The benthic community in the Chilean Patagonia is as rich and highly diverse as the spatial variation of its habitats and food sources. Environmental stress from glacier melt and river discharge are known drivers of benthic community dynamics. Here, we analyze longitudinal patterns of soft-bottom benthic communities across transects of glacier-marine environments and how these habitats may respond to changes in the environmental conditions. To assess the relationships between environmental heterogeneity (marine and glacial habitats) and benthic biodiversity, this paper reviews biological (mega- and macroinfauna) and sedimentological dataset from multiple oceanographic campaigns in Chilean Patagonian fjords. Furthermore, we analyze isotopic compositions of epibenthic and macroinfaunal organisms (δ¹³C/δ¹⁵N and C/N) to determine particulate organic carbon (POC) and particulate organic nitrogen (PON) availability and organismal stoichiometric budgets within each benthic community. Our results showed that glaciomarine and glaciofluvial environmental stress negatively affected nutrient reservoirs and organic matter (OM) availability, and hence produced changes in benthic diversity and trophic structure throughout the fjords. These conditions shaped the benthic community where small-bodied polychaetes and opportunistic species dominated. Additionally, we found a strong relationship between OM and nutrient availability with faunal isotopic composition, but a decoupling in C/N ratios between fauna and sediment OM, suggesting preferential organic carbon use under limited nitrogen in fjord sediments.

智利巴塔哥尼亚的底栖生物群落与其栖息地和食物来源的空间差异一样丰富且高度多样化。冰川融化和河流排放造成的环境压力是已知的底栖群落动态驱动因素。在这里，我们分析了跨越冰川-海洋环境横断面的软底底栖生物群落的纵向模式，以及这些栖息地如何应对环境条件的变化。为了评估环境异质性（海洋和冰川栖息地）与底栖生物多样性之间的关系，本文回顾了智利巴塔哥尼亚峡湾多次海洋活动的生物（大型和大型动物）和沉积学数据集。此外，我们分析了表底生物和大型动物的同位素组成（δ ¹³ C/δ¹⁵ N 和 C/N) 以确定每个底栖生物群落内的颗粒有机碳 (POC) 和颗粒有机氮 (PON) 可用性和生物化学计量预算。我们的研究结果表明，冰川海洋和冰川河流环境胁迫对养分库和有机物 (OM) 可用性产生负面影响，从而导致整个峡湾的底栖生物多样性和营养结构发生变化。这些条件塑造了小型多毛类动物和机会主义物种占主导地位的底栖生物群落。此外，我们发现 OM 和养分有效性与动物群同位素组成之间存在密切关系，但动物群和沉积物 OM 之间的 C/N 比存在脱钩，这表明在峡湾沉积物中有限的氮下优先使用有机碳。