Because of the unique conditions that exist around the Antarctic continent, Southern Ocean (SO) ecosystems are very susceptible to the growing impact of global climate change and other anthropogenic influences. Consequently, there is an urgent need to understand how SO marine life will cope with expected future changes in the environment. Studies of Antarctic organisms have shown that individual species and higher taxa display different degrees of sensitivity to environmental shifts, making it difficult to predict overall community or ecosystem responses. This emphasizes the need for an improved understanding of the Antarctic benthic ecosystem response to global climate change using a multitaxon approach with consideration of different levels of biological organization. Here, we provide a synthesis of the ability of five important Antarctic benthic taxa (Foraminifera, Nematoda, Amphipoda, Isopoda, and Echinoidea) to cope with changes in the environment (temperature, pH, ice cover, ice scouring, food quantity, and quality) that are linked to climatic changes. Responses from individual to the taxon-specific community level to these drivers will vary with taxon but will include local species extinctions, invasions of warmer-water species, shifts in diversity, dominance, and trophic group composition, all with likely consequences for ecosystem functioning. Limitations in our current knowledge and understanding of climate change effects on the different levels are discussed.
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The Parvidrilidae Erséus, 1999 constitute the most recently described family of oligochaete microdriles. Prior to this study, Parvidrilus strayeri Erséus, 1999, and Parvidrilus spelaeus Martínez-Ansemil, Sambugar & Giani, 2002, found in groundwaters of the USA (Alabama) and Europe (Slovenia and Italy), respectively, were the only two species in this family. In this paper, six new species – Parvidrilus camachoi, Parvidrilus gianii, Parvidrilus jugeti, Parvidrilus meyssonnieri, Parvidrilus stochi, and Parvidrilus tomasini – and Parvidrilus gineti (Juget, 1959) comb. nov. are added to the family. With all species being stygobiont, the Parvidrilidae is unique in being the only family of oligochaetes worldwide comprising taxa that are restricted to groundwater habitats. Parvidrilids are exceedingly small worms whose principal morphological characteristics are the presence of hair setae in ventral bundles, the markedly posterior position of setae within the segments, the presence of mid-dorsal glandular pouches in mesosomial segments, the lateral development of the clitellum, the presence of a single male pore in segment XII, and the presence (or absence) of a single spermatheca. The phylogenetic relationships of the Parvidrilidae within the Clitellata were investigated using the nuclear 18S rRNA gene, and the most representative and taxonomically balanced data set of clitellate families available to date. The data were analysed by parsimony, maximum likelihood, and Bayesian inference. Irrespective of the method used, Parvidrilidae were placed far from Capilloventridae, one family once suggested to be closely related to parvidrilids. Although closer to Enchytraeidae than Phreodrilidae, two other suggested putative sister families, the exact position of Parvidrilidae within Clitellata still remained uncertain in the absence of branch support. The examination of reproductive structures, together with the similarity of other important anatomical traits of the new species herein described, reinforced the idea that phreodrilids were the best candidate to be the sister group to parvidrilids on morphological grounds. A fragment of the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I gene, used as a barcode, also genetically characterized a few Parvidrilus species. The observation that two species diverge from each other by high genetic distances, even though their type localities are more or less only 100 km apart, is interpreted in the context of low dispersal abilities of inhabitants of the subterranean aquatic ecosystem, and habitat heterogeneity. The Parvidrilidae appear to be a diversified, Holarctic, and probably widely distributed family in groundwater, but very often overlooked because of the small size and external similarity with the polychaete family Aeolosomatidae of its members.
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