Sessile macro-epibiotic community of solitary ascidians, ecosystem engineers in soft substrates of Potter Cove, Antarctica
The muddy bottoms of inner Potter Cove, King George Island (Isla 25 de Mayo), South Shetlands, Antarctica, show a high density and richness of macrobenthic species, particularly ascidians. In other areas, ascidians have been reported to play the role of ecosystem engineers, as they support a signifi...
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Norwegian Polar Institute
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ftjpolarres:oai:journals.openacademia.net:article/3247 2024-09-09T19:10:15+00:00 Sessile macro-epibiotic community of solitary ascidians, ecosystem engineers in soft substrates of Potter Cove, Antarctica Rimondino, Clara Torre, Luciana Sahade, Ricardo Tatián, Marcos 2015-01-27 application/pdf text/html application/epub+zip application/xml https://polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/3247 https://doi.org/10.3402/polar.v34.24338 eng eng Norwegian Polar Institute https://polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/3247/pdf_6 https://polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/3247/html_1 https://polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/3247/_2 https://polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/3247/_1 https://polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/3247 doi:10.3402/polar.v34.24338 Polar Research; Vol 34 (2015) 1751-8369 Sessile macro-epibiont ascidian Antarctica ecosystem- engineer info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion 2015 ftjpolarres https://doi.org/10.3402/polar.v34.24338 2024-06-20T23:33:17Z The muddy bottoms of inner Potter Cove, King George Island (Isla 25 de Mayo), South Shetlands, Antarctica, show a high density and richness of macrobenthic species, particularly ascidians. In other areas, ascidians have been reported to play the role of ecosystem engineers, as they support a significant number of epibionts, increasing benthic diversity. In this study, a total of 21 sessile macro-epibiotic taxa present on the ascidian species Corella antarctica Sluiter, 1905, Cnemidocarpa verrucosa (Lesson, 1830) and Molgula pedunculata Herdman, 1881 were identified, with Bryozoa being the most diverse. There were differences between the three ascidian species in terms of richness, percent cover and diversity of sessile macro-epibionts. The morphological characteristics of the tunic surface, the available area for colonization (and its relation with the age of the basibiont individuals) and the pH of the ascidian tunic seem to explain the observed differences. Recent environmental changes in the study area (increase of suspended particulate matter caused by glaciers retreat) have been related to observed shifts in the benthic community structure, negatively affecting the abundance and distribution of the studied ascidian species. Considering the diversity of sessile macro-epibionts found on these species, the impact of environmental shifts may be greater than that estimated so far.Keywords: Sessile macro-epibiont; ascidian; Antarctica; ecosystem- engineer.(Published: 27 January 2015)Citation: Polar Research 2015, 34, 24338, http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/polar.v34.24338 Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctica Isla 25 de Mayo King George Island Polar Research Polar Research King George Island Potter Cove 25 de Mayo ENVELOPE(-58.000,-58.000,-62.083,-62.083) isla 25 de Mayo ENVELOPE(-58.000,-58.000,-62.083,-62.083) Herdman ENVELOPE(-60.526,-60.526,-72.655,-72.655) Polar Research 34 1 24338 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Polar Research |
op_collection_id |
ftjpolarres |
language |
English |
topic |
Sessile macro-epibiont ascidian Antarctica ecosystem- engineer |
spellingShingle |
Sessile macro-epibiont ascidian Antarctica ecosystem- engineer Rimondino, Clara Torre, Luciana Sahade, Ricardo Tatián, Marcos Sessile macro-epibiotic community of solitary ascidians, ecosystem engineers in soft substrates of Potter Cove, Antarctica |
topic_facet |
Sessile macro-epibiont ascidian Antarctica ecosystem- engineer |
description |
The muddy bottoms of inner Potter Cove, King George Island (Isla 25 de Mayo), South Shetlands, Antarctica, show a high density and richness of macrobenthic species, particularly ascidians. In other areas, ascidians have been reported to play the role of ecosystem engineers, as they support a significant number of epibionts, increasing benthic diversity. In this study, a total of 21 sessile macro-epibiotic taxa present on the ascidian species Corella antarctica Sluiter, 1905, Cnemidocarpa verrucosa (Lesson, 1830) and Molgula pedunculata Herdman, 1881 were identified, with Bryozoa being the most diverse. There were differences between the three ascidian species in terms of richness, percent cover and diversity of sessile macro-epibionts. The morphological characteristics of the tunic surface, the available area for colonization (and its relation with the age of the basibiont individuals) and the pH of the ascidian tunic seem to explain the observed differences. Recent environmental changes in the study area (increase of suspended particulate matter caused by glaciers retreat) have been related to observed shifts in the benthic community structure, negatively affecting the abundance and distribution of the studied ascidian species. Considering the diversity of sessile macro-epibionts found on these species, the impact of environmental shifts may be greater than that estimated so far.Keywords: Sessile macro-epibiont; ascidian; Antarctica; ecosystem- engineer.(Published: 27 January 2015)Citation: Polar Research 2015, 34, 24338, http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/polar.v34.24338 |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Rimondino, Clara Torre, Luciana Sahade, Ricardo Tatián, Marcos |
author_facet |
Rimondino, Clara Torre, Luciana Sahade, Ricardo Tatián, Marcos |
author_sort |
Rimondino, Clara |
title |
Sessile macro-epibiotic community of solitary ascidians, ecosystem engineers in soft substrates of Potter Cove, Antarctica |
title_short |
Sessile macro-epibiotic community of solitary ascidians, ecosystem engineers in soft substrates of Potter Cove, Antarctica |
title_full |
Sessile macro-epibiotic community of solitary ascidians, ecosystem engineers in soft substrates of Potter Cove, Antarctica |
title_fullStr |
Sessile macro-epibiotic community of solitary ascidians, ecosystem engineers in soft substrates of Potter Cove, Antarctica |
title_full_unstemmed |
Sessile macro-epibiotic community of solitary ascidians, ecosystem engineers in soft substrates of Potter Cove, Antarctica |
title_sort |
sessile macro-epibiotic community of solitary ascidians, ecosystem engineers in soft substrates of potter cove, antarctica |
publisher |
Norwegian Polar Institute |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
https://polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/3247 https://doi.org/10.3402/polar.v34.24338 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-58.000,-58.000,-62.083,-62.083) ENVELOPE(-58.000,-58.000,-62.083,-62.083) ENVELOPE(-60.526,-60.526,-72.655,-72.655) |
geographic |
King George Island Potter Cove 25 de Mayo isla 25 de Mayo Herdman |
geographic_facet |
King George Island Potter Cove 25 de Mayo isla 25 de Mayo Herdman |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctica Isla 25 de Mayo King George Island Polar Research |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctica Isla 25 de Mayo King George Island Polar Research |
op_source |
Polar Research; Vol 34 (2015) 1751-8369 |
op_relation |
https://polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/3247/pdf_6 https://polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/3247/html_1 https://polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/3247/_2 https://polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/3247/_1 https://polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/3247 doi:10.3402/polar.v34.24338 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3402/polar.v34.24338 |
container_title |
Polar Research |
container_volume |
34 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
24338 |
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1809824964344283136 |