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:SpeciesSiteAbundanceBenthic

研究团队从风车群岛（Windmill Islands）的三处海湾中共采集10根沉积岩芯：斯帕克斯湾（Sparkes Bay）2根、香农湾（Shannon Bay）1根、布朗湾（Brown Bay）7根。本次公开数据集仅包含硅藻数据，但研究团队同时完成了铅-210（Pb210）与金属元素分析，如需了解相关细节可联系伊恩·斯内普（Ian Snape），邮箱：[e-mail]。
硅藻数据表（diatom_data）记录了底栖物种的相对丰度，物种标识所用缩写的说明详见独立文件sp_list，每根岩芯的数据均单独保存为一个文件。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倾倒场附近。BBMid采自海湾中部，BB Outer 1与BB Outer 2则采自该海湾外侧区域，因此距倾倒场最远。若无特别说明，单根岩芯中编号最小的样品为年代最新的样品。
本研究是南极科学咨询委员会（Antarctic Science Advisory Committee, 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有藻垫生长，据估算其贡献了该类生境总初级生产力的半数以上，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生境中的重要性，评估当地生活污水与倾倒场污染的影响，并探究臭氧空洞引发的额外紫外辐射对藻垫的作用。
项目2201公开摘要：作为《南极条约环境保护议定书》缔约国，澳大利亚承诺全面保护南极环境。该议定书要求，所有南极活动均需基于充足信息规划与实施，以便预先评估并审慎判断其对南极环境的潜在影响。我国在南极的多数活动均集中于沿海狭长的无冰岩石带，其中不少活动可能对海洋生物造成环境损害。南极海域孕育了本区域最为复杂、生物多样性最丰富的动植物群落，但人类对其认知极为有限，显然不足以支撑对潜在环境影响的审慎评估。
海底动植物被公认为海洋生态系统中最适宜表征本地源干扰的组分。附着型底栖生物与特定区域存在固定的空间关联，只能耐受当地环境或死亡。一旦某一区域的底栖生物消失，其重新定植需要较长时间，因此海底群落结构不仅反映当前环境条件，还可整合过往的环境变化。与之相对，鱼类与浮游生物可自由移动，其捕获位点无法体现该生物在当地的长期栖息时长。由于海底群落多样性极高，其中包含多种生活策略迥异的物种，不同物种对胁迫的耐受程度差异显著，这使得群落结构会随干扰程度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。
本项目将调查科考站周边的海底群落，明确其受人类活动的影响程度，相关结果将用于优先优化作业流程，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（Species）、采样位点（Site）、丰度（Abundance）、底栖（Benthic）