Drift Algal Accumulation in Ice Scour Pits Provides an Underestimated Ecological Subsidy in a Novel Antarctic Soft-Sediment Habitat

• Published in: Biology
• Main Authors: Ignacio Garrido, Heather L. Hawk, Paulina Bruning, Luis Miguel Pardo, Ladd E. Johnson
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2023
• Subjects: Antarctic Peninsula; Antarctic benthic communities; polar benthos; polar warming; drift algae; ice pits; Biology (General); QH301-705.5; Antarctic; Fildes; Antarc*; Antarctica; Iceberg*
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.3390/biology12010128; https://doaj.org/article/21eb05811fa544c7800e24eddb6ab6d2

Ice scouring is one of the strongest agents of disturbance in nearshore environments at high latitudes. In depths, less than 20 m, grounding icebergs reshape the soft-sediment seabed by gouging furrows called ice pits. Large amounts of drift algae (up to 5.6 kg/m 2 ) that would otherwise be transpor...