Benthic changes at McMurdo Station, Antarctica following local sewage treatment and regional iceberg-mediated productivity decline |
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Authors: | KE Conlan SL Kim E Hendrycks |
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Institution: | a Canadian Museum of Nature, P.O. Box 3443, Station D, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1P 6P4 b Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, 8272 Moss Landing Road, Moss Landing, CA 95039, USA c Integrative Oceanography Division, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, CA 92093-0218, USA |
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Abstract: | McMurdo Station, the largest research station in Antarctica, ceased on-site garbage dumping in 1988 and initiated sewage treatment in 2003. In 2003-2004 its sea-ice regime was altered by the massive B-15A and C-19 iceberg groundings in the Ross Sea, approximately 100 km distant. Here we follow macrofaunal response to these changes relative to a baseline sampled since 1988. In the submarine garbage dump, surface contaminants levels have declined but associated macrofaunal recolonization is not yet evident. Although sewage-associated macrofauna were still abundant around the outfall nearly 2 yr after initiation of treatment, small changes downcurrent as far as 434 m from the outfall suggest some community recovery. Widespread community changes in 2003-2004, not seen in the decade previously, suggests that the benthos collectively responded to major changes in sea-ice regime and phytoplankton production caused by the iceberg groundings. |
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Keywords: | Macrofauna Recolonization Sewage Iceberg McMurdo Station Antarctica |
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