Results from a stable isotope tracer experiment in Potter Cove, King George Island, Antarctica

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Hauptverfasser: Pasotti, Francesca, De Troch, Marleen, Raes, Maarten, Vanreusel, Ann
Format: Dataset Open Access
Sprache:en
Veröffentlicht: PANGAEA 2012
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author Pasotti, Francesca
De Troch, Marleen
Raes, Maarten
Vanreusel, Ann
author_facet Pasotti, Francesca
De Troch, Marleen
Raes, Maarten
Vanreusel, Ann
collection Datos científicos de ciencias marinas y ambientales
contents Antarctic meiofauna is still strongly understud- ied, and so is its trophic position in the food web. Primary producers, such as phytoplankton, and bacteria may repre- sent important food sources for shallow water metazoans, and the role of meiobenthos in the benthic-pelagic coupling represents an important brick for food web understanding. In a laboratory, feeding experiment 13C-labeled freeze- dried diatoms (Thalassiosira weissflogii) and bacteria were added to retrieved cores from Potter Cove (15-m depth, November 2007) in order to investigate the uptake of 3 main meiofauna taxa: nematodes, copepods and cumaceans. In the surface sediment layers, nematodes showed no real difference in uptake of both food sources. This outcome was supported by the natural delta 13C values and the community genus composition. In the first centimeter layer, the dominant genus was Daptonema which is known to be opportunistic, feeding on both bacteria and diatoms. Copepods and cumaceans on the other hand appeared to feed more on diatoms than on bacteria. This may point at a better adaptation to input of primary production from the water column. On the other hand, the overall carbon uptake of the given food sources was quite low for all taxa, indicating that likely other food sources might be of relevance for these meiobenthic organisms. Further studies are needed in order to better quantify the carbon requirements of these organisms.
format Dataset Open Access
id pangaea_https___doi_org_10_1594_PANGAEA_811380
institution PANGAEA
language en
publishDate 2012
publisher PANGAEA
record_format pangaea
spellingShingle Results from a stable isotope tracer experiment in Potter Cove, King George Island, Antarctica
Pasotti, Francesca
De Troch, Marleen
Raes, Maarten
Vanreusel, Ann
IMCOAST/IMCONet; Impact of climate induced glacier melt on marine coastal systems, Antarctica
Antarctic meiofauna is still strongly understud- ied, and so is its trophic position in the food web. Primary producers, such as phytoplankton, and bacteria may repre- sent important food sources for shallow water metazoans, and the role of meiobenthos in the benthic-pelagic coupling represents an important brick for food web understanding. In a laboratory, feeding experiment 13C-labeled freeze- dried diatoms (Thalassiosira weissflogii) and bacteria were added to retrieved cores from Potter Cove (15-m depth, November 2007) in order to investigate the uptake of 3 main meiofauna taxa: nematodes, copepods and cumaceans. In the surface sediment layers, nematodes showed no real difference in uptake of both food sources. This outcome was supported by the natural delta 13C values and the community genus composition. In the first centimeter layer, the dominant genus was Daptonema which is known to be opportunistic, feeding on both bacteria and diatoms. Copepods and cumaceans on the other hand appeared to feed more on diatoms than on bacteria. This may point at a better adaptation to input of primary production from the water column. On the other hand, the overall carbon uptake of the given food sources was quite low for all taxa, indicating that likely other food sources might be of relevance for these meiobenthic organisms. Further studies are needed in order to better quantify the carbon requirements of these organisms.
title Results from a stable isotope tracer experiment in Potter Cove, King George Island, Antarctica
topic IMCOAST/IMCONet; Impact of climate induced glacier melt on marine coastal systems, Antarctica
url https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.811380