Environmental drivers of benthic communities and habitat heterogeneity on an East Antarctic shelf
This study presents the first analysis of benthic megafauna and habitats from the Sabrina Coast shelf, encompassing a proposed Marine Protected Area. Sea bed imagery indicated an abundant benthic fauna compared to other parts of the Antarctic shelf, dominated by brittle stars, polychaete tubeworms,...
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954102016000468 http://ecite.utas.edu.au/113868 |
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ftunivtasecite:oai:ecite.utas.edu.au:113868 2023-05-15T13:49:03+02:00 Environmental drivers of benthic communities and habitat heterogeneity on an East Antarctic shelf Post, AL Lavoie, C Domack, EW Leventer, A Shevenell, A Fraser, AD 2017 https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954102016000468 http://ecite.utas.edu.au/113868 en eng Cambridge Univ Press http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0954102016000468 Post, AL and Lavoie, C and Domack, EW and Leventer, A and Shevenell, A and Fraser, AD, NBP 14-02 Science Team, Environmental drivers of benthic communities and habitat heterogeneity on an East Antarctic shelf, Antarctic Science, 29, (1) pp. 17-32. ISSN 0954-1020 (2017) [Refereed Article] http://ecite.utas.edu.au/113868 Earth Sciences Geology Marine Geoscience Refereed Article PeerReviewed 2017 ftunivtasecite https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954102016000468 2019-12-13T22:13:52Z This study presents the first analysis of benthic megafauna and habitats from the Sabrina Coast shelf, encompassing a proposed Marine Protected Area. Sea bed imagery indicated an abundant benthic fauna compared to other parts of the Antarctic shelf, dominated by brittle stars, polychaete tubeworms, and a range of other sessile and mobile taxa. The distribution of taxa was related (ρ=0.592, P <0.001) to variations in water depth, latitude, substrate type and phytodetritus. High phytodetritus cover was associated with muddy/sandy sediments and abundant holothurians and amphipods, while harder substrates hosted abundant brachiopods, hard bryozoans, polychaete tubeworms, massive and encrusting sponges, and sea whips. Brittle stars, irregular urchins and anemones were ubiquitous. Variations in substrate largely reflected the distribution of dropstones, creating fine-scale habitat heterogeneity. Several taxa were found only on hard substrates, and their broad regional distribution indicated that the density of dropstones was sufficient for most sessile invertebrates to disperse across the region. The hexactinellid sponge Anoxycalyx joubini and branching hydrocorals exhibited a more restricted distribution, probably related to water depth and limited dispersal capability, respectively. Dropstones were associated with significant increases in taxa diversity, abundance and biological cover, enhancing the overall diversity and biomass of this ecosystem. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Science eCite UTAS (University of Tasmania) Antarctic Sabrina Coast ENVELOPE(118.550,118.550,-67.000,-67.000) The Antarctic Antarctic Science 29 1 17 32 |
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Open Polar |
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eCite UTAS (University of Tasmania) |
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ftunivtasecite |
language |
English |
topic |
Earth Sciences Geology Marine Geoscience |
spellingShingle |
Earth Sciences Geology Marine Geoscience Post, AL Lavoie, C Domack, EW Leventer, A Shevenell, A Fraser, AD Environmental drivers of benthic communities and habitat heterogeneity on an East Antarctic shelf |
topic_facet |
Earth Sciences Geology Marine Geoscience |
description |
This study presents the first analysis of benthic megafauna and habitats from the Sabrina Coast shelf, encompassing a proposed Marine Protected Area. Sea bed imagery indicated an abundant benthic fauna compared to other parts of the Antarctic shelf, dominated by brittle stars, polychaete tubeworms, and a range of other sessile and mobile taxa. The distribution of taxa was related (ρ=0.592, P <0.001) to variations in water depth, latitude, substrate type and phytodetritus. High phytodetritus cover was associated with muddy/sandy sediments and abundant holothurians and amphipods, while harder substrates hosted abundant brachiopods, hard bryozoans, polychaete tubeworms, massive and encrusting sponges, and sea whips. Brittle stars, irregular urchins and anemones were ubiquitous. Variations in substrate largely reflected the distribution of dropstones, creating fine-scale habitat heterogeneity. Several taxa were found only on hard substrates, and their broad regional distribution indicated that the density of dropstones was sufficient for most sessile invertebrates to disperse across the region. The hexactinellid sponge Anoxycalyx joubini and branching hydrocorals exhibited a more restricted distribution, probably related to water depth and limited dispersal capability, respectively. Dropstones were associated with significant increases in taxa diversity, abundance and biological cover, enhancing the overall diversity and biomass of this ecosystem. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Post, AL Lavoie, C Domack, EW Leventer, A Shevenell, A Fraser, AD |
author_facet |
Post, AL Lavoie, C Domack, EW Leventer, A Shevenell, A Fraser, AD |
author_sort |
Post, AL |
title |
Environmental drivers of benthic communities and habitat heterogeneity on an East Antarctic shelf |
title_short |
Environmental drivers of benthic communities and habitat heterogeneity on an East Antarctic shelf |
title_full |
Environmental drivers of benthic communities and habitat heterogeneity on an East Antarctic shelf |
title_fullStr |
Environmental drivers of benthic communities and habitat heterogeneity on an East Antarctic shelf |
title_full_unstemmed |
Environmental drivers of benthic communities and habitat heterogeneity on an East Antarctic shelf |
title_sort |
environmental drivers of benthic communities and habitat heterogeneity on an east antarctic shelf |
publisher |
Cambridge Univ Press |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954102016000468 http://ecite.utas.edu.au/113868 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(118.550,118.550,-67.000,-67.000) |
geographic |
Antarctic Sabrina Coast The Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Sabrina Coast The Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Science |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Science |
op_relation |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0954102016000468 Post, AL and Lavoie, C and Domack, EW and Leventer, A and Shevenell, A and Fraser, AD, NBP 14-02 Science Team, Environmental drivers of benthic communities and habitat heterogeneity on an East Antarctic shelf, Antarctic Science, 29, (1) pp. 17-32. ISSN 0954-1020 (2017) [Refereed Article] http://ecite.utas.edu.au/113868 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954102016000468 |
container_title |
Antarctic Science |
container_volume |
29 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
17 |
op_container_end_page |
32 |
_version_ |
1766250684867411968 |