Diverse approaches to questions of Biodiversity: German contributions to studies of Marine Benthos around South America and Antartica Distintos enfoques sobre preguntas acerca de la Biodiversidad: Contribuciones Alemanas a los estudios Bentonicos en America del Sur y la Antartida

• Main Authors: Julian Gutt, Wolf E Arntz, Eduardo Balguerias, Angelika Brandt, Dieter Gerdes, Matthias Gorny, Boris Sirenko
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English; Spanish
• Published: Universidad de Concepción 2003
• Subjects: Biodiversidad marina; América del Sur; Antártica; Marine biodiversity; South America; Antarctica; Oceanography; GC1-1581; Zoology; QL1-991; Antarc*; antartic*
• Online Access: https://doaj.org/article/f3b32cf8697f4b149afc11715bb802ae

A look at the latitudinal gradient from North America via South America to Antarctica supports the impression that the ecosystems of this part of the world provide perfect conditions for marine biodiversity studies. Several bilateral or international initiatives with major German contributions have focused on biodiversity questions, especially in South America and Antarctica. At depths > 50 m accessible to shipboard sampling, an oxygen minimum zone (OMZ) prevails off Peru and Chile (except in the extreme south). The macrobenthic biota associated with the OMZ are extremely poor but show a gradient of increasing diversity at great depths and towards the south. In the southern Chilean fjords and channels, habitat heterogeneity is high and differences in the fauna can be observed over even small distances, especially in the Magellan area. A high intra-habitat biodiversity can, thus, be expected. On the exposed deep shelf around Antarctica, a large-scale gradient between a community dominated by a very high biomass and abundance of sessile suspension feeders can be distinguished from a community with significantly fewer epifauna. However, their relationships to the environmental conditions are still poorly understood. For the future, two approaches are recommended, the study of zoogeographical questions in the light of evolution and the identification of the key processes, including environmental changes, that engender biodiversity patterns. Una mirada al gradiente latitudinal desde América del Norte vía Sur América hasta la Antártica sustenta la impresión que los ecosistemas de esta parte del mundo proveen condiciones perfectas para estudios de biodiversidad marina. Diversas iniciativas bilaterales e internacionales con mayores aportes alemanes se han concentrado en preguntas de biodiversidad especialmente en América del Sur y la Antártica. A profundidades >50 m accesibles a muestreos desde embarcaciones, una zona de mínimo oxígeno (OMZ) predomina en Perú y Chile (excepto en el extremo sur) con una vida ...