Sea spiders (Arthropoda, Pycnogonida) from ten recent research expeditions to the Antarctic Peninsula, Scotia Arc and Weddell Sea - data.

Background: This dataset contains information on specimens of Southern Ocean Pycnogonida (Arthropoda), that were collected from ten different research cruises, spanning 13 years. The individual aims and objectives of each cruise can be found in their cruise reports. The specimens have been collated into a single dataset, forming the basis of J.

Allometric relationships of ecologically important Antarctic and Arctic zooplankton and fish species.

Unlabelled: Allometric relationships between body properties of animals are useful for a wide variety of purposes, such as estimation of biomass, growth, population structure, bioenergetic modelling and carbon flux studies. This study summarizes allometric relationships of zooplankton and nekton species that play major roles in polar marine food webs. Measurements were performed on 639 individuals of 15 species sampled during three expeditions in the Southern Ocean (winter and summer) and 2374 individuals of 14 species sampled during three expeditions in the Arctic Ocean (spring and summer).

Facilitating population genomics of non-model organisms through optimized experimental design for reduced representation sequencing.

Background: Genome-wide data are invaluable to characterize differentiation and adaptation of natural populations. Reduced representation sequencing (RRS) subsamples a genome repeatedly across many individuals. However, RRS requires careful optimization and fine-tuning to deliver high marker density while being cost-efficient.

Tracking of marine predators to protect Southern Ocean ecosystems.

Southern Ocean ecosystems are under pressure from resource exploitation and climate change. Mitigation requires the identification and protection of Areas of Ecological Significance (AESs), which have so far not been determined at the ocean-basin scale. Here, using assemblage-level tracking of marine predators, we identify AESs for this globally important region and assess current threats and protection levels.

Review: the energetic value of zooplankton and nekton species of the Southern Ocean.

Understanding the energy flux through food webs is important for estimating the capacity of marine ecosystems to support stocks of living resources. The energy density of species involved in trophic energy transfer has been measured in a large number of small studies, scattered over a 40-year publication record. Here, we reviewed energy density records of Southern Ocean zooplankton, nekton and several benthic taxa, including previously unpublished data.

Lifestyle and Ice: The Relationship between Ecological Specialization and Response to Pleistocene Climate Change.

Major climatic changes in the Pleistocene had significant effects on marine organisms and the environments in which they lived. The presence of divergent patterns of demographic history even among phylogenetically closely-related species sharing climatic changes raises questions as to the respective influence of species-specific traits on population structure. In this work we tested whether the lifestyle of Antarctic notothenioid benthic and pelagic fish species from the Southern Ocean influenced the concerted population response to Pleistocene climatic fluctuations.

Comparative phylogeography of three trematomid fishes reveals contrasting genetic structure patterns in benthic and pelagic species.

Population genetics patterns of marine fish in general and of Southern Ocean fish in particular range from virtual panmixia over ocean-wide scale to deeply fragmented populations. However the causes underlying these different patterns are not properly understood. In this paper, we tested the hypotheses that population connectivity is positively related to a combination of life history traits, namely duration of pelagic larval period and the tendency towards pelagic life style in the adulthood.