Recently Ice-Free areas of an Antarctic fjord and its colonization: The particular case of Malacobelemnon daytoni in Potter Cove

Abstract

At the West Antarctic Peninsula climate change causes rapid frontline retreat of tidewater glaciers, opening new ice-free areas under water and causing meltwater discharges dragging sediments into the water. We aimed to model current habitat suitability of the soft coral Malacobelemnon daytoni using Species Distribution Models. We ran with biomod2 R-package, 360 calibrated and evaluated projections for 2 data sets which differ in ice-free exposure time building two comparable ensemble models. Using Potter Cove as a natural experiment of community response to glacier retreat; may help to determine time-lag in colonization for Antarctic coastal key species on newly ice-free areas.