Antarctic SciencePub Date : 2024-09-19DOI: 10.1017/s0954102024000191
David G. Ainley, Virginia Morandini, Leo Salas, Nadav Nur, Jay Rotella, Kerry Barton, Phil O'B. Lyver, Kimberly T. Goetz, Michelle Larue, Rose Foster-Dyer, Claire L. Parkinson, Kevin R. Arrigo, Gert Van Dijken, Roxanne S. Beltran, Stacy Kim, Cassandra Brooks, Gerald Kooyman, Paul J. Ponganis, Fiona Shanhun, Dean P. Anderson
{"title":"Response of indicator species to changes in food web and ocean dynamics of the Ross Sea, Antarctica","authors":"David G. Ainley, Virginia Morandini, Leo Salas, Nadav Nur, Jay Rotella, Kerry Barton, Phil O'B. Lyver, Kimberly T. Goetz, Michelle Larue, Rose Foster-Dyer, Claire L. Parkinson, Kevin R. Arrigo, Gert Van Dijken, Roxanne S. Beltran, Stacy Kim, Cassandra Brooks, Gerald Kooyman, Paul J. Ponganis, Fiona Shanhun, Dean P. Anderson","doi":"10.1017/s0954102024000191","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s0954102024000191","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Most of the Ross Sea has been designated a marine protected area (MPA), proposed ‘to protect ecosystem structure and function’. To assess effectiveness, the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) selected Adélie (<span>Pygoscelis adeliae</span>) and emperor (<span>Aptenodytes forsteri</span>) penguins, Weddell seals (<span>Leptonychotes weddellii</span>) and Antarctic toothfish (<span>Dissostichus mawsoni</span>) as ecosystem change ‘indicator species’. Stable for decades, penguin and seal populations increased during 1998–2018 to surpass historical levels, indicating that change in ecosystem structure and function is underway. We review historical impacts to population trends, decadal datasets of ocean climate and fishing pressure on toothfish. Statistical modelling for Adélie penguins and Weddell seals indicates that variability in climate factors and cumulative extraction of adult toothfish may explain these trends. These mesopredators, and adult toothfish, all prey heavily on Antarctic silverfish (<span>Pleuragramma antarcticum</span>). Toothfish removal may be altering intraguild predation dynamics, leading to competitive release of silverfish and contributing to penguin and seal population changes. Despite decades of ocean/weather change, increases in indicator species numbers around Ross Island only began once the toothfish fishery commenced. The rational-use, ecosystem-based viewpoint promoted by CCAMLR regarding toothfish management needs re-evaluation, including in the context of the Ross Sea Region MPA.</p>","PeriodicalId":50972,"journal":{"name":"Antarctic Science","volume":"19 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-09-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142262553","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Antarctic SciencePub Date : 2024-09-09DOI: 10.1017/s0954102024000129
Zoë A. Thomas, Michael Macphail, Haidee Cadd, David J. Cantrill, David K. Hutchinson, Heather A. Haines, Karen Privat, Chris Turney, Stefanie Carter, Paul Brickle
{"title":"Evidence for a floristically diverse rainforest on the Falkland archipelago in the remote South Atlantic during the mid- to late Cenozoic","authors":"Zoë A. Thomas, Michael Macphail, Haidee Cadd, David J. Cantrill, David K. Hutchinson, Heather A. Haines, Karen Privat, Chris Turney, Stefanie Carter, Paul Brickle","doi":"10.1017/s0954102024000129","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s0954102024000129","url":null,"abstract":"We report the discovery of an ancient forest bed near Stanley, on the Falkland Islands, the second such ancient deposit identified on the South Atlantic island archipelago that is today marked by the absence of native tree species. Fossil pollen, spores and wood fragments preserved in this buried deposit at <jats:italic>Tussac House</jats:italic> show that the source vegetation was characterized by a floristically diverse rainforest dominated by <jats:italic>Nothofagus</jats:italic>-Podocarpaceae communities, similar to cool temperate <jats:italic>Nothofagus</jats:italic> forests/woodlands and Magellanic evergreen <jats:italic>Nothofagus</jats:italic> rainforests. The age limit of the deposit is inferred from the stratigraphic distribution of fossil pollen species transported by wind, birds or ocean currents from southern Patagonia, as well as similar vegetation types observed across the broader region. The deposit is suggested to be between Late Oligocene and Early Miocene, making it slightly older than the previously analysed Neogene West Point Island forest bed (200 km west of <jats:italic>Tussac House</jats:italic>). The combined evidence adds to our current knowledge of the role of climate change and transoceanic dispersal of plant propagules in shaping high-latitude ecosystems in the Southern Hemisphere during the late Palaeogene and Neogene.","PeriodicalId":50972,"journal":{"name":"Antarctic Science","volume":"17 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-09-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142200632","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Antarctic SciencePub Date : 2024-09-09DOI: 10.1017/s0954102024000166
Ícaro Vieira, Fábio Oliveira, Roberto Ferreira Machado Michel
