Macrobenthos in the central Arabian Gulf: a reflection of climate extremes and variability
التاريخ
2016المؤلف
Wei, Chih-LinRowe, Gilbert T.
Al-Ansi, Mohsin
Al-Maslamani, Ibrahim
Soliman, Yousria
El-Din, Nehad Nour
Al-Ansari, Ibrahim S.
Al-Shaikh, Ismail
Quigg, Antonietta
Nunnally, Clifton
Abdel-Moati, Mohamed A.
...show more authors ...show less authors
البيانات الوصفية
عرض كامل للتسجيلةالملخص
The arid subtropical ecosystem of the central Arabian Gulf was used to explore the combined effects of low primary productivity, high salinities, and variable temperatures on the composition and structure of benthic macrofauna at 13 sites encircling the Qatar Peninsula in winter and summer (or late spring) of 2010 and 2011. The low abundance, biomass, and remarkably high species turnover may be a reflection of the oligotrophic, thermally variable, hypersaline coastal environment. The number of species and within-habitat diversity was lowest in the highest salinities but increased with finer-grained sediments and lower salinity. A remarkable temporal variation in species composition observed may reflect insufficient primary production to sustain new populations recruited from the seasonal exchange of water from the adjacent Sea of Oman. Low abundances accompanied by continued replacement of species may be a "new model" for extremely arid conditions associated with global warming. 2015, Springer International Publishing Switzerland.
المجموعات
- العلوم البيولوجية والبيئية [876 items ]
- مجموعة العلوم البحرية [214 items ]