Panto, G.

Pasotti, F.

Vanreusel, A.

Open Marine Archive

127 
Poster presentation Competition poster 
Benthic community structure and responses to global warming in the 
Prince Gustav Channel, Antarctica  
Panto' Gabriella1,2, Vanreusel Ann3 and Pasotti Francesca3 
1  University of Gent, Department of Biology, Research group Marine Biology, Campus Sterre, 
Krijgslaan 281/S8, 9000 Ghent, Belgium 
 E-mail: gabriella_pan@hotmail.it 
2  Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences and Bio-engineering Sciences, Vrije Universiteit 
Brussel – VUB, Pleinlaan 2, 1050 Brussels, Belgium  
3  Ghent University, Department of Biology, Marine Biology Research Group, Campus Sterre S8, 
Krijgslaan 281, 9000 Gent, Belgium  
 
The debate concerning climate change has been a central subject matter since the early ‘90s, 
and its consequences are strictly related to the sustainable development goals. Variation in 
environmental parameters are of crucial importance in particular for the 13th – Climate Action - 
and 14th – Life below water – goals, since it deeply impacts both human and animal life. 
Climate is rapidly mutating, and anthropogenic influence to such development is 
unquestionably significant. Evidences of climate change are distinctly visible in a variety of 
environmental networks, with marine ecosystems being the most affected. Environmental 
factors as temperature and pH are critical elements in determining species habitats and 
dynamics, hence it is not surprising that many organisms are facing profound modification of 
their life cycle events in response to climate change. Polar species represent an extremely 
sensitive group of organisms as they live in a very pristine ecosystem, and their survival is 
severely threatened by climate change. The Antarctic continent has always been studied in 
order to better understand the relation between human-induced climate changes and ice 
melting, and in this context the Antarctic peninsula represents the most impacted region on 
earth. It is indeed experiencing rates of atmosphere warming greater than the global mean and 
the -9 °C isotherm has moved southwards, determining a loss of 28 000 km2 of ice shelves since 
1960. Disintegration of ice shelves and glacier retreat events are closely associated to variation 
in community structures at different trophic levels of the Antarctic food web.  
 
The study of community response to climate changes is of particular interest when investigating 
the possible trophic cascade, hence alterations of diverse organisms and their dynamics in 
relation to the environment they inhabit. Benthic fauna is especially useful to investigate how 
indirect and direct anthropogenic influence is able to affect and re-shape the ecological 
dynamics of species considerably distant from humans. Climate change has a negative effect on 
benthic interactions, although some organisms may actually be capable of adapting to specific 
altered conditions, therefore a growing interest is rising towards these fascinating communities, 
and particularly with respect to the phylum of Nematoda. Nematodes are unquestionably the 
most abundant metazoans populating the seafloor sediments and it is largely verified that they 
are good bio-indicators of environmental conditions in several diverse ecosystems, from 
shallow to deep waters, and from undisturbed to scoured sediments. For these reasons, the 
following study will focus on nematodes abundance and biodiversity.  
 
The samples will be used to investigate three distinct research hypotheses. First of all, major 
changes in sediment conditions and community assemblages of associated meiofauna will be 
studied to assess the influence of different ice condition in historical and present times. Indeed, 
glacier impact, hydrological dynamics and surface productivity are supposed to play an 
important function in determining the community structure in three contiguous deep basins 
along Prince Gustav Channel. Secondly, the benthic diversity of PGC deep basins will be 
investigated in order to confirm its similarity to populations inhabiting the adjacent shelf rather 
128 
than to the bathyal fauna of the Weddell Sea. Finally, evident differences in benthic 
communities are supposed to occur comparing the shallower, most likely impacted areas of 
Duse Bay with deeper protected basins. These are also expected to act as carbon sink, thus 
providing more nutrients to benthic assemblages and suggesting the presence of abundant 
populations.  
 
The study represents the first analysis of biodiversity in this area, and it would provide more 
information about the impact of global warming on Antarctic dynamics. 
 
Keywords: Sustainable development goals; Climate change; Ice melting; Antarctica; Benthos; 
Nematodes 
  


Benthic community structure and responses to global warming in the Prince Gustav Channel, Antarctica

http://www.vliz.be/imisdocs/publications/324908.pdf

Benthic community structure and responses to global warming in the Prince Gustav Channel, Antarctica

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