Antarctic Ecosystems

Alex Rogers is a marine biologist working on the ecology and conservation of marine ecosystem. Most of his research has focused on Antarctic and deep-sea habitats, including seamounts, hydrothermal vents and cold-water corals. He uses molecular tools to help investigate the diversity and evolution of species and connectivity of populations of marine organisms. He has also worked extensively on human impacts on the oceans and the development of policies for improved management of the oceans. Nadine Johnston is a marine ecologist. Her research is focused on the interaction of Scotia Sea species and their links to the circumpolar ocean (from a food web perspective) to understand the importance of spatial and temporal variability in the operation of this ecosystem.Eugene Murphy has spent over 25 years working on polar marine ecosystems, as a marine ecologist and ecological modeller.  His major interests are in the structure and function of oceanic ecosystems, and how biological and physical interactions at different scales affect the dynamics of marine populations, the overall structure of marine ecosystems amd their response to change.Andrew Clarke has spent the over 40 years working in polar regions, principally as a marine ecologist.  His major interests are the elationship between temperature and the physiology and ecology of organisms, and how changes in climate over geological time have influenced the distribution and diversity of organisms.

“Overall, this book provides a comprehensive overview of Antarctic ecosystems and the open access approach to publication means this volume serves as an easy entre to that literature – many ecologists will benefit from this compilation.”  (Austral Ecology, 1 October 2013)“As an institutional library purchase, I would recommend this book.”  (Frontiers of biogeography, 5 January 2013“This timely summary of the state of Antarctic ecological science provides a springboard for an exciting future of Antarctic research.”  (The Quarterly Review of Biology, 1 June 2013)“Overall, I appreciated the book and found it to be a very good synthesis especially of the marine information.”  (Biodiversity and Conservation, 1 October 2012)“The first of these two books is a good scientific treatise on how snow and ice communities work at the moment, while the second concentrates more on marine environments and their likely future. Both are good and should be in the library.”  (British Ecological Society Bulletin, 1 August 2012)“This book is a must for senior undergraduates, graduate students, and scientists interested in Antarctic ecosystems.  Summing Up: Highly recommended.  Upper-division undergraduates through professionals.”  (Choice, 1 September 2012)

• Contributors, xiINTRODUCTION: ANTARCTIC ECOLOGY IN A CHANGING WORLD, 1Andrew Clarke, Nadine M. Johnston, Eugene J. Murphy and Alex D. RogersIntroduction, 1Climate change, 2The historical context, 3The importance of scale, 3Fisheries and conservation, 4Concluding remarks, 6References, 6PART 1 TERRESTRIAL AND FRESHWATER HABITATS, 111 SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL VARIABILITY IN TERRESTRIAL ANTARCTIC BIODIVERSITY, 13Steven L. Chown and Peter Convey1.1 Introduction, 131.2 Variation across space, 161.2.1 Individual and population levels, 161.2.2 Species level, 181.2.3 Assemblage and ecosystem levels, 201.3 Variation through time, 251.3.1 Individual level, 261.3.2 Population level, 271.3.3 