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The Spatial Structure of Antarctic Biodiversity University of Wollongong Research Online Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health 1-1-2014 The spatial structure of Antarctic biodiversity Peter Convey British Antarctic Survey Steve L. Chown Monash University Andrew Clarke British Antarctic Survey David K. A Barnes British Antarctic Survey Stef Bokhorst Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences See next page for additional authors Follow this and additional works at: https://ro.uow.edu.au/smhpapers Part of the Medicine and Health Sciences Commons, and the Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons Recommended Citation Convey, Peter; Chown, Steve L.; Clarke, Andrew; Barnes, David K. A; Bokhorst, Stef; Cummings, Vonda; Ducklow, Hugh W.; Frati, Francesco; Green, T. G. Allan; Gordon, Shulamit; Griffiths, Huw J.; Howard- Williams, Clive; Huiskes, AD H. L; Laybourn-Parry, Johanna; Lyons, W. Berry; Mcminn, Andrew; Morley, Simon A.; Peck, Lloyd S.; Quesada, Antonio; Robinson, Sharon A.; Schiaparelli, Stefano; and Wall, Diana H., "The spatial structure of Antarctic biodiversity" (2014). Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A. 1928. https://ro.uow.edu.au/smhpapers/1928 Research Online is the open access institutional repository for the University of Wollongong. For further information contact the UOW Library: [email protected] The spatial structure of Antarctic biodiversity Abstract Patterns of environmental spatial structure lie at the heart of the most fundamental and familiar patterns of diversity on Earth. Antarctica contains some of the strongest environmental gradients on the planet and therefore provides an ideal study ground to test hypotheses on the relevance of environmental variability for biodiversity. To answer the pivotal question, "How does spatial variation in physical and biological environmental properties across the Antarctic drive biodiversity?" we have synthesized current knowledge on environmental variability across terrestrial, freshwater, and marine Antarctic biomes and related this to the observed biotic patterns. The most important physical driver of Antarctic terrestrial communities is the availability of liquid water, itself driven by solar irradiance intensity. Patterns of biota distribution are further strongly influenced by the historical development of any given location or region, and by geographical barriers. In freshwater ecosystems, free water is also crucial, with further important influences from salinity, nutrient availability, oxygenation, and characteristics of ice cover and extent. In the marine biome there does not appear to be one major driving force, with the exception of the oceanographic boundary of the Polar Front. At smaller spatial scales, ice cover, ice scour, and salinity gradients are clearly important determinants of diversity at habitat and community level. Stochastic and extreme events remain an important driving force in all environments, particularly in the context of local extinction and colonization or recolonization, as well as that of temporal environmental variability. Our synthesis demonstrates that the Antarctic continent and surrounding oceans provide an ideal study ground to develop new biogeographical models, including life history and physiological traits, and to address questions regarding biological responses to environmental variability and change. Keywords Adaptation, biogeography, environmental gradients, historical contingency, marine, spatial scale and variation, terrestrial environments Disciplines Medicine and Health Sciences | Social and Behavioral Sciences Publication Details Convey, P., Chown, S. L., Clarke, A., Barnes, D. K. A., Bokhorst, S., Cummings, V., Ducklow, H. W., Frati, F., Green, T., Gordon, S., Griffiths, H. J., Howard-Williams, C., Huiskes, A. H. L., Laybourn-Parry, J., Lyons, W., Mcminn, A., Morley, S. A., Peck, L. S., Quesada, A., Robinson, S. A., Schiaparelli, S. & Wall, D. H. (2014). The spatial structure of Antarctic biodiversity. Ecological Monographs, 84 (2), 203-244. Authors Peter Convey, Steve L. Chown, Andrew Clarke, David K. A Barnes, Stef Bokhorst, Vonda Cummings, Hugh W. Ducklow, Francesco Frati, T. G. Allan Green, Shulamit Gordon, Huw J. Griffiths, Clive Howard-Williams, AD H. L Huiskes, Johanna Laybourn-Parry, W. Berry Lyons, Andrew Mcminn, Simon A. Morley, Lloyd S. Peck, Antonio Quesada, Sharon A. Robinson, Stefano Schiaparelli, and Diana H. Wall This journal article is available at Research Online: https://ro.uow.edu.au/smhpapers/1928 REVIEWS Ecological Monographs, 84(2), 2014, pp. 203–244 Ó 2014 by the Ecological Society of America The spatial structure of Antarctic biodiversity 1,2,19 3 1 1 4 PETER CONVEY, STEVEN L. CHOWN, ANDREW CLARKE, DAVID K. A. BARNES, STEF BOKHORST, 5 6 7 8 9 VONDA