Animal-Energy Relationships in a Changing Ocean: The Case of Continental Shelf Macrobenthic Communities on the Weddell Sea and the Vicinity of the Antarctic Peninsula

• Published in: Biology
• Main Author: Isla, Enrique
• Other Authors: Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (España), Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (Germany), Agencia Estatal de Investigación (España)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute 2023
• Subjects: Climate change; Polar warming; Biological response; Ecosystems; Biodiversity conservation; Vulnerability; Conserve and sustainably use the oceans; seas and marine resources for sustainable development; Antarctic; Antarctic Peninsula; The Antarctic; Weddell; Weddell Sea; Alfred Wegener Institute; Antarc*; Ice Shelves; Iceberg*; Sea ice
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10261/311679; https://doi.org/10.3390/biology12050659

Special issue Polar Ecosystem: Response of Organisms to Changing Climate.-- 14 pages, 1 figure.-- Data Availability Statement: All the data analyzed in the study come from the references listed along the text The continental shelves of the Weddell Sea and the Antarctic Peninsula vicinity host abundant macrobenthic communities, and the persistence of which is facing serious global change threats. The current relationship among pelagic energy production, its distribution over the shelf, and macrobenthic consumption is a “clockwork” mechanism that has evolved over thousands of years. Together with biological processes such as production, consumption, reproduction, and competence, it also involves ice (e.g., sea ice, ice shelves, and icebergs), wind, and water currents, among the most important physical controls. This bio-physical machinery undergoes environmental changes that most likely will compromise the persistence of the valuable biodiversity pool that Antarctic macrobenthic communities host. Scientific evidence shows that ongoing environmental change leads to primary production increases and also suggests that, in contrast, macrobenthic biomass and the organic carbon concentration in the sediment may decrease. Warming and acidification may affect the existence of the current Weddell Sea and Antarctic Peninsula shelf macrobenthic communities earlier than other global change agents. Species with the ability to cope with warmer water may have a greater chance of persisting together with allochthonous colonizers. The Antarctic macrobenthos biodiversity pool is a valuable ecosystem service that is under serious threat, and establishing marine protected areas may not be sufficient to preserve it This research was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness projects ECOWED [CTM2012-39350-C02-01] and CLIMANT [POL2006-06399] and Alfred Wegener Institute projects HOTFOS [S-526] and DYNAMO [S-633 With the institutional support of the ‘Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence’ accreditation ...