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Intertidal benthic communities associated with the macroalgae Iridaea cordata and Adenocystis utricularis in King George Island, Antarctica

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Abstract

Antarctic benthos has been a main target in Antarctic research, but very few quantitative studies have been carried out in the littoral zone, which may be seasonally covered by macroalgae. In this work, we studied (1) cover and biomass of the macroalgae Iridaea cordata and Adenocystis utricularis, and (2) composition of macrobenthic assemblage associated with these macroalgal species at three locations at King George Island: Mareograph Beach (1 M), Tank’s Bay (2R) and Ardley Bay (3R). Iridaea cordata was collected by completely detaching the algae from the substrate, while A. utricularis was scraped. Adenocystis utricularis covered more than 80 % of the substrate at all locations, while coverage of Iridaea cordata was below 53 % or absent (3R). Fresh biomass of I. cordata was 0.8–61.4 g/individual and 4.7–93.0 g/100 cm2 for A. utricularis. The assemblage associated with both macroalgae differed significantly between sites. The studied fauna was composed mainly of amphipods, gastropods and bivalves. Species diversity was higher in the community associated with A. utricularis. A total of ~27 ind/g DW were found associated with I. cordata, while ~112 ind/g DW were found associated with A. utricularis. The most abundant groups associated with I. cordata were amphipods at 1 M (57 %) and gastropods at 2R (46 %). Both groups were responsible for the dissimilarity between localities (62.50 %). The most abundant groups associated with A. utricularis were the gastropods at all localities reaching up to 82 % at 1 M. This study provides a first baseline on the diversity and abundance of benthic assemblages associated with intertidal macroalgae in the southwest of King George Island.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the Venezuelan Scientific Antarctic Program, through the 2009 exploration campaign carried out by the Ministerio del Poder Popular para Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación (MCTI) and the Armada Nacional Bolivariana, with the collaboration of the Instituto Antártico Uruguayo. Special thanks to Manuel Caballer and Nelsy Rivero, who helped in the fieldwork. We also wish to thank Sandra López, Humberto Camisotti and Emiliana Mendoza, students at Universidad Simón Bolívar in Caracas, Venezuela for their laboratory assistance and Emanuel Valero for his assistance with the figures. We extend our gratitude to the four anonymous reviewers who provided invaluable comments and literature to significantly improve the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Estudios Ambientales, Universidad Simón Bolívar, Valle de Sartenejas, Caracas, Estado Miranda, 89000, Venezuela

    Alberto Martín, Patricia Miloslavich, Yusbelly Díaz, Ileana Ortega, Eduardo Klein & Ana K. Carbonini

  2. Australian Institute of Marine Science, Townsville, QLD, Australia

    Patricia Miloslavich

  3. Programa de Pós-graduação em Oceanografia Biológica, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande (FURG), Av Itália, km 8, Campus Carreiros, Rio Grande, RS, 96201-90, Brazil

    Ileana Ortega

  4. ECIMAT - Toralla Marine Sciences Station, University of Vigo, 36331, Vigo, Spain

    Jesús Troncoso

  5. Departamento de Ecología y Biología Animal, Facultad de Ciencias del Mar, Universidad de Vigo, Campus Lagoas Marcosende, 36310, Vigo, Spain

    Jesús Troncoso

  6. Laboratorio de Ecología y Medio Ambiente, Instituto de la Patagonia, Universidad de Magallanes, Avenida Bulnes, 01890, Punta Arenas, Chile

    Cristian Aldea

  7. Programa GAIA-Antártica, Universidad de Magallanes, Punta Arenas, Chile

    Cristian Aldea

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  1. Alberto Martín
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Correspondence to Ileana Ortega.

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Martín, A., Miloslavich, P., Díaz, Y. et al. Intertidal benthic communities associated with the macroalgae Iridaea cordata and Adenocystis utricularis in King George Island, Antarctica. Polar Biol 39, 207–220 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-015-1773-1

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