Polish Academy of Sciences

Combined hydroacoustic, video and direct examination by scuba-diving of the underwater meadows of Hornsund, a flagship biodiversity site in Svalbard, revealed 17 species of macroalgae with a biomass, dominated by Laminariales, of as much as 3 kg m 2. The biomass dominants were Laminaria digitata and...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Agnieszka Tatarek, Józef Wiktor, Michael A. Kendall
Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
Format: Text
Language:English
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Online Access:http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.361.690
http://www.polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/download/18900/pdf_1/
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Summary:Combined hydroacoustic, video and direct examination by scuba-diving of the underwater meadows of Hornsund, a flagship biodiversity site in Svalbard, revealed 17 species of macroalgae with a biomass, dominated by Laminariales, of as much as 3 kg m 2. The biomass dominants were Laminaria digitata and Saccharina latissima, which were most abundant at depths of between 5 and 10 m. The species data presented are the first records for the fjord and provide a starting point for new research and a baseline for future assessments of climate-induced changes. The Arctic seas are undergoing rapid change as the climate of the Earth warms and the oceans become more acidic. In addition to fundamental effects on the physiology of individual organisms caused by increased temperature, changes to the physical environment are