Respiratory responses of three Antarctic ascidians and a sea pen to increased sediment concentrations

Torre, Luciana; Servetto, Natalia; Eöry, Matias Leonel; Momo, Fernando; Tatián, Marcos; Abele, Doris; Sahade, Ricardo

doi:10.1007/s00300-012-1208-1

Cited by 43 publications

(44 citation statements)

References 25 publications

(26 reference statements)

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“…In this case, the slope of the wall would reduce the probability of ice impact, allowing the development of high mega-epibenthic abundance at shallow depths. A second important factor is sediment run-off, especially in areas located close to the glacial termini (Siciński et al 2012, Torre et al 2012, Sahade et al 2015. This would probably impose a shallow distribution limit on macroalgae, due to light penetration (Clark et al 2013, Quartino et al 2013, Deregibus et al 2015.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate change, glacier retreat and a new ice‐free island offer new insights on Antarctic benthic responses

et al. 2017

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The Antarctic Peninsula is among the places on Earth that registered major warming in the last 60 yr. Massive ice losses, represented by glacier retreat, ice‐shelf collapses and sea‐ice reduction are among the main impacts of this regional warming. The loss of sea‐bed ice coverage, on the one hand has been affecting benthic assemblages, but on the other it is opening up new areas for benthic colonisation. Potter Cove (South Shetland Islands) offered the opportunity of assessing both processes. We recently reported a sudden shift of benthic assemblages related to increased sedimentation rates caused by glacier retreat. This glacier retreat also uncovered a new island that presents a natural experiment to study Antarctic benthic colonisation and succession. We sampled the new island by photo‐transects taken up to 30 m depth. Here, we report an unexpected benthic assemblage characterised by high species richness, diversity and structural complexity with a well‐developed three‐dimensional structure and epibiotic relationships. Filter feeders comprised the largest trophic group at all depths, mainly ascidians, sponges and bryozoans. Densities were also surprising, recording only six ascidian species with a mean of ∼310 ind. m–2. These values are at least an order of magnitude higher than previous Antarctic reports on early colonisation. This finding challenges the extended idea of a slow and continuous recruitment in Antarctica. However, it also opens the question of whether these complex assemblages could have been present under the glacier in ice‐free refuges that are now exposed to open sea conditions. Under the current scenario of climate change, these results acquire high relevance as they suggest a two‐fold effect of the Antarctic Peninsula warming: the environmental shifts that threaten coastal ecosystems, and also the opening up of new areas for colonisation that may occur at a previously unimagined speed.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate change, glacier retreat and a new ice‐free island offer new insights on Antarctic benthic responses

et al. 2017

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“…But climate change appears to be opening this time capsule and recent climate-induced changes have offered some improved understanding of Antarctic community dynamics and succession (Gutt et al, 2011, Fillingeret. al, 2013, Torre et al, 2012, Barnes et al, 2014. Obviously, only long-term data, complimented by environmental and natural history information, can hope to reveal changes in ecosystems driven by infrequent events.…”

Section: Table 6 Near Herementioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, there has been little opportunity to study successional patterns following disturbance to the seafloor in the Antarctic because we lack the temporal baseline critical to understanding successional changes. The studies that have been conducted track individual disturbance events and include recruitment in iceberg scours (Arntz et al, 1994,Gutt, 2001,Gutt and Piepenburg, 2003, observations of successional patterns after a large section of the Larsen Ice Shelf broke up (Gutt et al, 2011, the recession of the glacier in Potter's Cove (Torre et al, 2012,Sahade et al, 2015 and increased ice scour (Barnes et al, 2014). These extremely valuable studies address single events but provide limited insight into the consequences of longer time scale variation in dispersal, recruitment, growth, and survivorship in the Antarctic benthos.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Surprising episodic recruitment and growth of Antarctic sponges: Implications for ecological resilience

Dayton

Jarrell

Kim

et al. 2016

Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology

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Sponges are the most conspicuous component of the Antarctic benthic ecosystem, a system under stress both from climate change and fishing activities. Observations over four decades are compiled and reveal extremely episodic sponge recruitmentand growth.Recruitment occurred under different oceanographic conditions on both sides of McMurdo Sound. Most of the sponges appear to have recruited in the late 1990s-2000. Observations from 2000 to 2010follow thirty years of relative stasis with very little sponge recruitment or growth followed by a general pattern of recruitment by some forty species of sponges. That there was almost no recruitment observed on natural substrata emphasizes the contrast between potential and realized recruitment. This unique data set was derived from a region noted for physical stasis,but theepisodic ecological phenomena highlightthe importance of rare events. Against a background of intermittent food resources and the low metabolic costs of stasis, understanding the causes of irregular larval supply, dispersal processes, recruitment success and survivorship becomes critical to predicting ecosystem dynamics and resilience in response to increasing environmental change. Our time-series emphasizes that long-term data collection is essential for meaningful forecasts about environmental change in the unique benthic ecosystems of the Antarctic shelf.5

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“…Glacial changes-melting and retreat-are affecting the coastal ecosystems in the WAP with conspicuous changes in pelagic and benthic communities (Barnes and Peck 2008;Schofield et al 2010;Torre et al 2012;Ducklow et al 2013). In Potter Cove (25 de Mayo/King George Island) glacier melting and the retreat of the Fourcade Glacier has created newly ice-free areas (Rückamp et al 2011) available for benthic colonization (Quartino et al 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Photosynthetic light requirements and vertical distribution of macroalgae in newly ice-free areas in Potter Cove, South Shetland Islands, Antarctica

et al. 2015

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In Potter Cove, Antarctica, newly ice-free areas appeared due to glacial retreat. Simultaneously, the inflow of sediment increased, reducing underwater photosynthetically active radiation (PAR, 400-700 nm). The aim of this study was to determine the photosynthetic characteristics of two macroalgal species colonizing three newly icefree areas, A1, A2 and A3, with increasing degree of glacial influence from A1 to A3. Turbidity, salinity and temperature were measured, and light attenuation coefficients (K d ) calculated and considered as a proxy for glacial sediment input. The lower depth distribution of the red alga Palmaria decipiens and the brown alga Himantothallus grandifolius was 10 m in A3, 20 m in A2 and 30 m in A1. Both species were then collected, at 5 and 10 m at all areas. Photosynthetic parameters and the daily metabolic carbon balance (CB) were determined. K d was significantly higher in A3 compared with A1 and A2. The CB of P. decipiens was significantly higher in A1 followed by A2 and A3, and significantly higher at shallower than at greater depth. For H. grandifolius CB was significantly lower in A3 and in A2 at deeper depths compared with the rest of areas and depths. The lower distribution limit of the algae was positively correlated to the light penetration. An increase in the sediment run-off due to global warming might lead to an elevation of the lower depth distribution limit but retreating glaciers can open new space for macroalgal colonization. These changes will probably affect macroalgal primary productivity in Potter Cove with consequences for the coastal ecosystem.

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Respiratory responses of three Antarctic ascidians and a sea pen to increased sediment concentrations

Cited by 43 publications

References 25 publications

Climate change, glacier retreat and a new ice‐free island offer new insights on Antarctic benthic responses

Climate change, glacier retreat and a new ice‐free island offer new insights on Antarctic benthic responses

Surprising episodic recruitment and growth of Antarctic sponges: Implications for ecological resilience

Photosynthetic light requirements and vertical distribution of macroalgae in newly ice-free areas in Potter Cove, South Shetland Islands, Antarctica

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