scholarly journals Ross Sea Benthic Ecosystems: Macro- and Mega-faunal Community Patterns From a Multi-environment Survey

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vonda J. Cummings ◽  
David A. Bowden ◽  
Matthew H. Pinkerton ◽  
N. Jane Halliday ◽  
Judi E. Hewitt

The Ross Sea, Antarctica, is amongst the least human-impacted marine environments, and the site of the world’s largest Marine Protected Area. We present research on two components of the Ross Sea benthic fauna: mega-epifauna, and macro-infauna, sampled using video and multicore, respectively, on the continental shelf and in previously unsampled habitats on the northern continental slope and abyssal plain. We describe physical habitat characteristics and community composition, in terms of faunal diversity, abundance, and functional traits, and compare similarities within and between habitats. We also examine relationships between faunal distributions and ice cover and productivity, using summaries of satellite-derived data over the decade prior to our sampling. Clear differences in seafloor characteristics and communities were noted between environments. Seafloor substrates were more diverse on the Slope and Abyss, while taxa were generally more diverse on the Shelf. Mega-epifauna were predominantly suspension feeders across the Shelf and Slope, with deposit feeder-grazers found in higher or equal abundances in the Abyss. In contrast, suspension feeders were the least common macro-infaunal feeding type on the Shelf and Slope. Concordance between the mega-epifauna and macro-infauna data suggests that non-destructive video sampling of mega-epifauna can be used to indicate likely composition of macro-infauna, at larger spatial scales, at least. Primary productivity, seabed organic flux, and sea ice concentrations, and their variability over time, were important structuring factors for both community types. This illustrates the importance of better understanding bentho-pelagic coupling and incorporating this in biogeographic and process-distribution models, to enable meaningful predictions of how these ecosystems may be impacted by projected environmental changes. This study has enhanced our understanding of the distributions and functions of seabed habitats and fauna inside and outside the Ross Sea MPA boundaries, expanding the baseline dataset against which the success of the MPA, as well as variability and change in benthic communities can be evaluated longer term.

2002 ◽  
Vol 59 (8) ◽  
pp. 1404-1417 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristopher K Wright ◽  
Judith L Li

We present an approach that integrates a conceptual framework with multivariate ordination techniques and traditional parametric analyses to examine biotic and abiotic gradients in stream ecosystems. Ordinations were used to examine multivariate patterns along an environmental gradient, with individual variables used to interpret those patterns across spatial scales. The conceptual framework provides a consistent context to compare community distributions and consequently allows for hypothesis testing using ordinations. To illustrate the approach, we examined the physical template, fish and benthic macroinvertebrate communities, and algal biomass and production along a 1st- through 5th-order stream gradient in eastern Oregon. We hypothesized that longitudinal distributions of physical habitat characteristics, fishes, macroinvertebrates, and periphyton would reflect highly variable, discontinuous gradients. Multivariate patterns were determined by rotating nonparametric ordinations to a common set of variables and comparing them to conceptual models of (i) an ideal continuum, (ii) a random distribution, and (iii) discrete patches. Physical habitat and fishes reflected strong longitudinal gradients, macroinvertebrates were the most patchy, and algal biomass and production were highly variable. Distributions of individual variables from site and stream-order perspectives revealed how different factors, potentially influencing stream communities, may be continuous or patchy depending on spatial scale.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Finn Mielck ◽  
Rune Michaelis ◽  
H. Christian Hass ◽  
Sarah Hertel ◽  
Caroline Ganal ◽  
...  

Abstract. Sea-level rise demands for protection measures of endangered coastlines crucial for the local population. At the island of Sylt in the SE North Sea, shoreline erosion is compensated by replenishment with sand dredged from an offshore excavation site. We studied the long-term effects of sand extraction on bathymetry, geomorphology, habitats, and benthic fauna. Hydroacoustic surveys revealed that changes of bathymetry and habitat characteristics caused by sand extraction can be still detected after > 35 years while the investigation of grab samples revealed persistent changes in sediment composition and benthic faunal composition. The comparison of recently dredged areas ( 10 years ago) and undisturbed sites exposed significant differences in the number of individuals and species of macrozoobenthic organisms as well as in the mud content, indicating a persistent successional stage of the communities in the dredged areas. The slow backfill of the dredging pits results from low ambient sediment availability and relatively calm hydrodynamic conditions, despite high wave energy during storms. Based on current sedimentation rates, we conclude that a complete backfill of the deep excavation sites and re-establishment of the benthic communities is likely to take centuries in this area. Since re-establishment of the benthic communities depends on previous re-establishment of habitat characteristics, habitat mapping with remote sensing techniques is suggested as a cost-effective means to monitor the state of regeneration.


