Distribution of meio-fauna assemblages in Lake Nurume-Ike, an East Antarctic meromictic lake

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25550084
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Environmental and ecological symbiosis
• Research Institution: Tokai University
• Principal Investigator: Saito Hiromi 東海大学, 生物学部, 准教授 (50433454)
• Research Collaborator: TAKAHASHI T. Kunio ; IMURA Satoshi ; KUDHO Sakae ; HATTORI Hiroshi ; KITO Kenji
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: 南極湖沼 / ぬるめ池 / 線虫 / メイオファウナ / 部分循環湖

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In Antarctica, many lakes were distributed and it possesses diverse environment. This study examined relationships between abundances of meio-fauna communities and eight environmental factors at five stations in Lake Nurume-Ike in 2008. Furthermore, in 2012, vertical distributions of nematode assemblages within sediment were obtained at five stations. The 2008 results showed a lower abundance of copepods and nematodes at mid-depth. Nematode assemblages consisted of three genera: Chromadora, Microlaimus and Anticoma. Their abundances showed distinctive pattern for lake depth. Among eight environmental factors, copepod abundances negatively correlated with oxygen redox potential and turbidity. In 2012, nematode assemblages were observed at two sampling points. These indicated high density in the upper sediment layers. Present results show changes to community composition of meio-fauna with lake depth due to each specific response to the changeable environments of meromictic lakes.

Free Research Field

生態学