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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ftuhipublicatio:oai:pure.atira.dk:publications/ea169b56-d3aa-4307-8089-6d68f66fdef4 2024-04-21T07:53:35+00:00 Distribution and composition of the epibenthic megafauna north of Svalbard (Arctic) Sswat, M. Gulliksen, B. Menn, I. Sweetman, Andrew K. Piepenburg, D. 2015-06-01 https://pure.uhi.ac.uk/en/publications/ea169b56-d3aa-4307-8089-6d68f66fdef4 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-015-1645-8 eng eng info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess Sswat , M , Gulliksen , B , Menn , I , Sweetman , A K & Piepenburg , D 2015 , ' Distribution and composition of the epibenthic megafauna north of Svalbard (Arctic) ' , Polar Biology , vol. 38 , no. 6 , pp. 861-877 . https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-015-1645-8 Arctic Svalbard Epibenthic megafauna Depth Zonation Community structure Trawling LONG-TERM CHANGES BARENTS SEA MACROBENTHIC COMMUNITIES BENTHIC INFAUNA CHUKCHI SEAS WADDEN SEA PATTERNS ASSEMBLAGES VARIABILITY SPITSBERGEN article 2015 ftuhipublicatio https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-015-1645-8 2024-03-28T01:05:59Z 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 Barents Sea Chukchi Climate change Polar Biology Sea ice Svalbard Spitsbergen University of the Highlands and Islands: Research Database of UHI Polar Biology 38 6 861 877 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
University of the Highlands and Islands: Research Database of UHI |
op_collection_id |
ftuhipublicatio |
language |
English |
topic |
Arctic Svalbard Epibenthic megafauna Depth Zonation Community structure Trawling LONG-TERM CHANGES BARENTS SEA MACROBENTHIC COMMUNITIES BENTHIC INFAUNA CHUKCHI SEAS WADDEN SEA PATTERNS ASSEMBLAGES VARIABILITY SPITSBERGEN |
spellingShingle |
Arctic Svalbard Epibenthic megafauna Depth Zonation Community structure Trawling LONG-TERM CHANGES BARENTS SEA MACROBENTHIC COMMUNITIES BENTHIC INFAUNA CHUKCHI SEAS WADDEN SEA PATTERNS ASSEMBLAGES VARIABILITY SPITSBERGEN Sswat, M. Gulliksen, B. Menn, I. Sweetman, Andrew K. Piepenburg, D. Distribution and composition of the epibenthic megafauna north of Svalbard (Arctic) |
topic_facet |
Arctic Svalbard Epibenthic megafauna Depth Zonation Community structure Trawling LONG-TERM CHANGES BARENTS SEA MACROBENTHIC COMMUNITIES BENTHIC INFAUNA CHUKCHI SEAS WADDEN SEA PATTERNS ASSEMBLAGES VARIABILITY SPITSBERGEN |
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, M. Gulliksen, B. Menn, I. Sweetman, Andrew K. Piepenburg, D. |
author_facet |
Sswat, M. Gulliksen, B. Menn, I. Sweetman, Andrew K. Piepenburg, D. |
author_sort |
Sswat, M. |
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) |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
https://pure.uhi.ac.uk/en/publications/ea169b56-d3aa-4307-8089-6d68f66fdef4 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-015-1645-8 |
genre |
Arctic Barents Sea Chukchi Climate change Polar Biology Sea ice Svalbard Spitsbergen |
genre_facet |
Arctic Barents Sea Chukchi Climate change Polar Biology Sea ice Svalbard Spitsbergen |
op_source |
Sswat , M , Gulliksen , B , Menn , I , Sweetman , A K & Piepenburg , D 2015 , ' Distribution and composition of the epibenthic megafauna north of Svalbard (Arctic) ' , Polar Biology , vol. 38 , no. 6 , pp. 861-877 . https://doi.org/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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