Spatial patterns of continental shelf faunal community structure along the Western Antarctic Peninsula

Abstract

Knowledge of continental shelf faunal biodiversity of Antarctica is patchy and as such, the ecology of this unique ecosystem is not fully understood. To this end, we deployed baited cameras at 20 locations along~500 km of the Western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) at depths from 90 to 797 m. We identified 111 unique taxa, with mud bottom accounting for 90% of the dominant (� 50% cover) habitat sampled. Amphipoda comprised 41% of the total maximum number of individuals per camera deployment (MaxN) and occurred on 75% of deployments. Excluding this taxon, the highest MaxN occurred around King George/25 de Mayo Island and was driven primarily by the abundance of krill (Euphausiidae), which accounted for 36% of total average MaxN among deployments around this island. In comparison, krill comprised 22% of total average MaxN at Deception Island and only 10% along the peninsula. Taxa richness, diversity, and evenness all increased with depth and depth explained 18.2% of the variation in community structure among locations, which may be explained by decreasing ice scour with depth. We identified a number of Vulnerable Marine Ecosystem taxa, including habitat-forming species of cold-water corals and sponge fields. Channichthyidae was the most common fish family, occurring on 80% of all deployments. The Antarctic jonasfish (Notolepis coatsorum) was the most frequently encountered fish taxa, occurring on 70% of all deployments and comprising 25% of total MaxN among all deployments. Nototheniidae was the most numerically abundant fish family, accounting for 36% of

Stability of the Microbiome of the Sponge Mycale (Oxymycale) acerata in the Western Antarctic Peninsula

“…In addition, slightly different (absolute) temperature and annual range ( Barnes et al, 2006 ) and higher local variability ( Cárdenas et al, 2018b ) can produce differences in the characteristics of the communities. For instance, differences in sea bottom temperature, influenced by the effect produced by the ACC and the Weddell Gyre, have been suggested as key drivers explaining significant differences in community structure between northern areas of the Scotia Sea and the WAP ( Lockhart and Jones, 2008 ; Friedlander et al, 2020 ). The importance of environmental variability at local scales influencing physiological responses of Antarctic species has also been suggested, where species inhabiting more stable zones might show different responses than those from areas with higher variability in seawater temperature ( Cárdenas et al, 2018b ); however, this remains to be tested.…”

Combined Abundance of All Vulnerable Marine Ecosystem Indicator Taxa Inadequate as Sole Determiner of Vulnerability, Antarctic Peninsula

“…VME coordinates were just one important layer modeled in the development of D1MPA in order to identify areas of priority for protection (Delegations of Argentina and Chile, 2017). Indeed, a recent study unveiled a benthic taxa richness along the WAP that is comparable to values obtained using the same camera system and methodology in the Tropical Eastern Pacific (Friedlander et al, 2020). Facing rapid and dramatic changes due to the impact of climate change, the fragile benthic ecosystems in this region of Antarctica are under considerable threat (Rogers et al, 2019;Siegert et al, 2019).…”

The National Geographic Society Deep-Sea Camera System: A Low-Cost Remote Video Survey Instrument to Advance Biodiversity Observation in the Deep Ocean

“…The NGS deep-sea camera system has been used across a variety of different geomorphological zones and habitats ( Table 1). It has been used extensively on seamounts (e.g., Easton et al, 2017;Buglass et al, 2020), in oceanic island/archipelagos (e.g., Giddens et al, 2020), polar shelf areas (e.g., Friedlander et al, 2020) and fjordlands (Chile, Southeast Alaska; Table 1). While the first-generation landers made exploratory deployments to hadal zones in ocean trenches (e.g., Puerto Rico, Tonga and Marianas Trenches) up to 10,641 m depth, the majority of deployments made with the next-generation deep-sea camera system have been conducted in <3000 m ( Table 1).…”