Composition and structure of the marine benthic community in Terra Nova Bay, Antarctica: Responses of the benthic assemblage to disturbances

The community structure and assemblages of marine benthic organisms were investigated in coastal areas near the Jang Bogo Antarctic Research Station in Terra Nova Bay during the 2012-2018 summer seasons. We also examined the recovery pattern of marine benthic organisms following disturbance due to t...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2019-12, Vol.14 (12), p.e0225551-e0225551
Main Authors: Kang, Yun Hee, Kim, Sanghee, Choi, Sun Kyeong, Moon, Kyeonglim, Choi, Han-Gu, Ko, Young Wook, Hawes, Ian, Kim, Sa-Heung, Kim, Ji Hee, Park, Sang Rul
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Antarctic Regions
Antarctic research
Arctic research
Bays - microbiology
Behavior
Benthos (Aquatic organisms)
Biodiversity
Biogeochemical cycles
Biology and Life Sciences
Biota
Climate change
Coastal sediments
Coastal zone
Coasts
Community structure
Construction
Cyclones
Diatoms
Diatoms - isolation & purification
Disturbance
Disturbance (Ecology)
Diversity indices
Dominant species
Earth Sciences
Ecological Parameter Monitoring - statistics & numerical data
Ecological Parameter Monitoring - trends
Ecology
Ecology and Environmental Sciences
Ecosystems
Editors
Environmental aspects
Fragilariopsis
Geologic Sediments - microbiology
Influence
Laboratories
Life sciences
Multidimensional scaling
Ordination
Organisms
People and Places
Phytoplankton - isolation & purification
Seasons
Seawater - microbiology
Sediments
Sediments (Geology)
Species diversity
Studies
Sulfur
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The community structure and assemblages of marine benthic organisms were investigated in coastal areas near the Jang Bogo Antarctic Research Station in Terra Nova Bay during the 2012-2018 summer seasons. We also examined the recovery pattern of marine benthic organisms following disturbance due to the construction of the Jang Bogo Station. A total of 26 taxa were identified in the study area during the experimental period. Species number and diversity indices (richness, evenness, and diversity) were relatively low compared to data previously reported from Terra Nova Bay. Sphaerotylus antarcticus, Clavularia frankliniana, Hydractinia sp., Iridaea cordata, Fragilariopsis spp., Alcyonium antarcticum, and Metalaeospira pixelli were the dominant species in this area. Of these, the diatom Fragilariopsis spp. were the most abundant species, indicating their key role in maintaining the marine benthic community and controlling biogeochemical cycling. During the construction of the Jang Bogo Station, sediment coverage increased and diatoms declined due to the release of sediment into the coastal area. In February 2014, one month after the disturbance due to cyclone, the diatom coverage increased dramatically and thereby species number, richness index, and diversity index steadily rose from 2015 to 2018. However, non-metric multidimensional scaling ordination analysis of species similarities among sampling times showed that community structure had not completely recovered by 2018. Thus, long-term monitoring is required to elucidate the post-disturbance settlement mechanisms of marine benthic organisms at the study area in Terra Nova Bay.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0225551