object Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Iceberg* Weddell Sea Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar- and Marine Research (AWI): ePIC (electronic Publication Information Center) 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 |
Disturbances like forest fires, tree falls or hurricanes are natural and essential processes in ecosystems [1,2]. Their initially catastrophic impacts are followed by beneficial effects on biodiversity [3,4] which is increasingly recognized to be fundamental in ecosystem functioning [5]. Recently, iceberg scouring of the Antarctica seabed has been identified as another important disturbance agent [6]. This finding is inconsistent with the paradigm that high benthic diversity on the deep Antarctic shelf [7] is primarily caused by long-lasting environmental stability.Here we show how iceberg scouring significantly shapes megabenthic structures. Sea-bed video-strips from the Weddell Sea provide evidence that at a local scale between 1 and 100 m, undisturbed glass sponge habitats were more diverse than disturbed ones. However, the increase in habitat heterogeneity caused by iceberg scouring enhanced species diversity at a regional scale (1-100 km). The recolonization seems to be highly variability and barely predictable in terms of time and species composition. Consequently, the Intermediate-Disturbance Hypothesis assuming the existence of competitive displacement at small spatial scales [4] can not be confirmed. Instead the coexistence of different successional stages generally described by the Patch-Dynamics Concept [2] leads to high benthic diversity in Antarctica. |
format |
Conference Object |
author |
Gutt, Julian Piepenburg, D. |
spellingShingle |
Gutt, Julian Piepenburg, D. Grounding icebergs enhance regional benthic diversity in Antarctica |
author_facet |
Gutt, Julian Piepenburg, D. |
author_sort |
Gutt, Julian |
title |
Grounding icebergs enhance regional benthic diversity in Antarctica |
title_short |
Grounding icebergs enhance regional benthic diversity in Antarctica |
title_full |
Grounding icebergs enhance regional benthic diversity in Antarctica |
title_fullStr |
Grounding icebergs enhance regional benthic diversity in Antarctica |
title_full_unstemmed |
Grounding icebergs enhance regional benthic diversity in Antarctica |
title_sort |
grounding icebergs enhance regional benthic diversity in antarctica |
publishDate |
2003 |
url |
https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/8491/ https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.19019 |
geographic |
Antarctic Weddell Weddell Sea |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Weddell Weddell Sea |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Iceberg* Weddell Sea |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Iceberg* Weddell Sea |
op_source |
EPIC3GFÖ-Symposium 2003. |
op_relation |
Gutt, J. and Piepenburg, D. (2003) Grounding icebergs enhance regional benthic diversity in Antarctica , GFÖ-Symposium 2003. . hdl:10013/epic.19019 |
_version_ |
1776203176064581632 |