{"title":"Beyond the ice: exploring Antarctic soils research through spatial and scientometrics analysis","authors":"Ícaro Vieira, Fábio Oliveira, Roberto Ferreira Machado Michel","doi":"10.1017/s0954102024000166","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s0954102024000166","url":null,"abstract":"This spatial-scientometric study addresses research on Antarctic soils from 1958 to 2021. Through the review of 553 publications in the Web of Science and Scopus databases, geographical distribution, productivity, coauthorship and research topics were analysed. The results highlight the high productivity and interaction between researchers and institutions around the world, with a focus on microbiology, pollution, bioremediation, biogeochemistry and thermal and water monitoring of the soil and permafrost. This study provides insights into the importance of polar soils as global environmental indicators. The scientometric and spatial approach contributes to understanding the social and conceptual structure in this research area in addition to the development of the subject in time and space.","PeriodicalId":50972,"journal":{"name":"Antarctic Science","volume":"14 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-09-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142200631","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Antarctic SciencePub Date : 2024-05-30DOI: 10.1017/s0954102024000154
Silvia H. Coria, Soledad Pérez Catán, Andrea I. Pasquini, María Arribere, Rosemary Vieira, Luiz H. Rosa, Juan M. Lirio, Karina L. Lecomte
{"title":"Geochemistry of lake sediments from the South Shetland Islands and James Ross Archipelago, north Antarctic Peninsula","authors":"Silvia H. Coria, Soledad Pérez Catán, Andrea I. Pasquini, María Arribere, Rosemary Vieira, Luiz H. Rosa, Juan M. Lirio, Karina L. Lecomte","doi":"10.1017/s0954102024000154","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s0954102024000154","url":null,"abstract":"The geochemistry of lake sediments provides valuable information on environmental conditions and geochemical processes in polar regions. To characterize geochemical composition and to analyse weathering and provenance, 26 lakes located in six islands of the South Shetland Islands (SSI) and James Ross Archipelago (JRA) were analysed. Regarding major composition, the studied lake sediments correspond to ferruginous mudstones and to a lesser extent to mudstones. The weathering indices indicate incipient chemical alteration (Chemical Index of Alteration = 52.6; Plagioclase Index of Alteration = 57.6). The La-Th-Sc plot shows different provenance signatures. SSI lake sediments correspond to oceanic island arcs, whereas those of JRA denote a signal of continental arcs with mixed sources. In James Ross Island lake sediments are of continental arcs (inland lakes), oceanic island arcs (coastal lakes) and a middle signature (foreland lakes). Multi-elemental analysis indicates that the sediments are enriched from regional basalts in Ba, Rb, Th, Cs and U (typical of silica-rich rocks) and depleted in Cr and Co due to mafic mineral weathering. The geochemical signals identified by principal component analysis enable us to group the sediments according to the studied islands and their geomorphological characteristics. This study underlines the importance of knowing the geochemical background levels in pristine lake sediments to evaluate potential future anthropogenic effects.","PeriodicalId":50972,"journal":{"name":"Antarctic Science","volume":"96 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-05-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141191600","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Antarctic SciencePub Date : 2024-05-10DOI: 10.1017/s0954102024000014
Agustina Celeste Cottet, María Inés Messuti, Martín Ansaldo, Laura Patricia Dopchiz
{"title":"Mosses of Cockburn Island plateau, Antarctica","authors":"Agustina Celeste Cottet, María Inés Messuti, Martín Ansaldo, Laura Patricia Dopchiz","doi":"10.1017/s0954102024000014","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s0954102024000014","url":null,"abstract":"Located east of the Antarctic Peninsula, Cockburn Island is a small island in the James Ross Archipelago. Studies of mosses on the island are scarce. The oldest studies date from the first half of the nineteenth century to the most recent in 1993. The number of records of mosses is very small due to the difficulty of accessing the area. Here, we report an updated composition of the moss flora of the plateau, in which four new records have been found: <jats:italic>Bryoerythrophyllum antarcticum</jats:italic>, <jats:italic>Ceratodon purpureus</jats:italic>, <jats:italic>Pohlia wilsonii</jats:italic> and <jats:italic>Schistidium lewis-smithii</jats:italic>. The occurrence of these species on the plateau shows that the ranges of these species have expanded from the Antarctic Peninsula to the east. This collection highlights the need for further research into the dynamics of moss flora in the context of climate change.","PeriodicalId":50972,"journal":{"name":"Antarctic Science","volume":"139 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-05-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140938980","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Antarctic SciencePub Date : 2024-05-07DOI: 10.1017/s0954102024000099
