Pristine Seas, National Geographic Society, Washington, DC, United States of America.
Hawai'i Institute of Marine Biology, University of Hawai'i, Kāne'ohe, Hawai'i, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2020 Oct 1;15(10):e0239895. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0239895. eCollection 2020.
Knowledge of continental shelf faunal biodiversity of Antarctica is patchy and as such, the ecology of this unique ecosystem is not fully understood. To this end, we deployed baited cameras at 20 locations along ~ 500 km of the Western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) at depths from 90 to 797 m. We identified 111 unique taxa, with mud bottom accounting for 90% of the dominant (≥ 50% cover) habitat sampled. Amphipoda comprised 41% of the total maximum number of individuals per camera deployment (MaxN) and occurred on 75% of deployments. Excluding this taxon, the highest MaxN occurred around King George/25 de Mayo Island and was driven primarily by the abundance of krill (Euphausiidae), which accounted for 36% of total average MaxN among deployments around this island. In comparison, krill comprised 22% of total average MaxN at Deception Island and only 10% along the peninsula. Taxa richness, diversity, and evenness all increased with depth and depth explained 18.2% of the variation in community structure among locations, which may be explained by decreasing ice scour with depth. We identified a number of Vulnerable Marine Ecosystem taxa, including habitat-forming species of cold-water corals and sponge fields. Channichthyidae was the most common fish family, occurring on 80% of all deployments. The Antarctic jonasfish (Notolepis coatsorum) was the most frequently encountered fish taxa, occurring on 70% of all deployments and comprising 25% of total MaxN among all deployments. Nototheniidae was the most numerically abundant fish family, accounting for 36% of total MaxN and was present on 70% of the deployments. The WAP is among the fastest warming regions on Earth and mitigating the impacts of warming, along with more direct impacts such as those from fishing, is critical in providing opportunities for species to adapt to environmental change and to preserve this unique ecosystem.
南极洲大陆架动物区系生物多样性的知识是零散的，因此，这个独特生态系统的生态学还没有被完全理解。为此，我们在西南极半岛（WAP）的 20 个地点，在 90 至 797 米的深度部署了带诱饵的摄像机。我们鉴定了 111 个独特的分类群，泥底占采样的主要（≥50%覆盖率）栖息地的 90%。在每个摄像机部署的总最大个体数（MaxN）中，端足目动物占 41%，在 75%的部署中出现。不包括这个分类群，在乔治国王岛/25 月 5 日岛周围的 MaxN 最高，主要是由于磷虾（磷虾科）的丰度，磷虾占该岛周围所有部署的总平均 MaxN 的 36%。相比之下，磷虾在欺骗岛占总平均 MaxN 的 22%，而在半岛上仅占 10%。物种丰富度、多样性和均匀度都随深度增加而增加，深度解释了 18.2%的地点之间群落结构的变化，这可能是由于随着深度的增加冰的冲刷减少。我们确定了一些脆弱的海洋生态系统分类群，包括冷水珊瑚和海绵场的形成物种。Channichthyidae 是最常见的鱼类科，在所有部署中出现 80%。南极乔纳斯鱼（Notolepis coatsorum）是最常遇到的鱼类分类群，在所有部署中出现 70%，在所有部署的总 MaxN 中占 25%。Nototheniidae 是数量最多的鱼类科，占总 MaxN 的 36%，在 70%的部署中都有出现。西南极半岛是地球上变暖最快的地区之一，减轻变暖的影响，以及更直接的影响，如渔业的影响，对于为物种提供适应环境变化的机会和保护这个独特的生态系统至关重要。
