Abstract
In 2018 RRSJames Clark Rossinvestigated the marine benthic biodiversity of the Prince Gustav Channel area which separates the eastern coast of the Antarctic Peninsula from James Ross Island. The southern end of this channel had been covered by the Prince Gustav Ice Shelf until its collapse in 1995. Benthic samples were collected by an epibenthic sledge at six stations (200–1,200 m depth) in the channel and adjacent Duse Bay. In total 20,307 live collected mollusc specimens belonging to 50 species and 4 classes (Solenogastres, Bivalvia, Gastropoda, and Scaphopoda) were identified. The area may be characterised by it’s low species richness (ranging from 7 to 39 species per station) but high abundances (specifically of the Scaphopods with 11,331 specimens). The functional traits of the community were dominated by motile development and mobility type. Assemblage analyses of the molluscan species abundances within the Prince Gustav Channel stations sit distinct, with no pattern by depth or location. However, when bivalve assemblages were analysed with reference to the wider Weddell Gyre region (15 stations from 300 to 2,000 m depth), the Prince Gustav Channel sits distinct from the other Weddell Gyre stations with a higher dissimilarity between the deeper or more geographically distant areas. The Prince Gustav Channel is undergoing colonisation following the recent ice shelf collapse. With many Antarctic ice shelves threatened under climate warming, this area, with future monitoring, may serve as a case study of benthic faunal succession.
Highlights
The Antarctic Peninsula is the most northerly part of mainland Antarctica and in recent years has experienced dramatic warming of both the atmosphere and ocean as a result of climate change (Skvarca et al, 1998; Vaughan et al, 2003; Turner et al, 2005)
The aims of this study are to (1) describe the macrobenthic molluscan abundance, richness and diversity of the previously unstudied Prince Gustav Channel area (PGC) area of the Weddell Sea that is vulnerable to climate change, setting the current baseline for future biodiversity studies, (2) describe the assemblage structure and functional traits of the macrobenthic mollusc assemblages in the PGC, and (3) understand the biogeographic position of the PGC within the Southern Ocean by comparing the bivalve assemblage to other areas within the wider Weddell Gyre region
Prior to the JR10073a expedition in 2018, the PGC had not been sampled for benthic fauna, despite being a region of recent dramatic environmental change (Linse, 2018)
Summary
The Antarctic Peninsula is the most northerly part of mainland Antarctica and in recent years has experienced dramatic warming of both the atmosphere and ocean as a result of climate change (Skvarca et al, 1998; Vaughan et al, 2003; Turner et al, 2005). Floating ice shelves, fed by the continental ice sheet, are located at the coastline and as such are sensitive to any changes in atmospheric or oceanic circulation or temperature (Rott et al, 1996). In 1957 the Prince Gustav Ice Shelf (PGIS), the most northerly portion (Ferrigno, 2006), was separated from. The Prince Gustav Channel Mollusca the main Larsen Ice Shelf. By January 1995, a 4,200 km of the northern Larsen Ice shelf (Larsen A) and the PGIS broke away, eventually causing the shelf to collapse (Rott et al, 1996). In 2002 the Larsen B part collapsed (Rack and Rott, 2004) and in 2017 a 5,800 km iceberg (A68) broke off the Larsen C part (Marchant, 2017)
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