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Quantitative relationships between benthic diatom assemblages and water chemistry in Macquarie Island lakes and their potential for reconstructing past environmental changes
Citation
Saunders, KM and Hodgson, DA and McMinn, A, Quantitative relationships between benthic diatom assemblages and water chemistry in Macquarie Island lakes and their potential for reconstructing past environmental changes, Antarctic Science, 21, (1) pp. 35-49. ISSN 0954-1020 (2009) [Refereed Article]
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Copyright Statement
Antarctic Science, Cambridge University Press Copyright © Antarctic Science Ltd 2009
Official URL: http://journals.cambridge.org
DOI: doi:10.1017/S0954102008001442
Abstract
This study is the first published survey of diatom-environment relationships on sub-Antarctic
Macquarie Island. Fifty-eight sites in 50 coastal and inland lakes were sampled for benthic diatoms and
water chemistry. 208 diatom species from 34 genera were identified. Multivariate analyses indicated that
the lakes were distributed along nutrient and conductivity gradients. Conductivity, pH, phosphate (SRP),
silicate and temperature all explained independent portions of the variance in the diatom data. Transfer
functions provide a quantitative basis for palaeolimnological studies of past climate change and human
impacts, and can be used to establish baseline conditions for assessing the impacts of recent climate
change and the introduction of non-native plants and animals. Statistically robust diatom transfer
functions for conductivity, phosphate and silicate were developed, while pH and temperature transfer
functions performed less well. The lower predictive abilities of the pH and temperature transfer
functions probably reflect the broad pH tolerance range of diatoms on Macquarie Island and uneven
distribution of lakes along the temperature gradient. This study contributes to understanding the
current ecological distribution of Macquarie Island diatoms and provides transfer functions that
will be applied in studies of diatoms in lake sediment cores to quantitatively reconstruct past
environmental changes.
Item Details
| Item Type: | Refereed Article |
|---|---|
| Keywords: | climate change, limnology, management, palaeolimnology, sub-Antarctic, transfer function |
| Research Division: | Biological Sciences |
| Research Group: | Ecology |
| Research Field: | Marine and Estuarine Ecology (incl. Marine Ichthyology) |
| Objective Division: | Environment |
| Objective Group: | Ecosystem Assessment and Management |
| Objective Field: | Ecosystem Assessment and Management of Antarctic and Sub-Antarctic Environments |
| UTAS Author: | Saunders, KM (Dr Krystyna Saunders) |
| UTAS Author: | McMinn, A (Professor Andrew McMinn) |
| ID Code: | 62720 |
| Year Published: | 2009 |
| Web of Science® Times Cited: | 17 |
| Deposited By: | IASOS |
| Deposited On: | 2010-03-18 |
| Last Modified: | 2010-05-07 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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