2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabela Martins ◽  
Barbara Sanches ◽  
Philip Robert Kaufmann ◽  
Robert M. Hughes ◽  
Gilmar Bastos Santos ◽  
...  

Reservoirs are artificial ecosystems with multiple functions having direct and indirect benefits to humans; however, they also cause ecological changes and influence the composition and structure of aquatic biota. Our objectives were to: (1) assess the environmental condition of Nova Ponte Reservoir, Minas Gerais state, southeastern Brazil; and (2) determine how the aquatic biota respond to disturbances. A total of 40 sites in the littoral zone of the reservoir were sampled to characterize physical and chemical habitat, land use, and benthic macroinvertebrate and fish assemblages. The predominant type of land cover near the reservoir was natural vegetation. A total of 29 fish species and 39 macroinvertebrate taxa were collected, including eight alien species. Most sites had intermediate levels of human disturbance, however, high levels of degradation were associated with high proportions of alien species. Disturbances at multiple scales may alter natural patterns and processes, leading to environmental changes and damaging biological communities. Our results reinforce the importance of assessing reservoir ecological conditions at several scales. The study of land use, littoral zone physical habitat characteristics, water quality, and assemblage structure set the ground for proposing actions to rehabilitate and conserve aquatic ecosystems.


Author(s):  
Markus Franz ◽  
Gitta Ann von Rönn ◽  
Francisco Rafael Barboza ◽  
Rolf Karez ◽  
Hans-Christian Reimers ◽  
...  

AbstractEnvironmental factors shape the structure and functioning of benthic communities. In coastal zones of the southwestern Baltic Sea, boulder fields represent one of the most productive habitats, supporting diverse benthic communities that provide many ecosystem services. In this study, the influence of the geological characteristics of boulder fields on the biodiversity of associated hard-bottom communities was investigated at two different spatial scales (few kilometers and tens of kilometers). The analyses on overall richness (taxonomic and functional) and community composition revealed how: (i) locally the size of boulders and (ii) regionally site-specific factors like the boulder density distribution and the sediment distribution can act as environmental driving forces. The overall richness of assemblages was shown to increase with increasing surface area of boulders, by up to 60% for species and up to 40% for functional richness. At both investigated scales, differences in compositional variability (β diversity) of the communities were detected. Locally, smallest boulders hosted more variable communities (β diversity up to 2 times higher), while at the regional level, indications of a larger habitat heterogeneity featuring the highest β diversity were observed. This study exemplifies how geological habitat characteristics shape the biodiversity of boulder field communities. The obtained information could be considered in assessment strategies, in order to avoid misclassifications of habitats naturally limited in biodiversity, making a step forward to the desired objective of protecting, conserving, and managing boulder field communities in the study area and at other comparable sites.


2014 ◽  
Vol 71 (10) ◽  
pp. 1483-1497 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ericka E. Hegeman ◽  
Scott W. Miller ◽  
Karen E. Mock

The habitat requirements of many native freshwater mussels remain unclear despite their imperiled status and ecological importance. To explore scale-specific habitat associations in the three genera of mussels found in the western United States (Anodonta, Gonidea, and Margaritifera) we used a multiscale random forest modeling approach to assess functional habitat parameters throughout a 55 km segment of the upper Middle Fork John Day River in northeastern Oregon. We characterized mussel occurrence and density with respect to the hierarchical, hydrogeomorphic structure by sampling reaches of varying valley confinement and channel units nested within individual reaches. Each genus exhibited unique longitudinal trends and channel unit-use patterns. In particular, the large-scale longitudinal trends in Margaritifera occurrence were associated with hydrogeomorphic characteristics at the reach and channel unit scale, with Margaritifera densities peaking in narrow valley segments and in riffles and runs. At the scale of the channel unit, all mussel genera responded to variation in physical habitat characteristics, particularly those that indicated more stable parts of the channel. Our results suggest that spatial patterns in freshwater mussels are associated with the hierarchical structuring of the lotic ecosystem and may provide guidance to restoration efforts.


