Anonymous: LTER/The Antarctic Marine Ecosystem, Ant.J., Sep92
Palmer LTER Contribution #(none)

Antarctic Journal of the United States, September 1992, Volume 27, No. 3,
Page 5: Long-term ecological research on the antarctic marine ecosystem: an
ice-dominated environment.  Robin Ross, Langdon Quetin, Barbara 
Prezelin, and Raymond Smith, University of California, Santa Barbara; and 
William Fraser, Wayne Z. Trivelpiece, and Eileen Hofmann, Old Dominion 
University.  
The annual advance and retreat of sea ice may be the major physical 
determinant of spatial and temporal changes in the structure and 
function of antarctic marine communities.  Interannual cycles or trends in 
the annual extent of the pack ice also may significantly affect all levels of 
the food web - from total annual primary production to breeding success in 
seabirds.  Historical records indicate a six- to eight- year cycle in the 
maximum extent of the pack ice during the winter.  This pattern is supported 
by observations made during the 1980s.  The winters of 1980 and 1981 were cold; 
these were followed by warmer winters until those of 1986 and 1987 when the 
cold cycle repeated.  Data gathered during the last decade show that, 
following the same pattern, Adelie penguins had a higher survival rate in 
winters with large amounts of pack ice.  During this long term ecological 
research project, investigators from six universities will define ecological 
processes linking the extent of annual pack ice with biological dynamics of 
different trophic levels in antarctic marine communities.  Generally, we will 
focus on yearly variations in representative populations from the marine food 
web (i.e., Adelie penguins, skuas, krill, and antarctic silverfish) and on 
mechanistic links controlling observed variations.  With these data, we will 
be able to develop broader characterizations that can be applied to other 
large marine environments.  To achieve this, we will collect data at several 
spatial and temporal scales.  Our collection and research methods include 
remote sensing, annual monitoring (a series of process-oriented research 
cruises), and modeling to link multiple spatial and temporal scales between 
biological and environmental components of the ecosystem.  (S-028, S-016, 
S-028, S-032, S-013, S-029, and S-021)