William S. Pearman, Clare I.M. Adams, Maria Monteiro, Antonio Quesada, Ceridwen I. Fraser
{"title":"Fine-scale phylogenetic diversity gradients support the Antarctic geothermal refugia hypothesis","authors":"William S. Pearman, Clare I.M. Adams, Maria Monteiro, Antonio Quesada, Ceridwen I. Fraser","doi":"10.1017/s0954102024000099","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s0954102024000099","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The possible role of geothermal areas, such as volcanoes, in fostering biodiversity in Antarctica has received considerable recent attention. Under a geothermal refugia hypothesis, diverse life could be supported near or at geothermal sites, and we should see decreasing diversity and/or patterns of nestedness moving away from ‘hotspots’. Although there is evidence that geothermal areas have played a role in the persistence of some terrestrial species through glacial periods in Antarctica, the spatial scales at which such refugia operate is not clear. We sampled sediment from a range of locations across volcanic Deception Island in the Maritime Antarctic and used eDNA metabarcoding approaches (targeting a region of the 28S marker) to assess patterns of diversity in relation to thermal gradients. We found that although colder sites harboured significantly greater taxonomic richness than warmer sites, phylogenetic diversity was lower at colder sites (i.e. taxa at colder sites tend to be more evolutionary close to each other). We infer that increased selective processes in low-temperature environments have reduced phylogenetic diversity, supporting a hypothesis of geothermal locations acting as refugia for diverse taxa, even on fine spatial scales, in cold-climate regions such as Antarctica.</p>","PeriodicalId":50972,"journal":{"name":"Antarctic Science","volume":"4 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-05-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140886329","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Antarctic SciencePub Date : 2024-04-19DOI: 10.1017/s0954102024000087
Michael S. Stone, Shawn P. Devlin, Ian Hawes, Kathleen A. Welch, Michael N. Gooseff, Cristina Takacs-Vesbach, Rachael Morgan-Kiss, Byron J. Adams, J.E. Barrett, John C. Priscu, Peter T. Doran
{"title":"McMurdo Dry Valley lake edge ‘moats’: the ecological intersection between terrestrial and aquatic polar desert habitats","authors":"Michael S. Stone, Shawn P. Devlin, Ian Hawes, Kathleen A. Welch, Michael N. Gooseff, Cristina Takacs-Vesbach, Rachael Morgan-Kiss, Byron J. Adams, J.E. Barrett, John C. Priscu, Peter T. Doran","doi":"10.1017/s0954102024000087","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s0954102024000087","url":null,"abstract":"Aquatic ecosystems - lakes, ponds and streams - are hotspots of biodiversity in the cold and arid environment of Continental Antarctica. Environmental change is expected to increasingly alter Antarctic aquatic ecosystems and modify the physical characteristics and interactions within the habitats that they support. Here, we describe physical and biological features of the peripheral ‘moat’ of a closed-basin Antarctic lake. These moats mediate connectivity amongst streams, lake and soils. We highlight the cyclical moat transition from a frozen winter state to an active open-water summer system, through refreeze as winter returns. Summer melting begins at the lakebed, initially creating an ice-constrained lens of liquid water in November, which swiftly progresses upwards, creating open water in December. Conversely, freezing progresses slowly from the water surface downwards, with water at 1 m bottom depth remaining liquid until May. Moats support productive, diverse benthic communities that are taxonomically distinct from those under the adjacent permanent lake ice. We show how ion ratios suggest that summer exchange occurs amongst moats, streams, soils and sub-ice lake water, perhaps facilitated by within-moat density-driven convection. Moats occupy a small but dynamic area of lake habitat, are disproportionately affected by recent lake-level rises and may thus be particularly vulnerable to hydrological change.","PeriodicalId":50972,"journal":{"name":"Antarctic Science","volume":"21 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-04-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140627500","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Antarctic SciencePub Date : 2024-04-02DOI: 10.1017/s0954102024000063
Jamie Bojko, Jamie M. Maxwell, Amy L. Burgess, Lance Nicado, Brian Federici, Huw J. Griffiths, Louise Allcock
