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Diversity, abundance, spatial variation, and human impacts in marine meiobenthic nematode and copepod communities at Casey Station, East Antarctica
Citation
Stark, JS and Mohammad, M and McMinn, A and Ingels, J, Diversity, abundance, spatial variation, and human impacts in marine meiobenthic nematode and copepod communities at Casey Station, East Antarctica, Frontiers in Marine Science, 7, (JUNE) Article 480. ISSN 2296-7745 (2020) [Refereed Article]
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Copyright Statement
Copyright © 2020 Stark, Mohammad, McMinn and Ingels. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
DOI: doi:10.3389/fmars.2020.00480
Abstract
The composition, spatial structure, diversity and abundance of Antarctic nematode and copepod meiobenthic communities was examined in shallow (5–25 m) marine coastal sediments at Casey Station, East Antarctica. The sampling design incorporated spatial scales ranging from 10 meters to kilometers and included testing for human impacts by comparing polluted (metal and hydrocarbon contaminated sediments adjacent to old waste disposal sites) and control areas. A total of 38 nematode genera and 20 copepod families were recorded with nematodes being dominant, comprising up to 95% of the total abundance. Variation was greatest at the largest scale (km’s) but each location had distinct assemblages. At smaller scales there were different patterns of variation for nematodes and copepods. There were significant differences between communities at control and impacted locations. Community patterns had strong correlations with concentrations of metals introduced by human activity in sediments as well as sediment grain size and total organic content. Given the strong association with environmental patterns, particularly those associated with human impacts, we provide further evidence that meiofauna are very useful indicators of anthropogenic environmental changes in Antarctica.
Item Details
| Item Type: | Refereed Article |
|---|---|
| Keywords: | meiofauna, benthic community, marine sediments, metals, Antarctic, human impacts, nematodes, copepods |
| Research Division: | Biological Sciences |
| Research Group: | Ecology |
| Research Field: | Marine and estuarine ecology (incl. marine ichthyology) |
| Objective Division: | Environmental Management |
| Objective Group: | Management of Antarctic and Southern Ocean environments |
| Objective Field: | Biodiversity in Antarctic and Southern Ocean environments |
| UTAS Author: | Mohammad, M (Mr Mahadi Mohammad) |
| UTAS Author: | McMinn, A (Professor Andrew McMinn) |
| ID Code: | 139742 |
| Year Published: | 2020 |
| Deposited By: | Ecology and Biodiversity |
| Deposited On: | 2020-07-01 |
| Last Modified: | 2021-04-28 |
| Downloads: | 2 View Download Statistics |
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