Biogeographic Patterns Among Deep-Sea Benthic Megafaunal Communities Across the Drake Passage (Southern Ocean)
The Southern Ocean has long been recognized as a biogeographic discontinuity for marine organisms. The Drake Passage, a region bounded by the South America shelf to the north and the Western Antarctic Peninsula to the south, represents a convergence of several biogeographic sub-regions, yet many ben...
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ftmaineuniv:oai:digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu:etd-3253 2023-05-15T13:59:53+02:00 Biogeographic Patterns Among Deep-Sea Benthic Megafaunal Communities Across the Drake Passage (Southern Ocean) Auscavitch, Steven R. 2014-12-01T08:00:00Z application/pdf https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/etd/2213 https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3253&context=etd unknown DigitalCommons@UMaine https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/etd/2213 https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3253&context=etd Electronic Theses and Dissertations Benthic animals Benthic plants Drake Passage Marine Biology text 2014 ftmaineuniv 2023-03-12T19:13:04Z The Southern Ocean has long been recognized as a biogeographic discontinuity for marine organisms. The Drake Passage, a region bounded by the South America shelf to the north and the Western Antarctic Peninsula to the south, represents a convergence of several biogeographic sub-regions, yet many benthic communities throughout the region remain poorly characterized. This work seeks to provide a survey and comparison of nine deep-sea benthic communities across the Drake Passage using recently collected seafloor imagery and environmental data from cruises in 2008 and 2011. Over one thousand images across nine sites were examined for species composition, megafaunal density, and seafloor substrate characteristics. Towed camera observations revealed substantial sponge and coral diversity and abundance among several sites throughout Burdwood Bank, Cape Horn, as well as two offshore seamounts. Sars and Interim Seamounts exhibited multiple unique assemblages of invertebrate faunas including cold-water corals, anemones, and sponges compositionally similar to adjacent shelf environments. Multivariate biogeographic analyses among megafaunal communities suggest bathymetric patterns consistent within major Southern Ocean water masses including Subantarctic Mode Waters, Antarctic Intermediate Waters, and Circumpolar Deep Waters. As a result of this exploratory assessment, seamounts should be a focus of further examination of benthic communities throughout the Southern Ocean to provide insight to the role that these features play in defining regional biogeographic patterns. Text Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Drake Passage Southern Ocean The University of Maine: DigitalCommons@UMaine Antarctic Southern Ocean Antarctic Peninsula Drake Passage Cape Horn ENVELOPE(-135.021,-135.021,61.583,61.583) Burdwood Bank ENVELOPE(-59.000,-59.000,-54.250,-54.250) |
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Open Polar |
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The University of Maine: DigitalCommons@UMaine |
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ftmaineuniv |
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topic |
Benthic animals Benthic plants Drake Passage Marine Biology |
spellingShingle |
Benthic animals Benthic plants Drake Passage Marine Biology Auscavitch, Steven R. Biogeographic Patterns Among Deep-Sea Benthic Megafaunal Communities Across the Drake Passage (Southern Ocean) |
topic_facet |
Benthic animals Benthic plants Drake Passage Marine Biology |
description |
The Southern Ocean has long been recognized as a biogeographic discontinuity for marine organisms. The Drake Passage, a region bounded by the South America shelf to the north and the Western Antarctic Peninsula to the south, represents a convergence of several biogeographic sub-regions, yet many benthic communities throughout the region remain poorly characterized. This work seeks to provide a survey and comparison of nine deep-sea benthic communities across the Drake Passage using recently collected seafloor imagery and environmental data from cruises in 2008 and 2011. Over one thousand images across nine sites were examined for species composition, megafaunal density, and seafloor substrate characteristics. Towed camera observations revealed substantial sponge and coral diversity and abundance among several sites throughout Burdwood Bank, Cape Horn, as well as two offshore seamounts. Sars and Interim Seamounts exhibited multiple unique assemblages of invertebrate faunas including cold-water corals, anemones, and sponges compositionally similar to adjacent shelf environments. Multivariate biogeographic analyses among megafaunal communities suggest bathymetric patterns consistent within major Southern Ocean water masses including Subantarctic Mode Waters, Antarctic Intermediate Waters, and Circumpolar Deep Waters. As a result of this exploratory assessment, seamounts should be a focus of further examination of benthic communities throughout the Southern Ocean to provide insight to the role that these features play in defining regional biogeographic patterns. |
format |
Text |
author |
Auscavitch, Steven R. |
author_facet |
Auscavitch, Steven R. |
author_sort |
Auscavitch, Steven R. |
title |
Biogeographic Patterns Among Deep-Sea Benthic Megafaunal Communities Across the Drake Passage (Southern Ocean) |
title_short |
Biogeographic Patterns Among Deep-Sea Benthic Megafaunal Communities Across the Drake Passage (Southern Ocean) |
title_full |
Biogeographic Patterns Among Deep-Sea Benthic Megafaunal Communities Across the Drake Passage (Southern Ocean) |
title_fullStr |
Biogeographic Patterns Among Deep-Sea Benthic Megafaunal Communities Across the Drake Passage (Southern Ocean) |
title_full_unstemmed |
Biogeographic Patterns Among Deep-Sea Benthic Megafaunal Communities Across the Drake Passage (Southern Ocean) |
title_sort |
biogeographic patterns among deep-sea benthic megafaunal communities across the drake passage (southern ocean) |
publisher |
DigitalCommons@UMaine |
publishDate |
2014 |
url |
https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/etd/2213 https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3253&context=etd |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-135.021,-135.021,61.583,61.583) ENVELOPE(-59.000,-59.000,-54.250,-54.250) |
geographic |
Antarctic Southern Ocean Antarctic Peninsula Drake Passage Cape Horn Burdwood Bank |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Southern Ocean Antarctic Peninsula Drake Passage Cape Horn Burdwood Bank |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Drake Passage Southern Ocean |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Drake Passage Southern Ocean |
op_source |
Electronic Theses and Dissertations |
op_relation |
https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/etd/2213 https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3253&context=etd |
_version_ |
1766268812238258176 |