La paradoxa de la biodiversitat marina antàrtica

Abstract

The study of pristine places is very important for learning about the state of the oceans before the impact of human beings. Because of the extreme environmental conditions of the Antarctic continental shelf – its distance from other continents, depth, and the weight of the continental ice – it offers us a great opportunity to better understand how a pristine ecosystem would normally be. In addition to a high level of biodiversity, Antarctic benthic organisms present patterns of demographic and spatial distribution that are different from the communities of the continental platforms in other seas and oceans of the world. This makes Antarctic benthic communities look, more than one might think, like the communities with the highest known biodiversity in the world.

DNA barcoding of five benthic invertebrate taxa from the Mackellar Cove of the Antarctic Peninsula

“…The Antarctic ecosystem, one of the most pristine ones in the world, contains high and endemic biodiversity, and a particular spatial and demographic distribution for benthic organisms (Ambroso, Salazar, Gili & Zapata, 2018). Since the first expeditions, species have been added to an inventory of invertebrates with a taxonomy based only on morphology.…”