Biodiversity change after climate-induced ice-shelf collapse in the Antarctic

• Published in: Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography
• Main Authors: Gutt, J., Barratt, I., Domack, E., Scheidat, M.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2011
• Subjects: 1st insights; aggregations; biogeography; deep-sea; impact; peninsula; ross sea; southern-ocean; species-diversity; western weddell sea; Antarctic; Antarctic Peninsula; Ross Sea; Southern Ocean; The Antarctic; Weddell; Weddell Sea; Antarc*; Ice Shelf; Ice Shelves; Iceberg*
• Online Access: https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/biodiversity-change-after-climate-induced-ice-shelf-collapse-in-t; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr2.2010.05.024

The marine ecosystem on the eastern shelf of the Antarctic Peninsula was surveyed 5 and 12 years after the climate-induced collapse of the Larsen A and B ice shelves. An impoverished benthic fauna was discovered, that included deep-sea species presumed to be remnants from ice-covered conditions. The current structure of various ecosystem components appears to result from extremely different response rates to the change from an oligotrophic sub-ice-shelf ecosystem to a productive shelf ecosystem. Meiobenthic communities remained impoverished only inside the embayments. On local scales, macro- and mega-epibenthic diversity was generally low, with pioneer species and typical Antarctic megabenthic shelf species interspersed. Antarctic Minke whales and seals utilised the Larsen A/B area to feed on presumably newly established krill and pelagic fish biomass. Ecosystem impacts also extended well beyond the zone of ice-shelf collapse, with areas of high benthic disturbance resulting from scour by icebergs discharged from the Larsen embayments