Poster (Scientific congresses and symposiums)
Stable isotopes reveal effects of environmental changes on ecological niches of Iphimediidae amphipods
Michel, Loïc; d'Udekem d'Acoz, Cédric; Frederich, Bruno et al.
201712th SCAR Biology Symposium
 

Files


Full Text
MichelL_SCAR.pdf
Publisher postprint (2.61 MB)
Download

All documents in ORBi are protected by a user license.

Send to



Details



Keywords :
Stable isotopes; Ecological niche; SIBER; Antarctica; Southern Ocean; Ecological plasticity; Amphipoda; Iphimediidae; Crustacea
Abstract :
[en] When faced with environmental changes, organisms are expected to have some intrinsic ability to adapt through ecological plasticity. However, this process is still poorly understood in many Antarctic invertebrates. Here, we focused on Iphimediidae amphipods, as this widely distributed family shows important ecological diversity. In total, 248 amphipods (19 species) from two widely different zones (the West Antarctic Peninsula, or WAP, and Adélie Land, AL) were studied to elucidate how environment can influence ecological niche parameters. Ecological niches were explored using stable isotope ratios of carbon and nitrogen and the SIBER approach (Jackson et al., 2011). The isotopic niche of the whole amphipod assemblage was wider in WAP than in AL. This was true for both total (proxy of the whole range of resources exploited by animals) and the core (proxy of the most commonly used resources) isotopic niches. The ratio between total and core isotopic niches was smaller in WAP than in AL (4.13 vs. 5.74), suggesting that in WAP, animals commonly use a greater relative percentage of the resources to which they have access. Niche modelling at the specific level revealed that this trend was not found in all taxa. For example, niches of Gnathiphimedia sexdentata and Iphimediella microdentata were bigger in WAP than in AL, following the general pattern. On the other hand, niches of Echiniphimedia echinata and E. hodgsoni had the same width in both areas. Moreover, relative niche overlap between these two species was much higher in WAP (42%) than in AL (20%). Our results indicate that the widely different environmental conditions encountered by the animals in these two zones clearly influence their ecology. Overall, Iphimediidae amphipods tend to exploit more resources in WAP, i.e. in the zone where impacts of global change (temperature increase, sea ice cover decrease) are the strongest. Niche overlap between some closely related (i.e. congeneric) species was also more important in WAP. Ultimately, environmental changes in this region might reinforce these trends, which might lead to competition and perturb amphipod community structure. This research was funded by the Belgian Federal Science Policy Office (BELSPO) in the framework of the vERSO and RECTO projects.
Research center :
FOCUS - Freshwater and OCeanic science Unit of reSearch - ULiège
MARE - Centre Interfacultaire de Recherches en Océanologie - ULiège
Disciplines :
Environmental sciences & ecology
Zoology
Aquatic sciences & oceanology
Author, co-author :
Michel, Loïc  ;  Université de Liège > Département de Biologie, Ecologie et Evolution > Océanographie biologique
d'Udekem d'Acoz, Cédric
Frederich, Bruno  ;  Université de Liège > Département de Biologie, Ecologie et Evolution > Océanographie biologique
Léger-Bascou, Lory
Schön, Isa
Verheye, Marie
Lepoint, Gilles  ;  Université de Liège > Département de Biologie, Ecologie et Evolution > Océanographie biologique
Language :
English
Title :
Stable isotopes reveal effects of environmental changes on ecological niches of Iphimediidae amphipods
Publication date :
July 2017
Number of pages :
A0
Event name :
12th SCAR Biology Symposium
Event organizer :
Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR)
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KUL)
Event place :
Leuven, Belgium
Event date :
10-14/07/2017
Audience :
International
Name of the research project :
vERSO (Ecosystem Resilience in the Southern Ocean, BR/132/A1/vERSO), RECTO (Refugia and Ecosystem Tolerance in the Southern Ocean, BR/154/A1/RECTO)
Funders :
BELSPO - SPP Politique scientifique - Service Public Fédéral de Programmation Politique scientifique
F.R.S.-FNRS - Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique [BE]
Available on ORBi :
since 22 June 2017

Statistics


Number of views
157 (17 by ULiège)
Number of downloads
68 (8 by ULiège)

Bibliography


Similar publications



Contact ORBi