Abstracts
SEARCH Open Science Meeting
October 27, 2003
Seattle, Washington, USA
Infaunal Community Composition and Biomass from the Gulf of Alaska to the Canadian Archipelago: A Biodiversity Study
Arianne Balsom1, Jacqueline M. Grebmeier2, Lee W. Cooper3
1Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee, 10515 Research Drive Suite 100, Suite 100, Knoxville, TN, 37996-1610, United States, Phone 865-974-6160, Fax 865-974-7896, abalsom@utk.edu
2Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee, 569 Dabney Hall, Knoxville, TN, 37996-1610, United States, Phone 865-974-2592, Fax 865-974-7896, jgrebmei@utk.edu
3Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee, 10515 Research Drive , Room 100, Knoxville, TN, 37932, United States, Phone 865-974-2990, Fax 865-974-7896, lcooper@utkux.utk.edu
Recent studies show that high levels of biodiversity can stabilize ecosystems. One consequence of high biodiversity is that it could increase resistance to extinction events caused by fluctuating environmental conditions such as a regime shift or global warming. Low-diversity regions such as the Arctic may be more susceptible to ecosystem destabilization because there are fewer key players in each functional group. However, knowledge of pan-arctic trends and patterns of benthic infaunal biomass and biodiversity has been limited by lack of historical benthic measurements in portions of the Beaufort Sea and the Canadian Archipelago. Standardized sampling techniques for measuring benthic carbon biomass were used to examine benthic community composition variations in the northern Bering and Chukchi Seas and stations in the Beaufort Sea and Canadian Archipelago. Benthic sediment and water column samples were taken along the continental shelf from the Gulf of Alaska, the Bering, Chukchi, and Beaufort Seas, and within the Canadian Archipelago as east as Spence Bay, Nunavut. Stations were grouped utilizing a statistical numerical clustering program based on the similarity levels of species abundance. Dominant taxa (macroinfaunal abundances, total wet weights, and organic carbon weights) were assessed. The Shannon-Weaver diversity index (H’) was used as a measure for biodiversity. In addition, sediment total organic carbon, modal grain size, chlorophyll a content, carbon to nitrogen ratios, and integrated water column chlorophyll a were measured.
Significant positive Spearman’s rho correlations were observed between macroinfaunal diversity and macroinfaunal organic carbon biomass, and also between macroinfaunal diversity and sediment C/N ratios. Similarity cluster analysis indicates groupings of stations that may be related to current flow. The patterns of environmental variables (integrated water column chlorophyll a concentration, sediment chlorophyll a content, TOC, C/N, sediment modal grain size) ranged widely among the four study regions. The Gulf of Alaska possessed the highest mean macroinfaunal abundances, but low species diversity and organic carbon biomass. The Bering and Chukchi Seas exhibited the highest mean benthic species diversity and organic carbon biomass. The Beaufort Sea exhibited the lowest mean benthic biomass and diversity. A large variation in parameters was observed in the Canadian Archipelago, which is consistent with the previous descriptions of the Canadian Archipelago as a “mosaic” of environmental interactions. Infaunal hot spots, with high benthic biomass were observed in the Canadian Archipelago at Hat Island and Whale Bluff, comparable in organic carbon biomass to many of the Bering Strait biomass measurements, which are widely considered the highest in the Arctic..
Abstract Categories: Changes in the Sea
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