Stable isotope data from marine sediment and invertebrates from Davis Station 2009/10

Study Extent

The Vestfold Hills lie at 68°35’S, 77°58’E in Prydz Bay, Princess Elizabeth Land. The area is bound by the Sorsdal Glacier in the south and the Antarctic Plateau 24 km to the north. The region is surrounded by low-lying rocky hills, indented by 3 large fjords and several smaller bays and inlets. A number of small, rocky islands lie in close proximity to the coast. The area supports a rich benthic community (Tucker & Burton 1987), comparable with that of similar habitats from other parts of Antarctica (Tucker & Burton 1988). Winter sea ice breaks out in late spring (November to December), with the area relatively ice free from January to March. The Windmill Islands are located at 66°17’S, 110°31’E in Wilkes Land (1000 km east of the Vestfold Hills) in close proximity to the Vanderford Glacier. Spanning an area of 30 km along the coastline, the region is characterised by 50 islands, with 5 main peninsulas jutting out from the Antarctic Plateau. The peninsulas comprise low rocky hills with intervening snow-covered valleys and meet the water’s edge with a mix of low ice edges and rocky shores. In general, patches of bedrock and boulders occur at shallow depths near the shore, with the substrate sloping down to finer grades of sediment. The benthic fauna is comparable to other nearshore locations within Antarctica (Johnston et al. 2007). Winter seaice breaks out sporadically over the summer months (December to February), leaving a mosaic of ice-free and ice-covered areas during the summer period.

Sampling

We sampled several benthic macroalgae, in addition to pelagic particulate organic matter (POM),sediment POM, sea ice POM, and consumers from several different locations occupying the shallow, nearshore zone (0 to 30 m) around the Vestfold Hills, in the summer season from December 2009 to March 2010. Samples were collected from 20 sites visited once over the 4 mo sampling period. Consumers were collected as close to their potential food sources as recommended by Gillies et al. (2012a), with the exception of sea ice algae which was sampled prior to winter sea ice break out (midDecember) with sampling sites chosen to represent a mixture of nearshore and offshore locations. All sampling sites were within a 5 km radial distance of Davis Station, although we were careful not to sample within 500 m of the sewerage outfall to avoid potential contamination of isotope values. We aimed to collect many species across a range of feeding guilds in order to describe carbon flows and trophic pathways amongst the general benthic community.

Quality Control

The original datasheet was reformatted to fit GBIF/ IPT Biodiversity.AQ standard. The new datasheet “DavisStationStableIsotopes.csv” provides the dataset ID, event ID, recordNumber, occurrenceID, eventDate, decimalLatitude, decimalLongitude, continent, occurrenceStatus, basisOfRecord. The taxonomical organisation is provided to the lowest taxonomical rank that could be determined, after matched in WoRMS (World Register of Marine Species).

Method steps

1. Sediment POM samples were collected by divers throughout the sampling period at depths of 6 to 30 m by coring (5 cm diameter by 10 cm long) and utilising only the top 1.5 cm section of the core

Stable isotopes analysis was conducted in marine sediments and invertebrates.

1. Chaetomorpha
   rank: genus
2. Gymnogongrus
   rank: genus
3. Himantothallus grandifolius
   rank: species
4. Iridaea cordata
   rank: species
5. Monostroma
   rank: species
6. Palmaria decipiens
   rank: species
7. Heterophoxus videns
   rank: species
8. Orchomenella franklini
   rank: species
9. Paramoera walkeri
   rank: species
10. Tryopheosella
    rank: genus
11. Waldeckia obesa
    rank: species
12. Urticinopsis antarctica
    rank: species
13. Actinia
    rank: species
14. Isotealia antarctica
    rank: species
15. Urticinopsis antarctica
    rank: species
16. Arcturidae
    rank: family
17. Ascidia
    rank: genus
18. Pyrosoma
    rank: genus
19. Acodontaster hodgsoni
    rank: species
20. Asteroidea
    rank: class
21. Diplasterias
    rank: genus
22. Odontaster validus
    rank: species
23. Adamussium colbecki
    rank: species
24. Laternula elliptica
    rank: species
25. Sterechinus neumayeri
    rank: species
26. Chionodraco hamatus
    rank: species
27. Trematomus bernacchii
    rank: species
28. Pagothenia borchgrevinki
    rank: species
29. Neobuccinum eatoni
    rank: species
30. Amauropsis rossiana
    rank: species
31. Trophon longstaffi
    rank: species
32. Cucumaria
    rank: genus
33. Holothuria
    rank: genus
34. Staurocucumi
    rank: genus
35. Hydrozoa
    rank: class
36. Cymodocella tubicauda
    rank: species
37. Glyptonotus antarcticus
    rank: species
38. Parborlasia corrugatus
    rank: species
39. Austrodoris kerguelenensi
    rank: species
40. Marseniopsis mollis
    rank: species
41. Nudibranchia
    rank: order
42. Ophiosparte gigas
    rank: species
43. Plantae
    rank: phylum
44. Nephtyidae
    rank: family
45. Perkinsiana antarctica
    rank: species
46. Polynoidae
    rank: family
47. Flabelligera mundata
    rank: species
48. Porifera
    rank: phylum
49. Terrebellidae
    rank: family
50. Demospongiae
    rank: class
51. Nymphon australe
    rank: species
52. Pycnogonida
    rank: class
53. Tanais
    rank: genus

OCEAN, SOUTHERN OCEAN, ANTARCTIC, POLAR,