Species level, 291.3.4 Assemblage and ecosystem levels, 291.4 Conclusions and implications, 30Acknowledgments, 31References, 312 GLOBAL CHANGE IN A LOW DIVERSITY TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEM: THE MCMURDO DRY VALLEYS, 44Diana H. Wall2.1 Introduction, 442.2 The McMurdo dry valley region, 462.3 Above–belowground interactions, 462.4 The functioning of low diversity systems, 502.5 Effects of global changes on coupled above–belowground subsystems, 512.6 Temperature change: warming, 522.7 Temperature change: cooling, 542.8 Direct human influence: trampling, 542.9 UV Radiation, 552.10 Concluding remarks, 56Acknowledgements, 56References, 563 ANTARCTIC LAKES AS MODELS FOR THE STUDY OF MICROBIAL BIODIVERSITY, BIOGEOGRAPHY AND EVOLUTION, 63David A. Pearce and Johanna Laybourn-Parry3.1 The variety of antarctic lake types, 633.2 The physical and chemical lake environment, 663.3 The microbial diversity of antarctic lakes, 663.3.1 Methods for exploring Antarctic lake biodiversity, 673.3.2 Microbial groups, 693.3.3 Protists, 703.3.4 Crustacea, 723.4 Biogeography, 743.4.1 Spatial variation and the global ubiquity hypothesis, 743.4.2 Temporal variation and palaeolimnology, 753.5 Evolution, 763.5.1 Prokaryote physiology, 763.5.2 Eukaryote physiology, 773.6 Future perspectives, 783.7 Acknowledgement, 78References, 78PART 2 MARINE HABITATS AND REGIONS, 914 THE IMPACT OF REGIONAL CLIMATE CHANGE ON THE MARINE ECOSYSTEM OF THE WESTERN ANTARCTIC PENINSULA, 93Andrew Clarke, David K. A. Barnes, Thomas J. Bracegirdle, Hugh W. Ducklow, John C. King, Michael P. Meredith, Eugene J. Murphy and Lloyd S. Peck4.1 Introduction, 934.1.1 The oceanographic setting, 964.1.2 The historical context, 974.2 Predicted environmental changes along the western antarctic peninsula, 984.3 Environmental variability and ecological response, 1004.3.1 Biotic responses to climate change: some general points, 1024.4 Responses of individual marine species to climate change, 1024.4.1 Acclimation and evolutionary responses to environmental change in antarctic marine organisms, 1044.5 Community level responses to climate change, 1064.6 Ecosystem level responses to climate change, 1074.7 What biological changes have been observed to date?, 1094.8 Concluding remarks, 110Acknowledgements, 110References, 1115 THE MARINE SYSTEM OF THE WESTERN ANTARCTIC PENINSULA, 121Hugh Ducklow, Andrew Clarke, Rebecca Dickhut, Scott C. Doney, Heidi Geisz, Kuan Huang, Douglas G. Martinson, Michael P. Meredith, Holly V. Moeller, Martin Montes-Hugo, Oscar Schofield, Sharon E. Stammerjohn, Debbie Steinberg and William Fraser5.1 Introduction, 1215.2 Climate and ice, 1235.2.1 Surface air temperature, 1235.2.2 Sea ice, 1235.2.3 Climate co-variability, 1255.3 Physical oceanography, 1275.4 Nutrients and carbon, 1305.4.1 Nutrients and UCDW intrusions, 1305.4.2 Carbon cycle, 1315.4.3 Dissolved organic carbon, 1325.4.4 Sedimentation and export, 1335.5 Phytoplankton dynamics, 1345.5.1 Seasonal scale dynamics, 1345.5.2 Role of light, 1345.5.3 Role of nutrients, 1365.5.4 Annual variability in phytoplankton, 1375.6 Microbial ecology, 1385.7 Zooplankton, 1405.7.1 Community composition and distribution, 1405.7.2 Long-term trends and climate connections, 1425.7.3 Grazing and biogeochemical cycling, 1425.8 Penguins, 1435.8.1 Contaminants in penguins, 1455.9 Marine mammals, 1465.10 Synthesis: food webs of the wap, 1475.11 Conclusions, 148Acknowledgements, 149References, 1496 SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL OPERATION OF THE SCOTIA SEA ECOSYSTEM, 160E.J. Murphy, J.L. Watkins, P.N. Trathan, K. Reid, M.P. Meredith, S.L. Hill, S.E. Thorpe, N.M. Johnston, A. Clarke, G.A. Tarling, M.A. Collins, J. Forcada, A. Atkinson, P. Ward, I.J. Staniland, D.W. Pond, R.A. Cavanagh, R.S. Shreeve, R.E. Korb, M.J. Whitehouse, P.G. Rodhouse, P. Enderlein, A.G. Hirst, A.R. Martin, D.R. Briggs, N.J. Cunningham and A.H. Fleming6.1 Introduction, 1606.2 Oceanography and sea ice, 1636.2.1 Upper-ocean circulation and characteristics in the Scotia Sea, 1636.2.2 Physical variability and long-term change, 1676.3 Nutrient and plankton dynamics, 1686.4 Krill in the scotia sea food web, 1716.4.1 Krill distribution in the Scotia Sea, 1716.4.2 Krill growth and age in the Scotia Sea, 1736.4.3 Krill reproduction and recruitment in the Scotia Sea, 1746.4.4 Krill – habitat interactions in the Scotia Sea, 1776.4.5 Krill population variability and change in the Scotia Sea, 1806.4.6 Krill in the Scotia Sea food web, 1836.5 Food web operation, 1846.5.1 Trophic links, 1846.5.2 Spatial operation of the food web, 1896.6 Ecosystem variability and long-term change, 1926.7 Concluding comments, 195Summary, 196Acknowledgements, 197References, 1977 THE ROSS SEA CONTINENTAL SHELF: REGIONAL BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLES, TROPHIC INTERACTIONS, AND POTENTIAL FUTURE CHANGES, 213Walker O. Smith, Jr., David G. Ainley, Riccardo Cattaneo-Vietti and Eileen E. Hofmann7.1 Introduction, 2137.2 Physical setting, 2147.3 Biological setting, 2197.3.1 Lower trophic levels, 2197.3.2 Mid-trophic levels, 2257.3.3 Fishes and mobile predators, 2267.3.4 Upper trophic levels, 2277.3.5 Benthos, 2297.4 Food web and biotic interactions, 2307.5 Conclusions, 2327.5.1 Uniqueness of the Ross Sea, 2327.5.2 Potential impacts of climate change, 2337.5.3 Conservation and the role of commercial fishing activity in the Ross Sea, 2347.5.4 Research needs and future directions, 235Acknowledgements, 235References, 2358 PELAGIC ECOSYSTEMS IN THE WATERS OFF EAST ANTARCTICA (30 E–150 E), 243Stephen Nicol and Ben Raymond8.1 Introduction, 2438.2 The region, 2458.2.1 The east (80 E–150 E), 2458.2.2 The west (30 E–80 E), 2478.3 Ecosystem change off east antarctica, 251Summary, 251References, 2529 THE DYNAMIC MOSAIC, 255David K.A. Barnes and Kathleen E. Conlan9.1 Introduction, 2559.2 Historical and geographic perspectives, 2569.3 Disturbance, 2579.3.1 Ice effects, 2589.3.2 Asteroid impacts, 2609.3.3 Sediment instability and hypoxia, 2619.3.4 Wind and wave action, 2619.3.5 Pollution, 2629.3.6 UV irradiation, 2639.3.7 Volcanic eruptions, 2639.3.8 Trawling, 2649.3.9 Non-indigenous species (NIS), 2649.3.10 Freshwater, 2659.3.11 Temperature stress, 2659.3.12 Biological agents of physical disturbance, 2669.4 Colonisaton of antarctic sea-beds, 2669.4.1 Larval abundance, 2669.4.2 Hard substrata, 2669.4.3 Soft sediments, 2699.5 Implications of climate change, 2769.6 Conclusion, 279Acknowledgements, 280References, 28110 SOUTHERN OCEAN DEEP BENTHIC BIODIVERSITY, 291A. Brandt, C. De Broyer, B. Ebbe, K.E. Ellingsen, A.J. Gooday, D. Janussen, S. Kaiser, K. Linse, M. Schueller, M.R.A. Thomson, P.A. Tyler and A. Vanreusel10.1 Introduction, 29110.2 History of antarctic biodiversity work, 29310.3 Geological history and evolution of the antarctic, 29410.3.1 Indian Ocean, 29410.3.2 South Atlantic, 29410.3.3 Weddell Sea, 29510.3.4 Drake Passage and