10.18453/rosdok_id00004511 Weith, Friederike Friederike Weith http://d-nb.info/gnd/1315130904 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7306-8263 Universität Rostock 2023 570 Life science 2023 en https://purl.uni-rostock.de/rosdok/id00004511 urn:nbn:de:gbv:28-rosdok_id00004511-9 The unique benthic biodiversity in the Southern Ocean is under increasing pressure as changes in sea-ice cover in the Southern Ocean have a major impact on sensitive benthic organisms which rely on food input from the surface to the seafloor. Still we know little about the Antarctic endobenthic diversity (meio- and macrofauna organisms). This thesis aims to improve the understanding of the Antarctic endobenthic biodiversity by linking taxonomic and functional aspects on species and community level with environmental drivers.