Distribution and composition of the epibenthic megafauna north of Svalbard (Arctic)
Benthic communities north of Svalbard are less investigated than in other Arctic shelf regions, as this area was covered by sea-ice during most of the year. Improving our knowledge on this region is timely, however, since climate change is strongly evident there, particularly with regard to the exte...
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ftoceanrep:oai:oceanrep.geomar.de:27495 2023-05-15T14:26:25+02:00 Distribution and composition of the epibenthic megafauna north of Svalbard (Arctic) Sswat, Michael Gulliksen, B. Menn, I. Sweetman, A. K. Piepenburg, Dieter 2015-06 text https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/27495/ https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/27495/1/Sswat.pdf https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-015-1645-8 en eng Springer https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/27495/1/Sswat.pdf Sswat, M. , Gulliksen, B., Menn, I., Sweetman, A. K. and Piepenburg, D. (2015) Distribution and composition of the epibenthic megafauna north of Svalbard (Arctic). Polar Biology, 38 (6). pp. 861-877. DOI 10.1007/s00300-015-1645-8 <https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-015-1645-8>. doi:10.1007/s00300-015-1645-8 info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess Article PeerReviewed 2015 ftoceanrep https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-015-1645-8 2023-04-07T15:17:31Z Benthic communities north of Svalbard are less investigated than in other Arctic shelf regions, as this area was covered by sea-ice during most of the year. Improving our knowledge on this region is timely, however, since climate change is strongly evident there, particularly with regard to the extent of sea-ice decline and its huge ecological impact on all marine biota, including the benthos. Moreover, longer ice-free periods will certainly lead to an increase in human activity levels in the area, including bottom trawling. In two adjacent shelf and slope regions off northern Svalbard, we studied the composition of epibenthic megafauna and seafloor habitat structures by analyzing seabed images taken with both still and video cameras. In addition, we also used an Agassiz trawl to catch epibenthic organisms for ground-truthing seabed-image information. A wide variety of mostly sessile organisms 141 epibenthic taxa were identified in the images. The brittle star Ophiura sarsii and the soft coral Gersemia rubiformis were the most common species. At all stations >300 m in depth, evidence of trawling activities was detected at the seabed. The distribution of the benthic fauna in the study area exhibited a clear depth zonation, mainly reflecting depth-related differences in seabed composition. We conclude that natural factors determining the composition of the seafloor mostly affect the distribution and composition of epibenthic assemblages. Anthropogenic impact indicated by the trawl scours found is likely also important at smaller spatial scales. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Arctic Climate change Polar Biology Sea ice Svalbard OceanRep (GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre für Ocean Research Kiel) Arctic Svalbard Polar Biology 38 6 861 877 |
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Open Polar |
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OceanRep (GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre für Ocean Research Kiel) |
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ftoceanrep |
language |
English |
description |
Benthic communities north of Svalbard are less investigated than in other Arctic shelf regions, as this area was covered by sea-ice during most of the year. Improving our knowledge on this region is timely, however, since climate change is strongly evident there, particularly with regard to the extent of sea-ice decline and its huge ecological impact on all marine biota, including the benthos. Moreover, longer ice-free periods will certainly lead to an increase in human activity levels in the area, including bottom trawling. In two adjacent shelf and slope regions off northern Svalbard, we studied the composition of epibenthic megafauna and seafloor habitat structures by analyzing seabed images taken with both still and video cameras. In addition, we also used an Agassiz trawl to catch epibenthic organisms for ground-truthing seabed-image information. A wide variety of mostly sessile organisms 141 epibenthic taxa were identified in the images. The brittle star Ophiura sarsii and the soft coral Gersemia rubiformis were the most common species. At all stations >300 m in depth, evidence of trawling activities was detected at the seabed. The distribution of the benthic fauna in the study area exhibited a clear depth zonation, mainly reflecting depth-related differences in seabed composition. We conclude that natural factors determining the composition of the seafloor mostly affect the distribution and composition of epibenthic assemblages. Anthropogenic impact indicated by the trawl scours found is likely also important at smaller spatial scales. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Sswat, Michael Gulliksen, B. Menn, I. Sweetman, A. K. Piepenburg, Dieter |
spellingShingle |
Sswat, Michael Gulliksen, B. Menn, I. Sweetman, A. K. Piepenburg, Dieter Distribution and composition of the epibenthic megafauna north of Svalbard (Arctic) |
author_facet |
Sswat, Michael Gulliksen, B. Menn, I. Sweetman, A. K. Piepenburg, Dieter |
author_sort |
Sswat, Michael |
title |
Distribution and composition of the epibenthic megafauna north of Svalbard (Arctic) |
title_short |
Distribution and composition of the epibenthic megafauna north of Svalbard (Arctic) |
title_full |
Distribution and composition of the epibenthic megafauna north of Svalbard (Arctic) |
title_fullStr |
Distribution and composition of the epibenthic megafauna north of Svalbard (Arctic) |
title_full_unstemmed |
Distribution and composition of the epibenthic megafauna north of Svalbard (Arctic) |
title_sort |
distribution and composition of the epibenthic megafauna north of svalbard (arctic) |
publisher |
Springer |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/27495/ https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/27495/1/Sswat.pdf https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-015-1645-8 |
geographic |
Arctic Svalbard |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Svalbard |
genre |
Arctic Arctic Climate change Polar Biology Sea ice Svalbard |
genre_facet |
Arctic Arctic Climate change Polar Biology Sea ice Svalbard |
op_relation |
https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/27495/1/Sswat.pdf Sswat, M. , Gulliksen, B., Menn, I., Sweetman, A. K. and Piepenburg, D. (2015) Distribution and composition of the epibenthic megafauna north of Svalbard (Arctic). Polar Biology, 38 (6). pp. 861-877. DOI 10.1007/s00300-015-1645-8 <https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-015-1645-8>. doi:10.1007/s00300-015-1645-8 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-015-1645-8 |
container_title |
Polar Biology |
container_volume |
38 |
container_issue |
6 |
container_start_page |
861 |
op_container_end_page |
877 |
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1766298988676382720 |