Highly diverse, poorly studied and uniquely threatened by climate change: an assessment of marine biodiversity on South Georgia's continental shelf
We attempt to quantify how significant the polar archipelago of South Georgia is as a source of regional and global marine biodiversity. We evaluate numbers of rare, endemic and range-edge species and how the faunal structure of South Georgia may respond to some of the fastest warming waters on the...
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ftnerc:oai:nora.nerc.ac.uk:14672 2023-05-15T13:45:11+02:00 Highly diverse, poorly studied and uniquely threatened by climate change: an assessment of marine biodiversity on South Georgia's continental shelf Hogg, Oliver T. Barnes, David K.A. Griffiths, Huw J. 2011 text http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/14672/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/14672/1/journal.pone.0019795.pdf http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0019795 en eng Public Library Science https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/14672/1/journal.pone.0019795.pdf Hogg, Oliver T.; Barnes, David K.A. orcid:0000-0002-9076-7867 Griffiths, Huw J. orcid:0000-0003-1764-223X . 2011 Highly diverse, poorly studied and uniquely threatened by climate change: an assessment of marine biodiversity on South Georgia's continental shelf. PLoS One, 6 (5), e19795. 16, pp. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0019795 <https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0019795> Marine Sciences Biology and Microbiology Ecology and Environment Publication - Article PeerReviewed 2011 ftnerc https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0019795 2023-02-04T19:29:23Z We attempt to quantify how significant the polar archipelago of South Georgia is as a source of regional and global marine biodiversity. We evaluate numbers of rare, endemic and range-edge species and how the faunal structure of South Georgia may respond to some of the fastest warming waters on the planet. Biodiversity data was collated from a comprehensive review of reports, papers and databases, collectively representing over 125 years of polar exploration. Classification of each specimen was recorded to species level and fully geo-referenced by depth, latitude and longitude. This information was integrated with physical data layers (e.g. temperature, salinity and flow) providing a visualisation of South Georgia's biogeography across spatial, temporal and taxonomic scales, placing it in the wider context of the Southern Hemisphere. This study marks the first attempt to map the biogeography of an archipelago south of the Polar Front. Through it we identify the South Georgian shelf as the most speciose region of the Southern Ocean recorded to date. Marine biodiversity was recorded as rich across taxonomic levels with 17,732 records yielding 1,445 species from 436 families, 51 classes and 22 phyla. Most species recorded were rare, with 35% recorded only once and 86% recorded,10 times. Its marine fauna is marked by the cumulative dominance of endemic and range-edge species, potentially at their thermal tolerance limits. Consequently, our data suggests the ecological implications of environmental change to the South Georgian marine ecosystem could be severe. If sea temperatures continue to rise, we suggest that changes will include depth profile shifts of some fauna towards cooler Antarctic Winter Water (90-150 m), the loss of some range-edge species from regional waters, and the wholesale extinction at a global scale of some of South Georgia's endemic species. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Southern Ocean Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive Antarctic Southern Ocean PLoS ONE 6 5 e19795 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive |
op_collection_id |
ftnerc |
language |
English |
topic |
Marine Sciences Biology and Microbiology Ecology and Environment |
spellingShingle |
Marine Sciences Biology and Microbiology Ecology and Environment Hogg, Oliver T. Barnes, David K.A. Griffiths, Huw J. Highly diverse, poorly studied and uniquely threatened by climate change: an assessment of marine biodiversity on South Georgia's continental shelf |
topic_facet |
Marine Sciences Biology and Microbiology Ecology and Environment |
description |
We attempt to quantify how significant the polar archipelago of South Georgia is as a source of regional and global marine biodiversity. We evaluate numbers of rare, endemic and range-edge species and how the faunal structure of South Georgia may respond to some of the fastest warming waters on the planet. Biodiversity data was collated from a comprehensive review of reports, papers and databases, collectively representing over 125 years of polar exploration. Classification of each specimen was recorded to species level and fully geo-referenced by depth, latitude and longitude. This information was integrated with physical data layers (e.g. temperature, salinity and flow) providing a visualisation of South Georgia's biogeography across spatial, temporal and taxonomic scales, placing it in the wider context of the Southern Hemisphere. This study marks the first attempt to map the biogeography of an archipelago south of the Polar Front. Through it we identify the South Georgian shelf as the most speciose region of the Southern Ocean recorded to date. Marine biodiversity was recorded as rich across taxonomic levels with 17,732 records yielding 1,445 species from 436 families, 51 classes and 22 phyla. Most species recorded were rare, with 35% recorded only once and 86% recorded,10 times. Its marine fauna is marked by the cumulative dominance of endemic and range-edge species, potentially at their thermal tolerance limits. Consequently, our data suggests the ecological implications of environmental change to the South Georgian marine ecosystem could be severe. If sea temperatures continue to rise, we suggest that changes will include depth profile shifts of some fauna towards cooler Antarctic Winter Water (90-150 m), the loss of some range-edge species from regional waters, and the wholesale extinction at a global scale of some of South Georgia's endemic species. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Hogg, Oliver T. Barnes, David K.A. Griffiths, Huw J. |
author_facet |
Hogg, Oliver T. Barnes, David K.A. Griffiths, Huw J. |
author_sort |
Hogg, Oliver T. |
title |
Highly diverse, poorly studied and uniquely threatened by climate change: an assessment of marine biodiversity on South Georgia's continental shelf |
title_short |
Highly diverse, poorly studied and uniquely threatened by climate change: an assessment of marine biodiversity on South Georgia's continental shelf |
title_full |
Highly diverse, poorly studied and uniquely threatened by climate change: an assessment of marine biodiversity on South Georgia's continental shelf |
title_fullStr |
Highly diverse, poorly studied and uniquely threatened by climate change: an assessment of marine biodiversity on South Georgia's continental shelf |
title_full_unstemmed |
Highly diverse, poorly studied and uniquely threatened by climate change: an assessment of marine biodiversity on South Georgia's continental shelf |
title_sort |
highly diverse, poorly studied and uniquely threatened by climate change: an assessment of marine biodiversity on south georgia's continental shelf |
publisher |
Public Library Science |
publishDate |
2011 |
url |
http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/14672/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/14672/1/journal.pone.0019795.pdf http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0019795 |
geographic |
Antarctic Southern Ocean |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Southern Ocean |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Southern Ocean |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Southern Ocean |
op_relation |
https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/14672/1/journal.pone.0019795.pdf Hogg, Oliver T.; Barnes, David K.A. orcid:0000-0002-9076-7867 Griffiths, Huw J. orcid:0000-0003-1764-223X . 2011 Highly diverse, poorly studied and uniquely threatened by climate change: an assessment of marine biodiversity on South Georgia's continental shelf. PLoS One, 6 (5), e19795. 16, pp. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0019795 <https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0019795> |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0019795 |
container_title |
PLoS ONE |
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6 |
container_issue |
5 |
container_start_page |
e19795 |
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1766215758157709312 |