1984 ◽  
Vol 16 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 399-406
Author(s):  
Y Monbet

A study was conducted to gain insight on actual sedimentological and biological effects associated with the construction of an oil Terminal designed to receive 500 000 d.w.t. tankers. Field investigations and subsequent laboratory analyses were organized to evaluate the nature and magnitude of environmental changes on benthic macrofauna, three years after the end of the construction. Sediments were found to decrease dramatically in medium grain size in area sheltered by the newly built breakwater. Increase of percentage of silt and clays (90 % against 20 %) was observed leeward of the jetty. The benthic fauna showed significant modifications. Although the same community (Pectinaria kareni Abra alba) recolonized the bottom after the dredging of up to 30 × 106 m3 of sediments, increase in abundance occured. Biomass remained at a constant level and decrease of diversity was observed. Considering the rate of siltation, and assuming a constant siltation rate equal to the rate observed from 1975 to 1978, a simple regressive model relating biomass to mean grain size of sediments has been developped. This model allowed the prediction of biomass and production of the two principal species for the period 1978 – 1981. Continuous siltation within the harbor leads to a maximum of biomass from years after the end of the construction, followed by a decrease of standing stock. This process may be explained by the respective tolerance of the two principal species to increase silt contant and also probably by the accumulation of organic matter which may impede the development of natural populations.


1992 ◽  
Vol 338 (1285) ◽  
pp. 299-309 ◽  

Environmental change is the norm and it is likely that, particularly on the geological timescale, the temperature regime experienced by marine organisms has never been stable. These temperature changes vary in timescale from daily, through seasonal variations, to long-term environmental change over tens of millions of years. Whereas physiological work can give information on how individual organisms may react phenotypically to short-term change, the way benthic communities react to long-term change can only be studied from the fossil record. The present benthic marine fauna of the Southern Ocean is rich and diverse, consisting of a mixture of taxa with differing evolutionary histories and biogeographical affinities, suggesting that at no time in the Cenozoic did continental ice sheets extend sufficiently to eradicate all shallow-water faunas around Antarctica at the same time. Nevertheless, certain features do suggest the operation of vicariant processes, and climatic cycles affecting distributional ranges and ice-sheet extension may both have enhanced speciation processes. The overall cooling of southern high-latitude seas since the mid-Eocene has been neither smooth nor steady. Intermittent periods of global warming and the influence of Milankovitch cyclicity is likely to have led to regular pulses of migration in and out of Antarctica. The resultant diversity pump may explain in part the high species richness of some marine taxa in the Southern Ocean. It is difficult to suggest how the existing fauna will react to present global warming. Although it is certain the fauna will change, as all faunas have done throughout evolutionary time, we cannot predict with confidence how it will do so.


1998 ◽  
Vol 27 ◽  
pp. 275-280 ◽  
Author(s):  
Akira Nishimura ◽  
Toru Nakasone ◽  
Chikara Hiramatsu ◽  
Manabu Tanahashi

Based on sedimenlological and micropaleontological work on three sediment cores collected at about 167° Ε in the western Ross Sea, Antarctica, and accelerator mass spectrometer l4C ages of organic carbon, we have reconstructed environmental changes in the area during the late Quaternary. Since 38 ka BP at latest, this area was a marine environment with low productivity. A grounded ice sheet advanced and loaded the sediments before about 30-25 ka BP. After 25 ka BP, the southernmost site (76°46'S) was covered by floating ice (shelf ice), preventing deposition of coarse terrigenous materials and maintaining a supply of diatom tests and organic carbon until 20 ka BP. The northernmost site (74°33'S) was in a marine environment with a moderate productivity influenced by shelf ice/ice sheet after about 20 ka BP. Since about 10 ka BP, a sedimentary environment similar to the present-day one has prevailed over this area.


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