Use of stable isotope ratios to delineate coastal benthic food web structure in Adélie Land (East Antarctica)

Antarctica currently undergoes strong and contrasted impacts linked with climate change. While the West Antarctic Peninsula is one of the most rapidly warming regions in the world, resulting in sea ice cover decrease, in some parts of East Antarctica sea ice cover tends to increase, possibly in relation with changes in atmospheric circulation. Changes in sea ice cover are likely to influence benthic food web structure through modifications of benthic-pelagic coupling, disruption of benthic production and/or modifications of benthic community structure (i.e. resource availability for benthic consumers). Here, we studied shallow (0-20 m) benthic food web structure on the coasts of Petrels Island (Adélie Land, East Antarctica) during an event of unusually high spatial and temporal (two successive austral summers without seasonal break-up) sea ice cover. Using stable isotope ratios of C, N and S, we examined importance of several organic matter sources (benthic macroalgae, benthic biofilm, sympagic algae, suspended particulate organic matter and penguin guano) for nutrition of over 20 taxa of benthic invertebrates (sponges, sea anemones, nemerteans, sessile and mobile polychaetes, gastropods, bivalves, sipunculids, pycnogonids, amphipods, sea stars, sea urchins and sea cucumbers) spanning most present functional guilds. Our results provide insights about how Antarctic benthic consumers, which have evolved in an extremely stable environment, might adapt their feeding habits in response to sudden changes in environmental conditions and trophic resource availability.