Description of intertidal macro- and meiobenthic assemblages in Maxwell Bay, King George Island, South Shetland Islands, Southern Ocean

• Published in: Polar biology 2013-05, Vol.36 (5), p.673-689
• Main Authors: Bick, Andreas, Arlt, Günter
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Analysis; Animal and plant ecology; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Annelida and closely related phyla: sipuncula. Echiura. Nemertinea; Antarctic zone; Aquatic plants; Benthic fauna; Biodiversity; Biological and medical sciences; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Climate change; Climate effects; Coastal ecosystems; Coastal zone; Coasts; Copepoda; Crustaceans; Demecology; Ecology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gastropoda; General aspects; Invertebrates; Life Sciences; Macrofauna; Marine; Marine biology; Microbiology; Mollusca; Mollusks; Nematoda; Ocean; Oceanography; Oligochaeta; Original Paper; Particular ecosystems; Plant Sciences; Population density; Sea water ecosystems; Shellfish; Synecology; Taxa; Zoology
• ISSN: 0722-4060; 1432-2056
• DOI: 10.1007/s00300-013-1293-9

The intertidal benthic fauna of the Antarctic coastal areas is largely unknown and has long been thought to be absent or, at most, to be scarce. Since climate changes cause a progressive expansion of ice-free intertidal soft-bottom areas, the fauna of these areas could serve as essential criterion to evaluate the kind and dimension of such changes. We therefore investigated the faunal composition of the intertidal soft-bottom area of Maxwell Bay (King George Island, South Shetlands) in December 2006. Samples for quantitative analyses were taken from the soft-bottom during low tide using a plastic corer. We performed detailed analyses of the soft-bottom beneath a cobble layer, while hard-bottom and macrophytes were only sporadically investigated. Approximately 5,000 specimens were collected of which polychaetes (37.3 ± 7.6 (max. 44.7) ind. × 100 cm − ³) and harpacticoids (28.9 ± 28.5 (max. 104.0) ind. × 10 cm − ³) were the most abundant macro- and meiofauna taxa of the soft-bottom, followed by oligochaetes, nematodes, mollusks, and amphipods. A total of 58 macrofauna species were registered, of which 27 were identified only to a supraspecific level. The most species-rich macrofauna taxon was polychaetes with at least 24 species, followed by amphipods, gastropods, and oligochaetes with 6 species each. The harpacticoid copepods were represented by 15 families with more than 30 species. In summary, we show that the Antarctic intertidal soft-bottom is densely populated by macro- and meiofauna and that it deserves closer attention in the future to determine whether it can indeed serve as an indicator of the effect of climate changes on the Antarctic coastal areas.