nerc.ac.uk

Pan-Atlantic Comparison of Deep-Sea Macro- and Megabenthos

Kürzel, Karlotta; Brix, Saskia; Brandt, Angelika; Brenke, Nils; Enderlein, Peter; Griffiths, Huw ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1764-223X; Kaiser, Stephanie; Svavarsson, Jörundur; Lörz, Anne-Nina; Frutos, Inmaculada; Taylor, James; Linse, Katrin ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3477-3047. 2023 Pan-Atlantic Comparison of Deep-Sea Macro- and Megabenthos [in special issue: Deep Atlantic Biodiversity] Diversity, 15 (7), 814. 28, pp. 10.3390/d15070814

Before downloading, please read NORA policies.
[thumbnail of Open Access]
Preview
Text (Open Access)
© 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
diversity-15-00814.pdf - Published Version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution 4.0.

Download (4MB) | Preview

Abstract/Summary

Deep-sea benthic fauna is vital for a well-functioning marine ecosystem but is increasingly under threat from a changing environment. To monitor and conserve this fauna, an understanding of their large-scale spatial and bathymetric distribution and their environmental drivers is necessary. In this study, we conduct a multivariate analysis on abundance benthic fauna data collected at the phylum and multitaxon levels using an epibenthic sledge (EBS) across the Atlantic, and identify the environmental factors that affect such data. Our findings show a decrease in abundance with depth in most of the Atlantic but find relatively heterogeneous abundances with depth within the Southern Ocean. Principal component analyses indicate differences in environmental conditions south of the Antarctic Polar Front (~52° S), outlining contrasts in the quantities of macronutrients and physical factors. Despite this, community composition seemed markedly similar throughout the Atlantic with the Antarctic Circumpolar Current seemingly not affecting benthic community composition for higher taxonomic levels. Those differences that did occur were largely caused by benthic chlorophyll, benthic iron, and surface silicate through a Bio-ENV. Overall, we argue that further large-scale spatial and bathymetric distribution studies are important amid environmental changes that are driving shifts in benthic community abundance and composition.

Item Type: Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI): 10.3390/d15070814
ISSN: 1424-2818
Additional Keywords: Species distribution patterns; Atlantic Ocean; Southern Ocean; Benthic macrofauna; Deep sea; EBS; Depth gradient; Environmental variables
Related URLs:
Date made live: 03 Jul 2023 11:21 +0 (UTC)
URI: https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/534369

Actions (login required)

View Item View Item

Document Downloads

Downloads for past 30 days

Downloads per month over past year

More statistics for this item...