Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-ph5wq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-29T11:40:32.227Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Marine richness and gradients at Deception Island, Antarctica

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 May 2008

David K.A. Barnes*
Affiliation:
British Antarctic Survey, NERC, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 OET, UK
Katrin Linse
Affiliation:
British Antarctic Survey, NERC, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 OET, UK
Peter Enderlein
Affiliation:
British Antarctic Survey, NERC, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 OET, UK
Dan Smale
Affiliation:
British Antarctic Survey, NERC, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 OET, UK
Keiron P.P. Fraser
Affiliation:
British Antarctic Survey, NERC, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 OET, UK
Matt Brown
Affiliation:
British Antarctic Survey, NERC, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 OET, UK

Abstract

Studies of the recovery of the fauna following the 1967–70 eruptions at Deception Island, South Shetland Islands, have made it one of the best-studied marine sites of the Southern Ocean for biodiversity. Using SCUBA we surveyed the mega- and macro-epifauna of its subtidal zones in the entrance (Neptune's Bellows), immediately inside the caldera (Whaler's Bay) and well within the caldera (Fumarole Bay). Richness declined from 10 phyla, 13 classes and 35 species at Neptune's Bellows to three phyla, four classes and five species in Whaler's Bay and just two phyla, classes and species at Fumarole Bay. Amongst the 35 species we found at Neptune's Bellows, 14 were previously unrecorded from Deception Island. Despite many ship visits and amongst the warmest sea temperatures in the Southern Ocean, the Non Indigenous Species (NIS) algae were not found in our survey. Deception Island has been recolonized considerably since the recent eruptions, but many taxa are still very poorly represented and the colonizers present are mainly those with planktotrophic larvae. Examination of the literature revealed that to date 163 named marine species have been found within the caldera as well as at least 50 more morphospecies, which are yet to be identified. Species accumulation has consistently increased across eight recent samples reported and the number of species reported there is likely to reach 300 when taxa such as the nematodes are identified to species level. This represents a first meaningful total species estimate for an Antarctic marine area and, as the site is comparatively impoverished, indicates how rich the surrounding Antarctic shelf must be.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Antarctic Science Ltd 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Arnaud, P.M., Ramos-Espla, A.A., Ramos, A., Lopez, C.M., Olaso, I. & Ramil, F. 1998. Semi-quantitative study of macrobenthic fauna in the region of the South Shetland Islands and the Antarctic Peninsula. Polar Biology, 19, 160166.Google Scholar
Arntz, W.E., Brey, T. & Gallardo, V.A. 1994. Antarctic zoobenthos. Oceanography and Marine Biology, 32, 241304.Google Scholar
Barnes, D.K.A. 2000. Diversity, recruitment and competition on island shores at south polar localities compared with lower latitudes: encrusting community examples. Hydrobiologia, 440, 3744.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barnes, D.K.A., Hodgson, D.A., Convey, P., Allen, C.S. & Clarke, A.C. 2006. Incursion and excursion of Antarctic biota: past, present and future. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 15, 121142.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chevreux, E. 1913. Amphipodes. Deuxième Expédition Antarctique Française (1908–1910) commandée par le Dr. Jean Charcot. Sciences naturelles Documents Scientifiques, 2, 79186.Google Scholar
