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Zonation in a cryptic Antarctic intertidal macrofaunal community

Part of: Antarctic Science International Bursary collection: Biosciences

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 October 2012

Catherine L. Waller
Catherine L. Waller*
Affiliation:
British Antarctic Survey, NERC, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0ET, UK
*
Current address: Centre for Marine and Environmental Sciences, University of Hull, Filey Road, Scarborough YO11 3AZ, UK c.l.waller@hull.ac.uk
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Abstract

Despite the general view that the Antarctic intertidal conditions are too extreme to support obvious signs of macrofaunal life, recent studies have shown that intertidal communities can survive over annual cycles. The current study investigates distribution of taxa within a boulder cobble matrix, beneath the outer, scoured surface of the intertidal zone at Adelaide Island, west Antarctic Peninsula. The intertidal zone at the study sites comprised compacted, flattened cobble pavements, which have been shown to be highly stable over time. Community structure was investigated using univariate and multivariate approaches. Virtually no macrofauna were present on the outer surface, but richness, diversity, abundance and size of animals increased with depth into the rock matrix. Abundance of taxa increased by an order of magnitude between the outer surface and the lowest level sampled. These findings show that the Antarctic intertidal is not always the uninhabitable environment currently perceived, and that under these highly variable environmental conditions at least some species have the capacity to survive.

Keywords

boulder-fieldcommunity structuredisturbancediversityencrusting
Type
Biological Sciences
Information
Antarctic Science , Volume 25 , Issue 1 , February 2013 , pp. 62 - 68
Copyright
Copyright © Antarctic Science Ltd 2012

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