Admiralty Bay Benthos Diversity

Admiralty Bay Benthos Diversity Database (ABBED) was established jointly by Poland, Belgium and Brazil as a part of the International Polar Year 2007–2009 (IPY) initiative related to the Census of Antarctic Marine Life (CAML). The database is being coordinated by Laboratory of Polar Biology and Oceanobiology, University of Lodz, Poland (invertebrates.uni.lodz.pl).

Admiralty Bay is one of the most intensively sampled areas in the Antarctic. Early scientific exploration of this basin dated back to beginning of the XX century. More recently, intensive and continuous scientific activities were supported by polar stations (Arctowski - Poland, since 1977 and Comandante Ferraz - Brazil, since 1984) and have accumulated rich biological and oceanographic information from the area for over the past 30 years. The data record of all benthic samples (including data on abundance and biomass) have been gathered and digitized using the SCAR Marine Biodiversity Information Network (SCAR-MarBIN) data protocols and made available to the scientific community. The database include also the comprehensive (over 1300 species) list of benthic taxa of Admiralty Bay (species list).

Although initially the long-term studies on the marine benthos and marine environment were not conducted
systematically in this area, they are now being integrated through the ABBED. This database, in association with the SCAR-MarBIN, provides broad and comprehensive baseline information, visualisation and analytical tools that can be used to assist in the management and conservation of Admiralty Bay Specially Managed Area No.1.

The continuous development of ABBED endows the Antarctic community with a valuable tool for monitoring and understanding the state and potential changes of the benthic realm in the area.

For further details please contact the site coordinators Jacek Sicinski (sicinski@biol.uni.lodz.pl) or Anna Jazdzewska (jazdz@wp.pl).