Zoogeographic and Richness Patterns in Southern Ocean Benthos

The Southern Ocean functions as a single biogeographic unit, with no evidence supporting the proposed East-West Antarctic split. This study, analyzing over 8,000 marine invertebrate species from 5,000 sites using SOMBASE and SCAR-MarBIN databases, confirmed strong faunal links between Antarctica and South America but found little connection to New Zealand or Tasmania. It also identified hotspots of range-limit coincidences in Southern Patagonia, South Georgia, and Kerguelen, suggesting these areas are critical for monitoring climate change impacts on benthic species distributions.

Griffiths, H. J. (2010). Zoogeographic and Richness Patterns in Southern Ocean Benthos. The Open University. https://doi.org/10.21954/OU.RO.0000F201