{"title":"An iridovirus from the Antarctic seaspider Pentanymphon antarcticum (Pycnogonida)","authors":"Jamie Bojko, Jamie M. Maxwell, Amy L. Burgess, Lance Nicado, Brian Federici, Huw J. Griffiths, Louise Allcock","doi":"10.1017/s0954102024000063","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s0954102024000063","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The Antarctic seaspider <span>Pentanymphon antarcticum</span> is a benthic species in the Southern Ocean, but little is known about its pathogen profile. In this study, we provide a draft genome for a new iridovirus species that has been identified using metagenomic techniques. The draft genome totals 157 260 bp and encodes 188 protein-coding genes. The virus shows greatest protein similarity to a ‘carnivorous sponge-associated iridovirus’ from a deep-sea sponge host. This study represents the first discovery of a pycnogonid iridovirus and the first iridovirus from the Antarctic region.</p>","PeriodicalId":50972,"journal":{"name":"Antarctic Science","volume":"16 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-04-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140590491","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Antarctic SciencePub Date : 2024-03-25DOI: 10.1017/s0954102023000408
Laurence J. Clarke, Eric J. Raes, Toby Travers, Patti Virtue, Dana M. Bergstrom
{"title":"Extremophile hypolithic communities in the Vestfold Hills, East Antarctica","authors":"Laurence J. Clarke, Eric J. Raes, Toby Travers, Patti Virtue, Dana M. Bergstrom","doi":"10.1017/s0954102023000408","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s0954102023000408","url":null,"abstract":"The Vestfold Hills are a 400 km<jats:sup>2</jats:sup>, isolated ice-free oasis in eastern Antarctica featuring large areas with translucent quartz rocks that provide habitat for hypolithic microbial communities underneath. We used high-throughput DNA sequencing of 16S and 18S ribosomal RNA amplicons to characterize bacterial and eukaryotic hypolithic communities across the Vestfold Hills. We found high-level, local heterogeneity in community structure consistent with limited dispersal between hypoliths. Hypolithic communities were dominated by heterotrophic Bacteroidetes (mean bacterial relative read abundance: 56%) as well as Cyanobacteria (35%), with the eukaryote component often dominated by Chlorophyta (43%). Small but significant proportions of the variation in microbial community composition and function were explained by soil salinity (5–7%) and water availability (8–11%), with distinct taxa associated with different salinities and water availabilities. Furthermore, many inferred bacterial metabolic pathways were enriched in hypolithic communities from either dry or high-salinity sites. Vestfold Hills hypolithic habitats are likely to be local refuges for bacterial and eukaryotic diversity. Gradients in soil salinity and water availability across the Vestfold Hills, in addition to the number and diversity of lake types and fjords as potential source populations, may contribute to the observed variation in the extremophile, hypolithic microbial community composition.","PeriodicalId":50972,"journal":{"name":"Antarctic Science","volume":"47 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-03-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140299584","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Antarctic SciencePub Date : 2024-03-18DOI: 10.1017/s0954102024000051
David G. Ainley, Virginia Morandini, Kerry Barton, Phil O'B. Lyver, Megan Elrod, Michelle A. Larue, Jean Pennycook
{"title":"Varying population size of the Cape Royds Adélie penguin colony, 1955–2020: a synthesis","authors":"David G. Ainley, Virginia Morandini, Kerry Barton, Phil O'B. Lyver, Megan Elrod, Michelle A. Larue, Jean Pennycook","doi":"10.1017/s0954102024000051","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/s0954102024000051","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Among the longest Antarctic biological time series is that of Adélie penguin <span>Pygoscelis adeliae</span> population size at Cape Royds, 1955 to the present. Demographic trends over the 66 years fall into five periods: 1) decrease then recovery due to control of tourism from McMurdo Station/Scott Base; 2) further increase responding to the removal of > 20 000 trophically competing Antarctic minke whales <span>Balaenoptera bonaerensis</span> from the colony's wintering area; 3) stabilization but not decrease upon the ban of whaling in 1982, and whale recovery, owing to increased winds facilitating McMurdo Sound Polynya presence (easier ocean access during nesting); 4) decrease in 2001–2005 when two mega-icebergs, B15A/C16, opposed the wind effect by increasing sea-ice cover, thus limiting ocean access; and 5) after iceberg departure, minimal recovery due to the increased velocity of the wind-generated Ross Gyre reducing penguin breeding probability. A multivariant model using 1998–2018 data confirmed the roles of gyre speed (negative) and open water (positive) in colony growth. Additional negative influence came from high nest predation by south polar skuas <span>Stercorarius maccormicki</span>, reducing chick production, as well as perhaps increased trophic competition from nearby Weddell seals <span>Leptonychotes weddellii</span>. Clearly, long time series increase our understanding of penguin population dynamics responding to a complexity of factors.</p>","PeriodicalId":50972,"journal":{"name":"Antarctic Science","volume":"16 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-03-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140149148","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}