Benthic trophic interactions in an Antarctic shallow water ecosystem affected by recent glacier retreat
The western Antarctic Peninsula is experiencing strong environmental changes as a consequence of ongoing regional warming. Glaciers in the area are retreating rapidly and increased sediment-laden meltwater runoff threatens the benthic biodiversity at shallow depths. We identified three sites with a...
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ftunivgent:oai:archive.ugent.be:7023993 2023-06-11T04:05:39+02:00 Benthic trophic interactions in an Antarctic shallow water ecosystem affected by recent glacier retreat Pasotti, Francesca Saravia, Leonardo Ariel De Troch, Marleen Tarantelli, Maria Soledad Sahade, Ricardo Vanreusel, Ann 2015 application/pdf https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/7023993 http://hdl.handle.net/1854/LU-7023993 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0141742 https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/7023993/file/7023994 eng eng https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/7023993 http://hdl.handle.net/1854/LU-7023993 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0141742 https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/7023993/file/7023994 No license (in copyright) info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess PLOS ONE ISSN: 1932-6203 Biology and Life Sciences FEEDING ECOLOGY COASTAL WATERS KING-GEORGE ISLAND STABLE-ISOTOPE RATIOS POTTER COVE FOOD-WEB SIGNY ISLAND WEST ANTARCTICA PRIAPULUS-CAUDATUS ORGANIC-MATTER journalArticle info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion 2015 ftunivgent https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0141742 2023-05-10T22:26:41Z The western Antarctic Peninsula is experiencing strong environmental changes as a consequence of ongoing regional warming. Glaciers in the area are retreating rapidly and increased sediment-laden meltwater runoff threatens the benthic biodiversity at shallow depths. We identified three sites with a distinct glacier-retreat related history and different levels of glacial influence in the inner part of Potter Cove (King George Island, South Shetland Islands), a fjord-like embayment impacted since the 1950s by a tidewater glacier retreat. We compared the soft sediment meio- and macrofauna isotopic niche widths (delta C-13 and delta N-15 stable isotope analysis) at the three sites to investigate possible glacier retreat-related influences on benthic trophic interactions. The isotopic niches were locally shaped by the different degrees of glacier retreat-related disturbance within the Cove. Wider isotopic niche widths were found at the site that has become ice-free most recently, and narrower niches at the older ice-free sites. At an intermediate state of glacier retreat-related disturbance (e.g. via ice-growler scouring) species with different strategies could settle. The site at the earliest stage of post-retreat development was characterized by an assemblage with lower trophic redundancy. Generally, the isotopic niche widths increased with increasing size spectra of organisms within the community, excepting the youngest assemblage, where the pioneer colonizer meiofauna size class displayed the highest isotopic niche width. Meiofauna at all sites generally occupied positions in the isotopic space that suggested a detrital-pool food source and/or the presence of predatory taxa. In general ice scour and glacial impact appeared to play a two-fold role within the Cove: i) either stimulating trophic diversity by allowing continuous re-colonization of meiofaunal species or, ii) over time driving the benthic assemblages into a more compact trophic structure with increased connectedness and resource recycling. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Antarctica King George Island Signy Island South Shetland Islands Tidewater West Antarctica Ghent University Academic Bibliography Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula King George Island West Antarctica South Shetland Islands Potter Cove Signy Island ENVELOPE(-45.595,-45.595,-60.708,-60.708) PLOS ONE 10 11 e0141742 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Ghent University Academic Bibliography |
op_collection_id |
ftunivgent |
language |
English |
topic |
Biology and Life Sciences FEEDING ECOLOGY COASTAL WATERS KING-GEORGE ISLAND STABLE-ISOTOPE RATIOS POTTER COVE FOOD-WEB SIGNY ISLAND WEST ANTARCTICA PRIAPULUS-CAUDATUS ORGANIC-MATTER |
spellingShingle |
Biology and Life Sciences FEEDING ECOLOGY COASTAL WATERS KING-GEORGE ISLAND STABLE-ISOTOPE RATIOS POTTER COVE FOOD-WEB SIGNY ISLAND WEST ANTARCTICA PRIAPULUS-CAUDATUS ORGANIC-MATTER Pasotti, Francesca Saravia, Leonardo Ariel De Troch, Marleen Tarantelli, Maria Soledad Sahade, Ricardo Vanreusel, Ann Benthic trophic interactions in an Antarctic shallow water ecosystem affected by recent glacier retreat |
