The role of the Amphipod Crustaceans in the trophodynamics of benthic communities in the Southern Ocean |
Period: Status: Completed
Thesaurus terms Benthos; Biogeography; Deep sea; Ecology; Marine; Physiology; Systematics; Taxonomy
Taxonomic terms: Amphipoda [WoRMS]; Arthropoda [WoRMS]; Crustacea [WoRMS]; ; ; Peracarida [WoRMS]
Geographical terms: Antarctica [Marine Regions]; Antarctica, South Shetland I., King George I. [Marine Regions]; PS, Southern Ocean [Marine Regions]; PSW, Weddell Sea [Marine Regions]
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Institute |
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- Koninklijk Belgisch Instituut voor Natuurwetenschappen; Operationele Directie Taxonomie en Fylogenie; Afdeling Recente Invertebraten, more, co-ordinator
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Abstract |
Amphipods represent the most species-rich group in Antarctic benthic communities, and have developed a wide variety of feeding strategies, from suspension-feeding to necrophagy. Our study deals with different aspects of the feeding ecology of these crustaceans: identification of their different trophic types, role of the amphipods as consumers on the benthic communities, role of the amphipods as resource for larger consumers. Identification of the faunal composition of the amphipod taxocoenoses of the macrobenthos of the Weddell Sea (Kapp Norvegia) and King George Island (Admiralty Bay, two reference sites of the SCAR EASIZ programme. Characterization of the lifestyles, habitat and microhabitat structure and geographic and bathymetric distribution. |
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