Prosperity and limitation of sponge fauna on the former ice-shelf Larsen A-B and adjacent areas west of the Antarctic Peninsula

自20世纪50年代以来，在南极半岛观测到的区域变暖分别在1995年和2002年导致了拉森AB冰架的崩塌。多学科科学团队在2007年、2011年和2013年的几次南极考察中研究了这些事件的生态影响，以跟踪和监测正在进行的海洋和生态动态变化。海绵在底栖-远洋耦合和作为其他生物的宿主中起着关键作用。本文提出的研究项目旨在分析气候变化对南极冰架内Porifera群落多样性的影响及其对永久冰架解体的反应。将对来自树木考察重复站点的海绵动物以及Larsen ACB区域与参考站点之间的动物进行详细的比较。假设的物种形成过程和拓荒者和深海海绵类群在拉森冰架上的定殖将通过比较形态学和分子方法以及对海绵动物群的平行调查来检验。通过ROV样带的系统定量评价来检测生态演替，并进一步针对南极“海绵花园”的海绵生物量和二氧化硅含量进行重建。由于南极冰架的持续解体，该项目将为未来的生态发展提供重要的线索。

Regional warming observed at the Antarctic Peninsula since the 1950ies caused a collapse of the Larsen AB ice-shelves in 1995, respectively 2002. The ecological impact of these events is studied by multidisciplinary scientific teams on several Antarctic expeditions (2007, 2011 and 2013) to track and monitor the ongoing oceanographic and ecological dynamic changes. Sponges play a key role in the bentho-pelagic coupling and as hosts for other organisms. The here proposed research project is designed to analyze the impact of climate change on the diversity of Porifera within the Antarctic shelf communities and their response to the disintegration of permanent ice-shelves. Detailed faunistic comparisons will be done between the sponge faunas from the repeated stations of the tree expeditions and between the Larsen ACB area and reference stations. Assumed speciation processes and colonization of the Larsen shelves by pioneer and deep-sea sponge taxa will be tested by comparative morphological and molecular methods as well as parallel investigations of the sponge infauna. Ecological successions are detected by systematic and quantitative evaluation of ROV transsects, and we further target the reconstruction of sponge biomasses and silica content in the Antarctic “sponge gardens”. This project will bring important hints to future ecological developments due to ongoing disintegration of the Antarctic ice-shelves.