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Seaweeds and Their Communities in Polar Regions

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Seaweed Biology

Part of the book series: Ecological Studies ((ECOLSTUD,volume 219))

Abstract

Polar seaweeds typically begin to grow in late winter–spring, around the time of sea-ice breakup. They can grow under very low light enabling distributions to depths of 40 m. Moreover, they are physiologically adapted to low temperatures. Intertidal species exhibit a remarkable stress tolerance against freezing, desiccation, and salinity changes. Endemism is much greater in the Antarctic compared to the Arctic species. On rocky shores of the Antarctic Peninsula and of Spitsbergen >80% of the bottom can be covered by seaweeds with standing biomass levels 20 kg wet wt m2. Species richness and biomass declines, however, toward higher latitudes. Seaweeds are the dominant organisms in coastal waters and thus play important roles in benthic food webs and are likely to be of particular importance to benthic detrital food chains. Chemical defenses against herbivores are common in Antarctic, but not in Arctic seaweeds. More research is needed especially to study the effects of global climate changes.

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Acknowledgments

We thank M. Amsler for editorial suggestions. Manuscript preparation was supported in part by US National Science Foundation award ANT-0838773 from the Antarctic Organisms and Ecosystems program.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department Seaweed Biology, Section Functional Ecology, Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Am Handelshafen 12, 27570, Bremerhaven, Germany

    Christian Wiencke

  2. Department of Biology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, 35294-1170, USA

    Charles D. Amsler

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  1. Christian Wiencke
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Correspondence to Christian Wiencke .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Section Functional Ecology, Alfred Wegener Institute, Bremerhaven, Germany

    Christian Wiencke

  2. Marine Botany, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany

    Kai Bischof

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Wiencke, C., Amsler, C.D. (2012). Seaweeds and Their Communities in Polar Regions. In: Wiencke, C., Bischof, K. (eds) Seaweed Biology. Ecological Studies, vol 219. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-28451-9_13

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