Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Algal canopy as a proxy for the disturbance history of understorey communities in East Antarctica

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Polar Biology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Much of the macroalgal zonation on Antarctic coasts is thought to be maintained by ice scour. The frequency and severity of ice scour typically decrease with depth, which is hypothesized to drive the zonation of two canopy-forming macroalgae, Desmarestia menziesii and Himantothallus grandifolius. If true, understorey communities should share the same history of ice scour as their respective canopies, and their composition should vary accordingly. To evaluate this prediction we collected boulders from under each canopy species at two depths, 6 and 12 m, at two sites on the coast of East Antarctica. We examined the hard-substrate communities growing on boulders and tested for differences in community composition with respect to canopy species, surface orientation, and depth. Communities under the different canopies showed some variation consistent with the hypothesized difference in disturbance history. Those under H. grandifolius accommodated a greater abundance and diversity of sponges, which is usually characteristic of older, later successional communities. Differences were subtle, however, suggesting that canopies might be maintained by ice disturbance over large temporal scale relative to those at which understorey communities develop, and/or that canopies themselves influence understorey composition. This study describes patterns associated with one of the most prominent examples of bathymetric zonation in shallow Antarctic benthos, and experimental work is now needed to partition the processes at work.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Anderson MJ (2005) PERMANOVA: a FORTRAN computer program for permutational multivarite analysis of variance. Department of Statistics, University of Auckland

  • Anderson MJ, Robinson J (2003) Generalised discriminant analysis based on distances. Aust NZ J Stat 45:301–318

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anderson MJ, Willis TJ (2003) Canonical analysis of principal coordinates: a useful method of constrained ordination for ecology. Ecology 84:511–525

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barnes DKA (1995) Sublittoral epifaunal communities at Signy Island, Antarctica. I. The ice foot zone. Mar Biol 121:555–563

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barnes DKA (1999) The influence of ice on polar nearshore benthos. J Mar Biol Assoc UK 79:401–407

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barnes DKA (2000) Diversity, recruitment and competition on island shores at south-polar localities compared with lower latitudes: encrusting community examples. Hydrobiologia 440:37–44

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barnes DKA, Rothery P, Clarke A (1996) Colonization and development in encrusting communities from the Antarctic intertidal and sublittoral. J Exp Mar Biol 196:251–265

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bishchof K, Hanelt D, Wiencke C (1998) UV-radiation can affect depth-zonation of Antarctic macroalgae. Mar Biol 131:597–605

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bowden DA, Clarke A, Peck LS, Barnes DKA (2006) Antarctic sessile marine benthos: colonization and growth on artificial substrata over three years. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 316:1–16

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown KM, Fraser KPP, Barnes DKA, Peck LS (2004) Links between the structure of an Antarctic shallow-water community and ice-scour frequency. Oecologia 141:121–129

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Conlan KE, Kvitek RG (2005) Recolonization of soft-sediment ice scours on an exposed Arctic coast. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 286:21–42

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Connell JH (1978) Diversity in tropical rain forests and coral reefs. Science 199:1302–1310

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Connell SD (2003) Negative effects overpower the positive of kelp to exclude invertebrates from the understory community. Oecologia 137:97–103

    Google Scholar 

  • Connell SD (2005) Assembly and maintenance of subtidal habitat heterogeneity: synergistic effects of light penetration and sedimentation. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 289:53–61

    Google Scholar 

  • Dayton PK (1975) Experimental studies of algal canopy interactions in a sea otter dominated kelp community at Amchitka Island, Alaska. NMFFB 73:230–237

    Google Scholar 

  • Dayton PK (1989) Interdecadal variation in an Antarctic sponge and its predators from oceanographic climate shifts. Science 245:1484–1486

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dayton PK (1990) Polar benthos. In: Smith WOJ (ed) Polar oceanography B. Chemistry, biology, and geology. Academic Press, London, pp 631–685

    Google Scholar 

  • DeLaca TE, Lipp JH (1976) Shallow-water marine associations, Antarctic Peninsula. Antarct J 11:12–19

    Google Scholar 

  • Eckman JE, Duggins DO, Sewell AT (1989) Ecology of understory kelp environments. I. Effects of kelp on flow and particle transport near the bottom. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 129:173–187

    Google Scholar 

  • Edwards MS (1998) Effects of long-term kelp canopy exclusion on the abundance of the annual alga Desmarestia ligulata (Light F). J Exp Mar Biol 129:173–187

    Google Scholar 

  • Gutt J (2001) On the direct impact of ice on marine benthic communities, a review. Polar Biol 24:553–564

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gutt J, Starmans A (2001) Quantification of iceberg impact and benthic recolonization patterns in the Weddell Sea (Antarctica). Polar Biol 24:615–619

