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(1 - 2 of 2)
- Title
- Recruitment, Growth and Mortality of an Antarctic Hexactinellid Sponge, Anoxycalyx joubini
- Description
- Polar ecosystems are sensitive to climate forcing, and we often lack baselines to evaluate changes. Here we report a nearly 50-year study in which a sudden shift in the population dynamics of an ecologically important, structure-forming hexactinellid sponge, Anoxycalyx joubini was observed. This is the largest Antarctic sponge, with individuals growing over two meters tall. In order to investigate life history characteristics of Antarctic marine invertebrates, artificial substrata were deployed at a number of sites in the southern portion of the Ross Sea between 1967 and 1975. Over a 22-year period, no growth or settlement was recorded for A. joubini on these substrata; however, in 2004 and 2010, A. joubini was observed to have settled and grown to large sizes on some but not all artificial substrata. This single settlement and growth event correlates with a region-wide shift in phytoplankton productivity driven by the calving of a massive iceberg. We also report almost complete mortality of large sponges followed over 40 years. Given our warming global climate, similar system-wide changes are expected in the future. © 2013 Dayton et al., Cited By (since 1996):4, Art. No.: e56939, Downloaded from: http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0056939 (16 June 2014).
- Author
- Dayton, Kim, Jarrell, Oliver, Hammerstrom, Fisher, O'Connor, Barber, Robilliard, Barry, Thurber, Conlan
- Date
- 2013-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Title
- Peripheral communities of the Eastern Lau Spreading Center and Valu Fa Ridge: community composition, temporal change and comparison to near-vent communities
- Description
- Western Pacific hydrothermal vents will soon be subjected to deep-sea mining and peripheral sites are considered the most practical targets. The limited information on community dynamics and temporal change in these communities makes it difficult to anticipate the impact of mining activities and recovery trajectories. We studied community composition of peripheral communities along a cline in hydrothermal chemistry on the Eastern Lau Spreading Center and Valu Fa Ridge (ELSC-VFR) and also studied patterns of temporal change. Peripheral communities located in the northern vent fields of the ELSC-VFR are significantly different from those in the southern vent fields. Higher abundances of zoanthids and anemones were found in northern peripheral sites and the symbiont-containing mussel Bathymodiolus brevior, brisingid seastars and polynoids were only present in the northern peripheral sites. By contrast, certain faunal groups were seen only in the southern peripheral sites, such as lollipop sponges, pycnogonids and ophiuroids. Taxonomic richness of the peripheral communities was similar to that of active vent communities, due to the presence of non-vent endemic species that balanced the absence of species found in areas of active venting. The communities present at waning active sites resemble those of peripheral sites, indicating that peripheral species can colonize previously active vent sites in addition to settling in the periphery of areas of venting. Growth and mortality were observed in a number of the normally slow-growing cladorhizid stick sponges, indicating that these animals may exhibit life history strategies in the vicinity of vents that differ from those previously recorded. A novel facultative association between polynoids and anemones is proposed based on their correlated distributions., Accepted
- Author
- Sen, Kim, Miller, Hovey, Hourdez, Luther, Fisher
- Date
- 2016-01-01T00:00:00Z