Spatial patterns in pelagic ciliate community responses to various habitats in the Amundsen Sea (Antarctica)

•This study provides detailed information about pelagic ciliate communities in the Amundsen Sea.•It details both spatial patterns in community structure and environmental condition.•It reveals that pelagic ciliate communities can accurately reflect habitats variables.•Using ciliates as tracers, the study explains spatial variability in Antarctic environments.

To investigate the impacts of climate change on environmental conditions and pelagic biodiversity, spatial patterns in pelagic ciliate communities were studied at 18 stations from five habitats in the Amundsen Sea (western Antarctic) during austral summer from December 2010 to January 2011. Clear spatial patterns were observed in community structure, and significant differences were found among the various habitats. The species number, abundance, biomass and biodiversity indices (Shannon diversity H′, Pielou's evenness J′, and Margalef richness D) also showed clear spatial trends. Pelagic ciliate community structure accurately reflected environmental variability. Alone or in combination, several primary environmental variables were found to affect community spatial patterns in specific habitats. Shannon H′ and Margalef D showed strong relationships with spatial changes in chlorophyll a and might be better predictors in future Antarctic studies. This study presents the first detailed description of spatial patterns in pelagic ciliate communities and their correlations with environmental variability in habitats in the Amundsen Sea during early austral summer. Our findings provide detailed and basic data on the composition, distribution, and variation of ciliate communities in the Amundsen Sea, and will help answer important questions about polar ecosystems.