Macroalgae of the Balleny Islands and western Ross Sea, Southern Ocean ...

• Main Authors: Nelson, Wendy, Cummings, Vonda, D’Archino, Roberta, J. Halliday, Marriott, Peter, Neill, Kate
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) 2021
• Subjects: Occurrence; Balleny Islands; Borradaile Island; Ross Sea; Southern Ocean
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.15468/68e5ec; https://www.gbif.org/dataset/0d862dd2-12af-4445-92c9-d81d76598b19

The known macroalgal flora of the Balleny Islands, Southern Ocean, has more than doubled as a result of expeditions to the area over the past 8 years and their subsequent study is reported here. The samples collected as part of a benthic survey at Borradaile Island, one of the Balleny Islands group, during the 2006 Tiama expedition have been analysed to provide an assessment of benthic community structure. We provide a quantitative assessment of shallow water macrofaunal community composition and seafloor sediment characteristics, and a more qualitative assessment of seafloor habitat structure and epifaunal/floral community composition. The Borradaile Island sites were located in a high energy environment, sediments had relatively high organic and chlorophyll a content, and considerably lower concentrations of degraded plant material (phaeophytin) than noted in previously surveyed southern Ross Sea locations. This could be a reflection of the higher light levels and the large amount of algal detritus noted ...