17 March 2017:
A collaborative effort between the UK, Argentina and Germany has investigated benthic ecosystem response to physical impacts resulting from rapid recent climate change in the Western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP). Ice scouring as a result of the changes was found to be causing increased benthic disturbance at Rothera Station and the studies were replicated at Signy and Carlini Stations. As the studies depend on SCUBA diving, a very spatially limited technique, they are difficult to scale up. The team believe that such international collaborations are the way forward towards understanding the big picture of biota responses to physical climate changes at a regional scale.
D. Deregibus, M.L. Quartino, K. Zacher, G.L. Campana and D.K.A. Barnes, “Understanding the link between sea ice, ice scour and Antarctic benthic biodiversity–the need for cross-station and international collaboration”, Polar Record, 2017.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0032247416000875