Scotia Sea, 29610.4 Benthic composition and diversity of meio-, macro- and megabenthos, 29610.4.1 Meiofauna, 29710.4.2 Macrofaunal composition and diversity, 29910.4.3 Megafaunal composition and diversity, 30410.5 Phylogenetic relationships of selected taxa, 30810.5.1 Foraminifera, 30810.5.2 Isopoda, 30810.5.3 Tanaidacea, 30910.5.4 Bivalvia, 31010.5.5 Polychaeta, 31010.5.6 Cephalopoda, 31010.6 Biogeography and endemism, 31110.6.1 Porifera, 31110.6.2 Foraminifera, 31110.6.3 Metazoan meiofauna, 31110.6.4 Peracarida, 31210.6.5 Mollusca, 31210.6.6 Echinodermata, 31310.6.7 Brachiopoda, 31310.6.8 Polychaeta, 31310.6.9 Bryozoa, 31310.7 Relationship of selected faunal assemblages to environmental variables, 31310.7.1 Large-scale patterns with depth, 31310.7.2 Patterns influenced by other environmental or physical factors, 31710.7.3 Isopoda, 31810.8 Similarities and differences between antarctic and other deep-sea systems, 31810.8.1 The environment, 31810.8.2 A direct comparison between the deep sea of the SO and the World Ocean, 31910.8.3 Dispersal and recruitment between the SO and the rest of the world, 32010.8.4 The special case of chemosynthetically-driven deep-sea systems, 32010.9 Conclusions, 321Acknowledgements, 321References, 32311 ENVIRONMENTAL FORCING AND SOUTHERN OCEAN MARINE PREDATOR POPULATIONS, 335Phil N. Trathan, Jaume Forcada and Eugene J. Murphy11.1 Climate change: recent, rapid, regional warming, 33511.2 Using oscillatory climate signals to predict future change in biological communities, 33711.3 Potential for regional impacts on the biosphere, 33811.4 Confounding isues in identifying a biological signal, 33911.5 Regional ecosystem responses as a consequence of variation in regional food webs, 34011.6 Where biological signals will be most apparent, 34011.7 The southwest atlantic, 34111.8 The indian ocean, 34411.9 The pacific ocean, 34511.10 Similarities between the atlantic, indian and pacific oceans, 34611.11 What ENSO can tell us, 34711.12 Future scenarios, 349References, 349PART 3 MOLECULAR ADAPTATIONS AND EVOLUTION, 35512 MOLECULAR ECOPHYSIOLOGY OF ANTARCTIC NOTOTHENIOID FISHES, 357C.-H. Christina Cheng and H. William Detrich III12.1 Introduction, 35712.2 Surviving the big chill – notothenioid freezing avoidance by antifreeze proteins, 35812.2.1 Freezing challenge in frigid Antarctic marine environment, 35812.2.2 Historical paradigm of teleost freezing avoidance, 36012.2.3 Paradigm shift I: the ‘larval paradox’, 36012.2.4 Paradigm shift II: liver is not the source of blood AFGP in notothenioids, 36212.2.5 Gut versus blood – importance of intestinal freeze avoidance, 36312.2.6 Non-hepatic source of plasma AFGP, 36412.2.7 Alterations in environments and dynamic evolutionary change in notothenioid AFGP gene families, 36412.2.8 Summary comments – antifreeze protein gain in Antarctic notothenioid fish, 36712.3 Haemoprotein loss and cardiovascular adaptation in icefishes – dr. no to the rescue?, 36712.3.1 Vertebrates without haemoglobins – you must be kidding!, 36712.3.2 Haemoprotein loss in icefishes: an evolutionary perspective, 36812.3.3 Cellular correlates of haemoprotein loss, 37012.3.4 The icefish cardiovascular system, 37112.3.5 Compensatory adjustment of the icefish cardiovascular system in a regime of reduced interspecific competition? Enter Dr. NO, 37112.3.6 Haemoproteins, NO metabolism, and icefish evolution, 37212.3.7 Icefishes and erythropoietic gene discovery, 37212.3.8 Summary comments: haemoprotein loss in Antarctic icefishes, 37412.4 Concluding remarks, 374Acknowledgements, 374Dedication, 374References, 37413 MECHANISMS DEFINING THERMAL LIMITS AND ADAPTATION IN MARINE ECTOTHERMS: AN INTEGRATIVE VIEW, 379Hans O. P€ortner, Lloyd S. Peck and George N. Somero13.1 Introduction: climate-dependent evolution of antarctic fauna, 37913.2 Phenomena of thermal specialization and limitation, 38213.2.1 Molecular and membrane aspects, 38313.2.2 Genomic aspects: gene expression and loss of genetic information, 39013.2.3 From molecular to systemic aspects: thermal limitation, 39313.2.4 From molecular to systemic aspects: thermal adaptation of performance capacity, 39713.2.5 Ecological implications, 39913.2.6 Integration of phenomena: concepts, results and perspectives, 405Acknowledgements, 409References, 40914 EVOLUTION AND BIODIVERSITY OF ANTARCTIC ORGANISMS, 417Alex D. Rogers14.1 Introduction, 41714.2 The antarctic biota, 41814.3 The break-up of gondwana and the evolution of the southern hemisphere biota, 42014.3.1 Vicariance versus dispersal, 42014.3.2 Dispersal mechanisms, 42114.4 The evolution and biodiversity of the terrestrial sub-antarctic and antarctic biota, 42314.4.1 Plants, 42314.4.2 Animals, 42714.5 The marine environment, 43214.5.1 Biogeography and macroevolution, 43214.5.2 Notothenioid fish, 43214.5.3 Birds, 43514.5.4 Marine invertebrates, 43614.5.5 The molecular ecology and phylogeography of the marine biota, 43714.5.6 Patterns of genetic variation in marine species, 44814.6 Antarctica: a climatic crucible of evolution, 45014.7 The historical constraints on adaptation to present climate change, 45314.8 Future directions for research, 453References, 454PART 4 CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT ASPECTS, 46915 BIOGEOGRAPHY AND REGIONAL CLASSIFICATIONS OF ANTARCTICA, 471P. Convey, D.K.A. Barnes, H.J. Griffiths, S.M. Grant, K. Linse and D.N. Thomas15.1 Introduction, 47115.2 Historical background, 47415.2.1 Physical regions in the marine environment, 47415.2.2 Smaller-scale regionalization within the Antarctic marine environment, 47415.2.3 Physical regions in the littoral environment, 47515.2.4 Physical regions in the terrestrial environment, 47515.3 Data availability, 47615.4 Different realms in the marine and terrestrial environments, 47715.4.1 Pelagic realm, 47715.4.2 Sea ice, 47815.4.3 Benthic realm, 47915.4.4 The terrestrial environment, 47915.4.5 Biogeographical patterns in the terrestrial environment, 48015.4.6 Biogeographic patterns in the marine environment, 48115.5 Overview, 485Acknowledgements, 486References, 48616 CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT OF ANTARCTIC ECOSYSTEMS, 492Susie M. Grant, Pete Convey, Kevin A. Hughes, Richard A. Phillips and Phil N. Trathan16.1 Introduction, 49216.2 Legal frameworks for conservation and management, 49516.2.1 Early regulation of marine living resource harvesting, 49516.2.2 The Antarctic Treaty System, 49716.2.3 Other (non-ATS) agreements and tools relevant to conservation and management, 50016.3 Conservation and management measures, 50216.3.1 Pollution and local disturbance, 50216.3.2 Biosecurity and non-native species, 50516.3.3 Conservation and management of marine living resources, 50516.3.4 Conservation of other individual species, 50716.3.5 Protected areas, 50916.4 Conservation science and monitoring, 51216.5 Future challenges, 51516.6 Conclusions, 520Acknowledgements, 521References, 521Index, 526