Diatom and associated data for examining the effects of heavy metal and petroleum hydrocarbon contamination on benthic diatom communities in Antarctica

Full title:Diatom and associated data for a manipulative field experiment examining the effects of heavy metal and petroleum hydrocarbon contamination on benthic diatom communities in the Windmill Islands, Antarctica.A manipulative field experiment was performed to assess the effects of heavy metals and petroleum hydrocarbons on benthic diatom communities in the Windmill Islands. Three treatments were used (control, metal contaminated, and petroleum hydrocarbon contaminated), with replicates of each treatment deployed at three locations (Sparkes Bay, Brown Bay and O'Brien Bay). The datasets associated with this experiment include the concentrations of metals and hydrocarbons within samples, as well as diatom data (raw counts, and the relative abundance of benthic species).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:SpeciesSiteAbundanceTreatment TypeAntimonyArsenicCadmiumChromiumCopperIronLeadManganeseMercuryNickelSilverTinZincSpecial Antarctic BlendLube

完整标题：针对南极风车群岛底栖硅藻（benthic diatom）群落受重金属（heavy metal）与石油烃（petroleum hydrocarbon）污染影响的操控性野外实验（manipulative field experiment）所用硅藻及相关数据集

本研究实施操控性野外实验，以评估重金属与石油烃污染对南极风车群岛底栖硅藻群落的影响。实验设置三组处理：对照组、重金属污染组与石油烃污染组，每组重复样本均布设至三个采样点位——斯帕克斯湾、布朗湾与奥布莱恩湾。本实验关联的数据集涵盖样品内金属与烃类浓度数据，以及硅藻相关数据（原始计数结果与底栖物种相对丰度）。

本研究系ASAC项目1130（ASAC_1130）与项目2201（ASAC_2201）的研究内容之一。

项目1130公开摘要：
多数浅海生境的海底均生长着藻垫。据测算，此类藻垫在诸多区域的总初级生产力占比超五成，是无脊椎动物与部分鱼类的关键食物来源。本项目旨在明确藻垫在南极海洋生境中的重要性，评估当地排污与垃圾填埋场污染对其造成的影响，同时探究臭氧空洞引发的额外紫外辐射对藻垫的作用效果。

项目2201公开摘要：
作为《南极条约环境保护议定书》缔约国，澳大利亚肩负全面保护南极环境的责任。该议定书明确要求，南极境内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科学判断。澳大利亚在南极开展的多数活动均集中于临海的无冰岩石窄带区域，其中诸多活动均存在对海洋生物造成环境损害的潜在风险。南极海域孕育了该区域结构最复杂、生物多样性最丰富的动植物群落，但目前学界对这类群落的认知极为有限，尚不足以针对其可能遭遇的环境影响做出合理判断。

海底动植物被广泛认为是海洋生态系统中最适宜用于表征本地污染源所引发扰动的类群。附着型海底生物与所处点位存在固定的空间关联，因此它们要么耐受当地环境条件，要么走向消亡。一旦某点位的附着生物消失，该区域的重新定殖需耗费一定时日，因此海底群落结构不仅能反映当前环境条件，还可整合记录过往的环境状况。与之相对，鱼类与浮游生物可自由移动，因此其捕获点位无法反映它们在该区域的长期停留情况。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，因此不同物种对胁迫的耐受水平也存在显著差异；这使得群落结构会随扰动程度的逐步加剧发生一系列细微变化，而非出现全有或全无的响应模式。

本项目将对科考站周边的海底群落开展调查，以明确其受人类活动影响的严重程度。相关研究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、采样点位、丰度、处理类型、锑（Antimony）、砷（Arsenic）、镉（Cadmium）、铬（Chromium）、铜（Copper）、铁（Iron）、铅（Lead）、锰（Manganese）、汞（Mercury）、镍（Nickel）、银（Silver）、锡（Tin）、锌（Zinc）、南极专用混合润滑油（Special Antarctic Blend）、润滑油（Lube）