Iceberg scour affects biodiversity
This is due to an increase in the number of icebergs scouring the seabed as a result of shrinking winter sea ice. The results are published this week in the journal Science.
Scientists from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) show how the rate of iceberg scouring on the West Antarctic Peninsula seabed is affected by the duration of winter sea ice, which has dramatically declined (in space and time) in the region over the last few decades due to climate warming. This increase in iceberg disturbance on the seabed, where the majority of all Antarctic life occurs (80%), could have severe effects on the marine creatures living as deep as 500m underwater.
Lead author, Dr Dan Smale from BAS, says:
“It has been suggested previously that iceberg disturbance rates may be controlled by the formation of winter sea ice, but nobody’s been able to go out and measure it before. We were surprised to see how strong the relationship between the two factors is. During years with a long sea ice season of eight months or so, the disturbance rates were really low, whereas in poor sea ice years the seabed was pounded by ice for most of the year. This is because icebergs are locked into position by winter sea ice, so they are not free to get pushed around by winds and tides until they crash into the seabed.”
By using grids of small concrete markers on the seabed at three different depths for five years, BAS SCUBA divers were able to determine the frequency of iceberg scour by counting the number of damaged or destroyed markers annually.
Ice disturbance has been recognised as a driving force in the structure of the Antarctic seabed animal communities. Iceberg scouring damages areas of the seabed creating space for a high diversity of animals to use. However, an increase in iceberg scour with the seabed would affect the type and number of marine creatures found on the seabed and may cause changes in the distributions of key species.
Issued by British Antarctic Survey Press Office.
Athena Dinar, tel: +44 (0) 1223 221414; mob: 07740 822229; email: a.dinar@bas.ac.uk
Linda Capper, tel: +44 (0)1223 221448; mob: 07714 233744; email: l.capper@bas.ac.uk
Media Contact
All latest news from the category: Ecology, The Environment and Conservation
This complex theme deals primarily with interactions between organisms and the environmental factors that impact them, but to a greater extent between individual inanimate environmental factors.
innovations-report offers informative reports and articles on topics such as climate protection, landscape conservation, ecological systems, wildlife and nature parks and ecosystem efficiency and balance.
Newest articles
High-energy-density aqueous battery based on halogen multi-electron transfer
Traditional non-aqueous lithium-ion batteries have a high energy density, but their safety is compromised due to the flammable organic electrolytes they utilize. Aqueous batteries use water as the solvent for…
First-ever combined heart pump and pig kidney transplant
…gives new hope to patient with terminal illness. Surgeons at NYU Langone Health performed the first-ever combined mechanical heart pump and gene-edited pig kidney transplant surgery in a 54-year-old woman…
Biophysics: Testing how well biomarkers work
LMU researchers have developed a method to determine how reliably target proteins can be labeled using super-resolution fluorescence microscopy. Modern microscopy techniques make it possible to examine the inner workings…