Child, C.A. 1994. Antarctic and subantarctic Pycnogonida 1. The family Ammotheidae. Antarctic Research Series, 63, 149.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Child, C.A. 1995a. Antarctic and subantarctic Pycnogonida III. The family Nymphonidae. Antarctic Research Series, 69, 168.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Child, C.A. 1995b. Antarctic and subantarctic Pycnogonida V. The families Pycnognidae, Phoxichilidiidae, Endeididae, and Callipallenidae, including the genus Pallenopsis. Antarctic Research Series, 69, 113160.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clarke, A. & Johnston, N. 2003. Antarctic marine benthic diversity. Oceanography and Marine Biology, 41, 47114.Google Scholar
Clayton, M.N., Wiencke, C. & Klöser, H. 1997. New records and sub-Antarctic marine benthic macroalgae from Antarctica. Polar Biology, 17, 141149.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cranmer, T.L., Ruhl, H.A., Baldwin, R.J. & Kaufmann, R.S. 2003. Spatial and temporal variation in the abundance, distribution and population structure of epibenthic megafauna in Port Foster, Deception Island. Deep-Sea Research II, 50, 18211842.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dayton, P.K. 1990. Polar benthos. In Smith, W.O., ed. Polar oceanography. San Diego, CA: Academic Press, 631685.Google Scholar
Downie, R.H., Convey, P., McInnes, S.J. & Pugh, P.J.A. 2000. The non-marine invertebrate fauna of Deception Island (Maritime Antarctic): a baseline for a comprehensive biodiversity database. Polar Record, 36, 297304.Google Scholar
Elderfield, H. 1972. Iron, manganese and silicon in waters of Deception Island. British Antarctic Survey Bulletin, No. 30, 103108.Google Scholar
Finger, K.L. 1975. Benthic foraminifera from Deception Island. Antarctic Journal of the United States, 10(4), 134135.Google Scholar
Frenot, Y., Chown, S.L., Whinam, J., Selkirk, P., Convey, P., Skotnicki, M. & Bergstrom, D. 2005. Biological invasions in the Antarctic: extent, impacts and implications. Biological Reviews, 80, 4572.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gallardo, V.A. & Castillo, J.G. 1968. Mass mortality in the benthic infauna of Port Foster resulting from the eruptions in Deception Island, (South Shetland Islands). Publicaciones Instituto Antartico Chileno, 16, 111.Google Scholar
Gallardo, V.A. & Castillo, J.G. 1970. Quantitative observations on the benthic macrofauna of Port Foster (Deception Island) and Chile Bay. (Greenwich Island). In Holdgate, M.W., ed. Antarctic ecology. London: Academic Press, 242243.Google Scholar
Gallardo, V.A., Castillo, J.G., Retamal, M.A., Hermosilla, J. & Trucco, R. 1975. Benthic community studies in the South Shetland Islands. Antarctic Journal of the United States, 10(4), 135.Google Scholar
Gallardo, V.A., Castillo, J.G., Retamal, M.A. & Yañes, A. 1977. Quantitative studies on the soft-bottom macrobenthic animal communities of shallow Antarctic bays. In Llano, G.A., ed. Adaptations within Antarctic ecosystems. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution, 361387.Google Scholar
Gaston, K.J., Chown, S.L. & Mercer, R.D. 2001. The animal species-body size distribution on Marion Island. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, 98, 14 49314 496.Google Scholar
Griffiths, H.J., Linse, K. & Crame, J.A. 2003. SOMBASE - Southern Ocean Mollusc Database: a tool for biogeographic analysis in diversity and ecology. Organisms Diversity and Evolution, 3, 207213.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Griffiths, H., Linse, K. & Barnes, D.K.A. 2008. Distribution of macrobenthic taxa across the Scotia Arc, Southern Ocean. Antarctic Science, 20, 213226.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hayward, P.J. 1995. Antarctic Cheilostomatous Bryozoa. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 355 pp.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Knight-Jones, P. & Knight-Jones, E.W. 1984. Systematics, ecology and distribution of southern hemisphere spirorbids (Polychaeta; Spirorbidae). In Hutchings, P.A., ed. Proceedings of the First International Polychaete Conference, Sydney, Australia, July 1983.Sydney: The Linnean Society of New South Wales, 197210.Google Scholar
