Revealing higher than expected meiofaunal diversity in Antarctic sediments: a metabarcoding approach
An increasing number of studies are showing that Antarctic mega- and macrofauna are highly diverse, however, little is known about meiofaunal biodiversity in sediment communities, which are a vital part of a healthy and functional ecosystem. This is the first study to analyse community DNA (targetin...
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ftunivalgarve:oai:sapientia.ualg.pt:10400.1/11607 2023-05-15T14:03:08+02:00 Revealing higher than expected meiofaunal diversity in Antarctic sediments: a metabarcoding approach Fonseca, V. G. Sinniger, F. Gaspar, J. M. Quince, C. Creer, S. Power, Deborah M. Peck, Lloyd S. Clark, Melody S. 2018-03 http://hdl.handle.net/10400.1/11607 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-06687-x eng eng Nature Publishing Group SFRH/BPD/80447/2014 info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/FCT/5876/147257/PT 2045-2322 http://hdl.handle.net/10400.1/11607 doi:10.1038/s41598-017-06687-x openAccess Feeding Ecology Peninsula Community Biodiversity Nematodes Patterns Shelf Vulnerability Variability Meiobenthos article 2018 ftunivalgarve https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-06687-x 2022-05-30T08:48:21Z An increasing number of studies are showing that Antarctic mega- and macrofauna are highly diverse, however, little is known about meiofaunal biodiversity in sediment communities, which are a vital part of a healthy and functional ecosystem. This is the first study to analyse community DNA (targeting meiofauna) using metabarcoding to investigate biodiversity levels in sediment communities of the Antarctic Peninsula. The results show that almost all of the meiofaunal biodiversity in the benthic habitat has yet to be characterised, levels of biodiversity were higher than expected and similar to temperate regions, albeit with the existence of potentially new and locally adapted species never described before at the molecular level. The Rothera meiofaunal sample sites showed four dominant eukaryotic groups, the nematodes, arthropods, platyhelminthes, and the annelids; some of which could comprise species complexes. Comparisons with deep-sea data from the same region suggest little exchange of Operational Taxonomic Units (OTUs) between depths with the nematodes prevalent at all depths, but sharing the shallow water benthos with the copepods. This study provides a preliminary analysis of benthic Antarctic Peninsula meiofauna using high throughput sequencing which substantiates how little is known on the biodiversity of one of the most diverse, yet underexplored communities of the Antarctic: the benthos. NERC within the Polar Sciences for Planet Earth Programme; NERC Antarctic Funding Initiative Collaborative Gearing Scheme [57]; CCMAR from the Portuguese Science Foundation [FCT.UID/Multi/04326/2013]; Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) [SFRH/BPD/80447/2014]; European Community Marie Curie International Incoming Fellowship project MARMEDIV [253251] Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Copepods Universidade do Algarve: Sapienta Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Rothera ENVELOPE(-68.130,-68.130,-67.568,-67.568) The Antarctic Scientific Reports 7 1 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Universidade do Algarve: Sapienta |
op_collection_id |
ftunivalgarve |
language |
English |
topic |
Feeding Ecology Peninsula Community Biodiversity Nematodes Patterns Shelf Vulnerability Variability Meiobenthos |
spellingShingle |
Feeding Ecology Peninsula Community Biodiversity Nematodes Patterns Shelf Vulnerability Variability Meiobenthos Fonseca, V. G. Sinniger, F. Gaspar, J. M. Quince, C. Creer, S. Power, Deborah M. Peck, Lloyd S. Clark, Melody S. Revealing higher than expected meiofaunal diversity in Antarctic sediments: a metabarcoding approach |
topic_facet |
Feeding Ecology Peninsula Community Biodiversity Nematodes Patterns Shelf Vulnerability Variability Meiobenthos |
description |
An increasing number of studies are showing that Antarctic mega- and macrofauna are highly diverse, however, little is known about meiofaunal biodiversity in sediment communities, which are a vital part of a healthy and functional ecosystem. This is the first study to analyse community DNA (targeting meiofauna) using metabarcoding to investigate biodiversity levels in sediment communities of the Antarctic Peninsula. The results show that almost all of the meiofaunal biodiversity in the benthic habitat has yet to be characterised, levels of biodiversity were higher than expected and similar to temperate regions, albeit with the existence of potentially new and locally adapted species never described before at the molecular level. The Rothera meiofaunal sample sites showed four dominant eukaryotic groups, the nematodes, arthropods, platyhelminthes, and the annelids; some of which could comprise species complexes. Comparisons with deep-sea data from the same region suggest little exchange of Operational Taxonomic Units (OTUs) between depths with the nematodes prevalent at all depths, but sharing the shallow water benthos with the copepods. This study provides a preliminary analysis of benthic Antarctic Peninsula meiofauna using high throughput sequencing which substantiates how little is known on the biodiversity of one of the most diverse, yet underexplored communities of the Antarctic: the benthos. NERC within the Polar Sciences for Planet Earth Programme; NERC Antarctic Funding Initiative Collaborative Gearing Scheme [57]; CCMAR from the Portuguese Science Foundation [FCT.UID/Multi/04326/2013]; Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) [SFRH/BPD/80447/2014]; European Community Marie Curie International Incoming Fellowship project MARMEDIV [253251] |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Fonseca, V. G. Sinniger, F. Gaspar, J. M. Quince, C. Creer, S. Power, Deborah M. Peck, Lloyd S. Clark, Melody S. |
author_facet |
Fonseca, V. G. Sinniger, F. Gaspar, J. M. Quince, C. Creer, S. Power, Deborah M. Peck, Lloyd S. Clark, Melody S. |
author_sort |
Fonseca, V. G. |
title |
Revealing higher than expected meiofaunal diversity in Antarctic sediments: a metabarcoding approach |
title_short |
Revealing higher than expected meiofaunal diversity in Antarctic sediments: a metabarcoding approach |
title_full |
Revealing higher than expected meiofaunal diversity in Antarctic sediments: a metabarcoding approach |
title_fullStr |
Revealing higher than expected meiofaunal diversity in Antarctic sediments: a metabarcoding approach |
title_full_unstemmed |
Revealing higher than expected meiofaunal diversity in Antarctic sediments: a metabarcoding approach |
title_sort |
revealing higher than expected meiofaunal diversity in antarctic sediments: a metabarcoding approach |
publisher |
Nature Publishing Group |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10400.1/11607 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-06687-x |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-68.130,-68.130,-67.568,-67.568) |
geographic |
Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Rothera The Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Rothera The Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Copepods |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Copepods |
op_relation |
SFRH/BPD/80447/2014 info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/FCT/5876/147257/PT 2045-2322 http://hdl.handle.net/10400.1/11607 doi:10.1038/s41598-017-06687-x |
op_rights |
openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-06687-x |
container_title |
Scientific Reports |
container_volume |
7 |
container_issue |
1 |
_version_ |
1766273689770262528 |