CUMMINGS, HUGH W. DUCKLOW, FRANCESCO FRATI, T. G. ALLAN GREEN, SHULAMIT GORDON, 1 10 11,20 12 HUW J. GRIFFITHS, CLIVE HOWARD-WILLIAMS, AD H. L. HUISKES, JOHANNA LAYBOURN-PARRY, 13 14 1 1 15 W. BERRY LYONS, ANDREW MCMINN, SIMON A. MORLEY, LLOYD S. PECK, ANTONIO QUESADA, 16 17 18 SHARON A. ROBINSON, STEFANO SCHIAPARELLI, AND DIANA H. WALL 1British Antarctic Survey, Natural Environment Research Council, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0ET United Kingdom 2National Antarctic Research Center, IPS Building, University Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 3School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Victoria 3800 Australia 4Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Umea˚ SE90183 Sweden 5National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, Private Bag 14-901, Wellington 6241 New Zealand 6Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Palisades, New York 10964 USA 7Department of Life Sciences, University of Siena, via A. Moro 2, 53100 Siena, Italy 8Department of Biological Sciences, University of Waikato, Private Bag 3105, Hamilton, New Zealand 9Antarctica New Zealand, Private Bag 4745, Christchurch 8140 New Zealand 10National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, P.O. Box 8502, Christchurch 8440 New Zealand 11Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), Unit for Polar Ecology, P.O. Box 140, 4400 AC Yerseke, The Netherlands 12Bristol Glaciology Centre, School of Geographical Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1SS United Kingdom 13Byrd Polar Research Center, School of Earth Sciences, The Ohio State University, 1090 Carmack Road, Columbus, Ohio 43210-1002 USA 14Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania 7001 Australia 15Department of Biology, Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, 28049 Madrid, Spain 16Institute for Conservation Biology, The University of Wollongong, New South Wales 2522 Australia 17Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, dell’Ambiente e della Vita (DISTAV), Universita` di Genova, C.so Europa 26, Genova I-16132 Italy 18Department of Biology and Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado 80523-1499 USA Abstract. Patterns of environmental spatial structure lie at the heart of the most fundamental and familiar patterns of diversity on Earth. Antarctica contains some of the strongest environmental gradients on the planet and therefore provides an ideal study ground to test hypotheses on the relevance of environmental variability for biodiversity. To answer the pivotal question, ‘‘How does spatial variation in physical and biological environmental properties across the Antarctic drive biodiversity?’’ we have synthesized current knowledge on environmental variability across terrestrial, freshwater, and marine Antarctic biomes and related this to the observed biotic patterns. The most important physical driver of Antarctic terrestrial communities is the availability of liquid water, itself driven by solar irradiance intensity. Patterns of biota distribution are further strongly influenced by the historical development of any given location or region, and by geographical barriers. In freshwater ecosystems, free water is also crucial, with further important influences from salinity, nutrient availability, oxygenation, and characteristics of ice cover and extent. In the marine biome there does not appear to be one major driving force, with the exception of the oceanographic boundary of the Polar Front. At smaller spatial scales, ice cover, ice scour, and salinity gradients are clearly important determinants of diversity at habitat and community level. Stochastic and extreme events remain an important driving force in all environments, particularly in the context of local extinction and colonization or recolonization, as well as that of temporal environmental variability. Our synthesis demonstrates that the Antarctic Manuscript received 20 December 2012; revised 17 June 2013; accepted 21 June 2013; final version received 20 July 2013. Corresponding Editor: B. J. Cardinale. 19 E-mail: [email protected] 20 Present address: Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, P.O. Box 140, 4400 AC Yerseke, The Netherlands. 203 204 PETER CONVEY ET AL. Ecological Monographs Vol. 84, No. 2 continent and surrounding oceans provide an ideal study ground to develop new biogeographical models, including life history and physiological traits, and to address questions regarding biological responses to environmental variability and change. Key words: adaptation; biogeography; environmental gradients; historical contingency; marine; spatial scale and variation; terrestrial environments. INTRODUCTION fied by soils and water bodies in the McMurdo Dry Spatial structure Valleys and the McMurdo Ice Shelf,
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