Taxonomic surrogacy in the diversity assessment of the soft-bottom macrofauna along a depth gradient of an Antarctic fjord

• Main Authors: Piotr Jóźwiak, Krzysztof Pabis, Anna Jażdżewska, Jacek Siciński
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Polish Academy of Sciences 2018
• Subjects: antarctic; king george island; admiralty bay; ecological gradients; species richness; Geology; QE1-996.5; Antarctic; Antarctic Peninsula; King George Island; Admiralty Bay; Van Veen; Antarc*; Polar Research
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.24425/118758; https://doaj.org/article/95ec5ef64603447abf047bf72e658265

The study was aimed at analyzing patterns of abundance and diversity of macrozoobenthic communities along a depth gradient in the Admiralty Bay, a semi-enclosed basin located in a rapidly changing region of the western Antarctic Peninsula. The study concerns primarily the Polychaeta and Amphipoda, the taxonomic richness and diversity of both groups being analyzed at different taxonomic levels (species, genus and family). Such an analysis, which uses a basic surrogacy measure (low taxonomic resolution) can be very useful in future monitoring programs of the Admiralty Bay. The analysis was based on 35 samples collected in the summer seasons of 1984/85 and 1985/86, with a Tvärminne sampler (within the 7–30 m depth range) and an 0.1 m2 van Veen grab (deeper areas) along a transect with the depth changing from 7 to 502 m. The total macrozoobenthos abundance was found to decrease with depth, from 1581 ± 730 ind./0.1 m2 within the 7–30 m to as few as 384 ± 145 ind./0.1 m2 at 400–500 m. The number of phyla per sample was observed to increase along the depth gradient of 7–30 to 200–300 m but was substantially reduced in the deepest sublittoral (400–500 m). The results showed large differences between amphipods and polychaetes in their respective depth-related biodiversity changes. On the other hand, the diversity metrics used (Pielou’s evenness, Shannon-Wiener index, number of species per sample, number of genera per sample, number of families per sample) at different taxonomic levels within each group produced similar patterns, demonstrating the usefulness of surrogacy in studies of Antarctic fjords.