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gutt J, Starmans A, Dieckmann G (1996) Impact of iceberg scouring on polar benthic habitats. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 137:311–316

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hayward PJ (1995) Antarctic Cheilostomatous Bryozoa. Oxford University Press, Oxford

  • Heywood RB, Whitaker TM (1984) The Antarctic marine flora. In: Laws RM (ed) Antarctic ecology. Academic Press, London, pp 373–410

    Google Scholar 

  • Huston MA (1979) A general hypothesis of species diversity. Am Nat 113:81–101

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Irving AD, Connell SD (2002) Sedimentation and light penetration interact to maintain heterogeneity of subtidal habitats: algal versus invertebrate dominated assemblages. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 245:83–91

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnston EL, Connell SD, Irving AD, Pile AJ, Gillanders BM (2007) Antarctic patterns of shallow subtidal habitat and inhabitants in Wilke’s Land. Polar Biol 30:781–788

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jonsson PR, Granhag L, Moschella PS, Aberg P, Hawkins SJ, Thompson RC (2006) Interactions between wave action and grazing control the distribution of intertidal macroalgae. Ecology 87:1169–1178

    Google Scholar 

  • Kloser H, Quartino ML, Wiencke C (1996) Distribution of macroalgae and macroalgal communities in gradients of physical conditions in Potter Cove, King George Island, Antarctica. Hydrobiologia 333:1–17

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lubchenco J (1980) Algal zonation in the New England rocky intertidal community: an experimental analysis. Ecology 61:333–344

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McClintock JB, Amsler CD, Baker BJ, van Soest RWM (2005) Ecology of Antarctic marine sponges: an overview. ICB 45:359–368

    Google Scholar 

  • McCook LJ, Chapman ARO (1993) Community succession following massive ice-scour on a rocky intertidal shore: recruitment, competition and predation during early, primary succession. Mar Biol 115:565–575

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pearse JS, McClintock JB, Bosch I (1991) Reproduction of Antarctic benthic marine invertebrates: tempos, modes and timing. Amer Zool 31:65–80

    Google Scholar 

  • Peck LS, Brockington S, Vanhove S, Beghyn M (1999) Community recovery following catastrophic iceberg impacts in a soft-sediment shallow-water site at Signy Island, Antarctica. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 186:1–8

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Richardson MG (1979) The distribution of Antarctic marine macroalgae related to depth and substrate. Brit Antarct Surv B 49:1–13

    Google Scholar 

  • Smale DA (2007) Ice disturbance intensity structures benthic communities in nearshore Antarctic waters. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 349:89–102

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smale DA, Barnes DKA, Fraser KPP (2007) The influence of ice scour on benthic communities at three contrasting sites at Adelaide Island, Antarctica. Austral Ecol 32:878–888

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smale DA, Brown KM, Barnes DKA, Fraser KPP, Clarke A (2008) Ice scour disturbance in Antarctic waters. Science 321:371

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Stark JS (2008) Patterns of higher taxon colonisation and development in sessile marine benthic assemblages at Casey Station, Antarctica, and their use in environmental monitoring. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 365:77–89

    Google Scholar 

  • Wiencke C (1996) Recent advances in the investigation of Antarctic macroalgae. Polar Biol 16:231–240

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wiencke C, Clayton MN (2002) Antarctic Seaweeds. A.R.G. Gantner Verlag, Jena

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This work was funded by an APA awarded to G. Clark, and an Australian Antarctic Division Grant awarded to E. Johnston. We thank P. Dayton and two anonymous reviewers for helpful comments which improved this manuscript.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Evolution and Ecology Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia

    Graeme F. Clark & Emma L. Johnston

  2. Environmental Protection and Change Program, Australian Antarctic Division, Kingston, TAS, 7050, Australia

    Jonathan S. Stark

  3. The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, PO Box 1379, Townsville, QLD, 4810, Australia

    Lisa A. Perrett

  4. Tasmanian Aquaculture and Fisheries Institute, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 49, Hobart, TAS, 7001, Australia

    Nicole A. Hill

Authors
  1. Graeme F. Clark
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jonathan S. Stark
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Lisa A. Perrett
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Nicole A. Hill
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Emma L. Johnston
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Graeme F. Clark.

Additional information

Ethical standards Research conducted in this study complies with Australian law, and all ethical standards were adhered to.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary material 1 (PDF 69 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Clark, G.F., Stark, J.S., Perrett, L.A. et al. Algal canopy as a proxy for the disturbance history of understorey communities in East Antarctica. Polar Biol 34, 781–790 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-010-0931-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-010-0931-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation