Diatom data for ten sediment cores collected in 3 marine bays in the Windmill Islands, Antarctica

Ten sediment cores were collected from 3 marine bays in the Windmill Islands. Two cores were collected in Sparkes Bay, one in Shannon Bay, and seven in Brown Bay. Only diatom data are presented here, however Pb210 and metal analyses have also been undertaken - contact Ian Snape ([e-mail]) for more information regarding this.

The diatom spreadsheet (diatom_data) lists the relative abundance of benthic species. The abbreviation used to identify species are explained in the separate file called sp_list. Each core has been saved as a separate file. The STE cores were collected from within a couple of meters of each other. These cores were collected in close proximity to a tip site at one end of Brown Bay. BBMid was collected from the middle of the bay, while BB Outer 1 and 2 were collected from the outer regions of this bay, and thus represent the greatest distance from the tip site. Unless otherwise stated, the lowest number within each core represents the youngest sample.

This work was completed as part of ASAC project 1130 (ASAC_1130) and project 2201 (ASAC_2201).

Public summary from project 1130:

Algal mats grow on sea floor in most shallow marine environments. They are thought to contribute more than half of the total primary production in many of these areas, making them a critical food source for invertebrates and some fish. We will establish how important they are in Antarctic marine environments and determine the effects of local sewerage and tip site pollution. We will also investigate the impact on the algal mats of the additional UV radiation which results from the ozone hole.

Public summary from project 2201:

As a signatory to the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty Australia is committed to comprehensive protection of the Antarctic environment. This protocol requires that activities in the Antarctic shall be planned and conducted on the basis of information sufficient to make prior assessments of, and informed judgements about, their possible impacts on the Antarctic environment. Most of our activities in the Antarctic occur along the narrow fringe of ice-free rock adjacent to the sea and many of our activities have the potential to cause environmental harm to marine life. The Antarctic seas support the most complex and biologically diverse plant and animal communities of the region. However, very little is known about them and there is certainly not sufficient known to make informed judgements about possible environmental impacts.

The animals and plants of the sea-bed are widely accepted as being the most appropriate part of the marine ecosystem for indicating disturbance caused by local sources. Attached sea-bed organisms have a fixed spatial relationship with a given place so they must either endure conditions or die. Once lost from a site recolonisation takes some time, as a consequence the structure of sea-bed communities reflect not only present conditions but they can also integrate conditions in the past. In contrast, fish and planktonic organisms can move freely so their site of capture does not indicate a long residence time at that location. Because sea-bed communities are particularly diverse they contain species with widely differing life strategies, as a result different species can have very different levels of tolerance to stress; this leads to a range of subtle changes in community structure as a response to gradually increasing disturbance, rather than an all or nothing response.

This project will examine sea-bed communities near our stations to determine how seriously they are affected by human activities. This information will be used to set priorities for improving operational procedures to reduce the risk of further environmental damage.

The fields in this dataset are:

Species
Site
Abundance
Benthic

本研究从风车群岛（Windmill Islands）的3处海湾采集了10根沉积物岩芯：其中斯帕克斯湾（Sparkes Bay）2根、香农湾（Shannon Bay）1根、布朗湾（Brown Bay）7根。本次仅展示硅藻数据，研究同时开展了铅-210（Pb210）与金属元素分析，如需了解更多相关细节，请联系伊恩·斯奈普（Ian Snape，邮箱：[e-mail]）。

硅藻数据表（diatom_data）记录了底栖（benthic）物种的相对丰度，物种缩写的说明详见单独文件sp_list。每根沉积物岩芯的数据均保存为独立文件。STE系列岩芯的采集间距不足2米，且均布设于布朗湾一端的垃圾倾倒点附近。BBMid岩芯采自海湾中部，而BB Outer 1与BB Outer 2则采集于该海湾的外海区域，因此距垃圾倾倒点最远。若无特殊说明，单根岩芯数据中编号最小的样品为年代最新的样品。

本数据集的相关工作隶属于ASAC项目1130（ASAC_1130）与项目2201（ASAC_2201）。

### 项目1130公众摘要
多数浅海海底均有藻垫（algal mats）生长，据信其贡献了该类环境总初级生产力的一半以上，是无脊椎动物与部分鱼类的关键食物来源。本研究旨在明确藻垫在南极海洋环境中的生态重要性，并评估当地排污与垃圾倾倒点污染对其造成的影响。同时，本研究还将探究臭氧空洞导致的紫外辐射增强对藻垫的影响。

### 项目2201公众摘要
作为《南极条约环境保护议定书》的缔约国，澳大利亚致力于全面保护南极环境。该议定书要求，南极地区的所有活动均需基于充足信息开展规划与实施，以便对其可能给南极环境带来的影响进行预先评估与审慎判断。澳大利亚在南极的多数活动均集中于毗邻海洋的狭长无冰岩带区域，且诸多活动均有可能对海洋生物造成环境损害。南极海域孕育了该区域最为复杂、生物多样性最丰富的动植物群落，但目前对该群落的了解仍十分有限，不足以对潜在环境影响做出审慎判断。

学界普遍认为，海底动植物是海洋生态系统中最适用于指示本地源干扰的指示类群。附着型海底生物与特定区域存在固定的空间关联，因此它们要么适应所处环境，要么死亡。一旦某区域的附着型生物消失，群落重新定殖需要较长时间，因此海底群落结构不仅能反映当前环境状况，还能整合记录过往的环境变化。与之相对，鱼类与浮游生物可自由移动，因此其捕获位点无法反映它们在该区域的停留时长。由于海底群落具有极高的多样性，其中包含生活策略差异极大的物种，因此不同物种对环境胁迫的耐受程度也各不相同；这使得群落结构会随扰动程度的逐渐增加发生一系列细微变化，而非出现全有或全无的响应模式。

本项目将对考察站附近的海底群落开展调查，以明确人类活动对其造成的影响程度。相关调查结果将用于制定优化作业流程的优先级，以降低进一步造成环境损害的风险。

本数据集包含以下字段：物种、采样位点、丰度、底栖