History of benthic colonisation beneath the Amery Ice Shelf, East Antarctica

Post, Alix; Hemer, Mark; O'Brien, P. E.; Roberts, D; Craven, Mike

doi:10.3354/meps06966

Cited by 32 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…Drilling through ice shelves has revealed life and even colonisation histories in the dark underneath (e.g. Post et al 2007). Despite this, virtually all of what we know about physical conditions and life on the Antarctic shelf is from the 65% that is not covered by ice shelves, and it is this region that we concentrate on in the current study.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Vulnerability of Antarctic shelf biodiversity to predicted regional warming

Barnes¹,

Peck²

2008

Clim. Res.

135

132

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Predictions of sensitivity to climate change of polar benthos vary markedly depending on whether physiological or ecological/biodiversity criteria are considered. A realistic consensus view must be achieved as soon as possible. Having been very cool and constant for several million years, polar hotspots such as the Antarctic Peninsula (AP) are now rapidly warming. The current rate of CO 2 increase and, with a lag phase, temperature, is unparalleled -maybe for 10s of millions of years. Experimental evidence suggests the shallow mega-and macrobenthos is very sensitive to temperature change (stenothermal). Being warmed to about 10°C kills most species tested to date but even smaller experimental rises (just 2 or 3°C above normal) drastically hinders their ability to perform critical functions, such as predator avoidance behaviour. In contrast, new evidence of bathymetric and geographic distributions shows species ranges encompass localities with varying and warmer temperatures such as the intertidal zone or the shelf of South Georgia. This suggests, at the species level, an unexpected ability to live in areas with significantly different and raised temperature regimes. Scientists have focused on potential responses of a few species in a few areas. However, these are often atypical of fauna on the whole. Distribution assessments suffer from not knowing the capacity differences between populations and how fast they arise. To begin meaningful estimates of how shelf mega-and macrobenthos will respond to rapid warming, where and at what should we be looking? The AP continental shelf is probably amongst the most sensitive. A more widespread evaluation of the capabilities of different species and across lifehistory cycles is needed. We need to compare differences between communities in the more temperature-variable and -stable sites to predict ecological scale responses to future changes.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Vulnerability of Antarctic shelf biodiversity to predicted regional warming

Barnes¹,

Peck²

2008

Clim. Res.

135

132

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Instead, some isolated areas would likely be open and habitable under the ice, as seen today under ice shelves (e.g., Littlepage and Pearse, 1962;Post et al, 2007). These areas could behave as "islands" with remnants of the previously more widespread shelf fauna.…”

Section: Isolation and Speciation On The Antarctic Continental Shelf mentioning

confidence: 99%

Brooding and Species Diversity in the Southern Ocean: Selection for Brooders or Speciation within Brooding Clades?

Pearse¹,

Mooi²,

Lockhart³

et al. 2009

Smithsonian at the Poles : Contributions to International Polar Year Science

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“…Rates of oxygen consumption, nitrogen excretion and body tissue water, ash, and CHN content were compared between summer and winter. This information is important for understanding the global success of sponges across aquatic habitats, predictions of the capacity of sponge communities to respond to climate change, especially in the Antarctic (Meredith and King, 2005), through environmental warming, reductions in sea ice (Barnes et al, 2014), break up of ice-shelves (Dayton et al, 2013;Fillinger et al, 2013), and any resultant changes in energy flow into the benthic community (Post et al, 2007;Peck et al, 2010;Dayton et al, 2013;Venables et al, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Extreme Phenotypic Plasticity in Metabolic Physiology of Antarctic Demosponges

et al. 2016

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Seasonal measurements of the metabolic physiology of four Antarctic demosponges and their associated assemblages, maintained in a flow through aquarium facility, demonstrated one of the largest differences in seasonal strategies between species and their associated sponge communities. The sponge oxygen consumption measured here exhibited both the lowest and highest seasonal changes for any Antarctic species; metabolic rates varied from a 25% decrease to a 5.8 fold increase from winter to summer, a range which was greater than all 17 Antarctic marine species (encompassing eight phyla) previously investigated and amongst the highest recorded for any marine environment. The differences in nitrogen excretion, metabolic substrate utilization and tissue composition between species were, overall, greater than seasonal changes. The largest seasonal difference in tissue composition was an increase in CHN (Carbon, Hydrogen, and Nitrogen) content in Homaxinella balfourensis, a pioneer species in ice-scour regions, which changed growth form to a twig-like morph in winter. The considerable flexibility in seasonal and metabolic physiology across the Demospongiae likely enables these species to respond to rapid environmental change such as ice-scour, reductions in sea ice cover and ice-shelf collapse in the Polar Regions, shifting the paradigm that polar sponges always live "life in the slow lane." Great phenotypic plasticity in physiology has been linked to differences in symbiotic community composition, and this is likely to be a key factor in the global success of sponges in all marine environments and their dominant role in many climax communities.

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History of benthic colonisation beneath the Amery Ice Shelf, East Antarctica

Cited by 32 publications

References 52 publications

Vulnerability of Antarctic shelf biodiversity to predicted regional warming

Vulnerability of Antarctic shelf biodiversity to predicted regional warming

Brooding and Species Diversity in the Southern Ocean: Selection for Brooders or Speciation within Brooding Clades?

Extreme Phenotypic Plasticity in Metabolic Physiology of Antarctic Demosponges

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