Temporal variability of benthic communities in an Alaskan glacial fjord, 1971-2007.
Temporal trends of deep-subtidal macrofauna in Port Valdez, Alaska, were assessed with respect to multiple environmental stressors. Effects from a magnitude 9.2 earthquake in Prince William Sound, Alaska, 1964, were reflected in recolonization of the basin of the fjord, increased abundance and number of taxa over time, and moderately increased variability in abundance through 1990, stabilizing 26years after the earthquake. Long-term climatic variability and local physical processes were important sources of spatial and temporal variability. Correlative evidence suggests that indirect effects of juvenile salmon from a shoreline salmon hatchery and deposition of adult salmon carcasses moderately enhanced deep-basin benthic communities. Effects on the deep benthos from a marine oil terminal were negligible. Overall, faunal trends deviated from the stability expected for benthic communities in other fjords. Physical characteristics of the fjord were important in mediating the effects of stressors and in delaying the readjustment process.
Institute of Marine Science, University of Alaska Fairbanks, P.O. Box 757220, Fairbanks, Alaska 99775-7220, USA. arnyb@ims.uaf.edu
Arny L
AL
Blanchard
Howard M
HM
Feder
Max K
MK
Hoberg
D000413:Alaska; D000818:Animals; D002980:Climate; D057231:Climate Change; D017753:Ecosystem; D007448:Invertebrates / Q000502:physiology*; D009792:Oceans and Seas; D013997:Time Factors