Lewis, P.N., Bergstrom, D.M. & Whinam, J. 2006. Barging in: a temperate marine community travels to the subantarctic. Biological Invasions, 8, 787795.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lörz, A.-N. & Brandt, A. 2003. Diversity of peracarida (Crustacea, Malacostraca) caught in a suprabenthic sampler. Antarctic Science, 15, 433438.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lovell, L.L. & Trego, K.D. 2003. The epibenthic megafaunal and benthic infaunal invertebrates of Port Foster, Deception Island (South Shetland Islands Antarctica). Deep-Sea Research II, 50, 17991819.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moyano, G.H.I. 1978. Bryozoa de Bahias Antarticas: algunos aspectos ecologicos. Serie Cientifica, 24, 3560.Google Scholar
Olaso, I., Garcia-Castrillo, R.G. & Balguerias, G.E. 1997. Ichthyofauna of Livingstone and Deception Islands. Boletin de la Real Sociedad Espanola de Historia Natural, 93, 7986.Google Scholar
Retamal, M.A., Quintana, R. & Neira, F. 1982. Analisis cuali y cuantitativo de las comunidades bentonicas en Bahýa Foster (Isla Decepcion) (XXXV Expedicion Antartica Chilena, enero 1981. Publication Instituto Antarctico Chileno Series Cientica, 29, 515.Google Scholar
Sáiz-Salinas, J.I., Ramos, A., García, F.J., Troncoso, J.S., San Martin, G., Sanz, C. & Palacin, C. 1997. Quantitative analysis of macrobenthic soft-bottom assemblages in South Shetland waters (Antarctica). Polar Biology, 17, 393400.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
San Martin, G. & Parapar, J. 1997. ‘‘Errant’’ polychaetes of the Livingston Island shelf (South Shetlands, Antarctica), with the description of a new species. Polar Biology, 17, 285295.Google Scholar
San Martin, G., Parapar, J., Garcia, F.J. & Redondo, M.S. 2000. Quantitative analysis of soft bottoms infaunal macrobenthic polychaetes from South Shetland Islands (Antarctica). Bulletin of Marine Science, 67, 83102.Google Scholar
San Vicente, C., Ramos, A., Jimeno, A. & Sorbe, J.C. 1997. Suprabenthic assemblages from South Shetland Islands and Bransfield Strait (Antarctica): preliminary observations on faunistical composition, bathymetric and near-bottom distribution. Polar Biology, 18, 415422.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
San Vicente, C., Castelló, J., Corbera, J., Jimeno, A., Munilla, T., Sanz, M.C., Sorbe, J.C. & Ramos, A. 2007. Biodiversity and structure of the suprabenthic assemblages from South Shetland Islands and Bransfield Strait, Southern Ocean. Polar Biology, 30, 477486.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, R.I.L. 1996. Introduced plants in Antarctica: potential impacts and conservation issues. Biological Conservation, 76, 135146.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith Jr, K.L., Baldwin, R.J., Kaufmann, R.S. & Sturz, A.A. 2003. Ecosystem studies at Deception Island, Antarctica: an overview. Deep-Sea Research II, 50, 15951609.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Soot-Ryen, T. 1951. Antarctic Pelecypoda. Scientific Results of the Norwegian Antarctic Expedition 1927–1928, 32, 1146.Google Scholar
Stanwell-Smith, D., Peck, L.S., Clarke, A., Murray, A.W.A. & Todd, C.D. 1999. The distribution, abundance and seasonality of pelagic marine invertebrate larvae in the maritime Antarctic. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, B353, 114.Google Scholar
Tavares, M. & Melo, M.E.S. 2004. Discovery of the North Atlantic spider crab Hyas araneus (Linneaus, 1758) in the Antarctic Peninsula. Antarctic Science, 16, 129131.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thatje, S. & Fuentes, V. 2003. First record of anomuran and brachyuran larvae (Crustacea: Decapoda) from Antarctic waters. Polar Biology, 26, 279282.Google Scholar
Trotter, L. 2006. Below freezing, the Antarctic dive guide. Maidenhead: WildGuides Ltd, UK.Google Scholar