topic_facet |
Biology and Life Sciences FEEDING ECOLOGY COASTAL WATERS KING-GEORGE ISLAND STABLE-ISOTOPE RATIOS POTTER COVE FOOD-WEB SIGNY ISLAND WEST ANTARCTICA PRIAPULUS-CAUDATUS ORGANIC-MATTER |
description |
The western Antarctic Peninsula is experiencing strong environmental changes as a consequence of ongoing regional warming. Glaciers in the area are retreating rapidly and increased sediment-laden meltwater runoff threatens the benthic biodiversity at shallow depths. We identified three sites with a distinct glacier-retreat related history and different levels of glacial influence in the inner part of Potter Cove (King George Island, South Shetland Islands), a fjord-like embayment impacted since the 1950s by a tidewater glacier retreat. We compared the soft sediment meio- and macrofauna isotopic niche widths (delta C-13 and delta N-15 stable isotope analysis) at the three sites to investigate possible glacier retreat-related influences on benthic trophic interactions. The isotopic niches were locally shaped by the different degrees of glacier retreat-related disturbance within the Cove. Wider isotopic niche widths were found at the site that has become ice-free most recently, and narrower niches at the older ice-free sites. At an intermediate state of glacier retreat-related disturbance (e.g. via ice-growler scouring) species with different strategies could settle. The site at the earliest stage of post-retreat development was characterized by an assemblage with lower trophic redundancy. Generally, the isotopic niche widths increased with increasing size spectra of organisms within the community, excepting the youngest assemblage, where the pioneer colonizer meiofauna size class displayed the highest isotopic niche width. Meiofauna at all sites generally occupied positions in the isotopic space that suggested a detrital-pool food source and/or the presence of predatory taxa. In general ice scour and glacial impact appeared to play a two-fold role within the Cove: i) either stimulating trophic diversity by allowing continuous re-colonization of meiofaunal species or, ii) over time driving the benthic assemblages into a more compact trophic structure with increased connectedness and resource recycling. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Pasotti, Francesca Saravia, Leonardo Ariel De Troch, Marleen Tarantelli, Maria Soledad Sahade, Ricardo Vanreusel, Ann |
author_facet |
Pasotti, Francesca Saravia, Leonardo Ariel De Troch, Marleen Tarantelli, Maria Soledad Sahade, Ricardo Vanreusel, Ann |
author_sort |
Pasotti, Francesca |
title |
Benthic trophic interactions in an Antarctic shallow water ecosystem affected by recent glacier retreat |
title_short |
Benthic trophic interactions in an Antarctic shallow water ecosystem affected by recent glacier retreat |
title_full |
Benthic trophic interactions in an Antarctic shallow water ecosystem affected by recent glacier retreat |
title_fullStr |
Benthic trophic interactions in an Antarctic shallow water ecosystem affected by recent glacier retreat |
title_full_unstemmed |
Benthic trophic interactions in an Antarctic shallow water ecosystem affected by recent glacier retreat |
title_sort |
benthic trophic interactions in an antarctic shallow water ecosystem affected by recent glacier retreat |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/7023993 http://hdl.handle.net/1854/LU-7023993 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0141742 https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/7023993/file/7023994 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-45.595,-45.595,-60.708,-60.708) |
geographic |
Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula King George Island West Antarctica South Shetland Islands Potter Cove Signy Island |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula King George Island West Antarctica South Shetland Islands Potter Cove Signy Island |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Antarctica King George Island Signy Island South Shetland Islands Tidewater West Antarctica |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Antarctica King George Island Signy Island South Shetland Islands Tidewater West Antarctica |
op_source |
PLOS ONE ISSN: 1932-6203 |
op_relation |
https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/7023993 http://hdl.handle.net/1854/LU-7023993 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0141742 https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/7023993/file/7023994 |
op_rights |
No license (in copyright) info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0141742 |
container_title |
PLOS ONE |
container_volume |
10 |
container_issue |
11 |
container_start_page |
e0141742 |
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1768377217951203328 |