Hadal trenches: the ecology of the deepest places on Earth

Jamieson, Alan J.; Fujii, Toyonobu; Mayor, Daniel J.; Solan, Martin; Priede, Imants George

doi:10.1016/j.tree.2009.09.009

Cited by 316 publications

(281 citation statements)

References 87 publications

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“…A diverse array of metazoan species of fish, holothurians, polychaetes, bivalves, isopods, actinians, amphipods and gastropods have been recorded in deep-sea trenches, with many of them considered as exclusive to this biotope (Jamieson et al, 2010). The deep-sea environment is also a source of unique microorganisms with great potential for biotechnological exploitation.…”

Section: Deep-sea Trenches (A682)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of goods and services, vulnerability, and conservation status of European seabed biotopes: a stepping stone towards ecosystem-based marine spatial management

et al. 2012

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The goal of ecosystem-based marine spatial management is to maintain marine ecosystems in a healthy, productive and resilient condition; hence, they can sustainably provide the needed goods and services for human welfare. However, the increasing pressures upon the marine realm threaten marine ecosystems, especially seabed biotopes, and thus a well-planned approach of managing use of marine space is essential to achieve sustainability. The relative value of seabed biotopes, evaluated on the basis of goods and services, is an important starting point for the spatial management of marine areas. Herein, 56 types of European seabed biotopes and their related goods, services, sensitivity issues, and conservation status were compiled, the latter referring to management and protection tools which currently apply for these biotopes at European or international level. Fishing activities, especially by benthic trawls, and marine pollution are the main threats to European seabed biotopes. Increased seawater turbidity, dredged sediment disposal, coastal constructions, biological invasions, mining, extraction of raw materials, shipping-related activities, tourism, hydrocarbon exploration, and even some practices of scientific research, also exert substantial pressure. Although some first steps have been taken to protect the European sea beds through international agreements and European and national legislation, a finer scale of classification and assessment of marine biotopes is considered crucial in shaping sound priorities and management guidelines towards the effective conservation and sustainability of European marine resources.

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Section: Deep-sea Trenches (A682)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of goods and services, vulnerability, and conservation status of European seabed biotopes: a stepping stone towards ecosystem-based marine spatial management

et al. 2012

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“…Trench environments are differentiated from upper abyssal oceans by their elevated hydrostatic pressure and their hydrotopographically isolated nature, whereas other physical and chemical conditions, such as temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, and nutrients are comparable to those in abyssal oceans (7)(8)(9). The microbiological and geochemical investigations of hadal waters have been limited (10), in contrast to the long history of hadal benthic microbiological studies occurring since the 1950s (11).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Hadal biosphere: Insight into the microbial ecosystem in the deepest ocean on Earth

Nunoura

Takaki

Hirai

et al. 2015

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

251

314

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Hadal oceans at water depths below 6,000 m are the least-explored aquatic biosphere. The Challenger Deep, located in the western equatorial Pacific, with a water depth of ∼11 km, is the deepest ocean on Earth. Microbial communities associated with waters from the sea surface to the trench bottom (0 ∼10,257 m) in the Challenger Deep were analyzed, and unprecedented trench microbial communities were identified in the hadal waters (6,000 ∼10,257 m) that were distinct from the abyssal microbial communities. The potentially chemolithotrophic populations were less abundant in the hadal water than those in the upper abyssal waters. The emerging members of chemolithotrophic nitrifiers in the hadal water that likely adapt to the higher flux of electron donors were also different from those in the abyssal waters that adapt to the lower flux of electron donors. Species-level niche separation in most of the dominant taxa was also found between the hadal and abyssal microbial communities. Considering the geomorphology and the isolated hydrotopographical nature of the Mariana Trench, we hypothesized that the distinct hadal microbial ecosystem was driven by the endogenous recycling of organic matter in the hadal waters associated with the trench geomorphology.hadal | trench | niche separation | nitrification | Challenger Deep

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“…When considered together, the available estimates of holothurian density provide anecdotal evidence that holothurians are found in greatest abundance at hadal depths, rather than at adjacent abyssal areas. Mass abundances of hadal holothurians are thought to occur at the trench axis where elevated levels of organic material are likely to accumulate (Otosaka and Noriki 2000;Danovaro et al 2003;Jamieson et al 2010;Itoh et al 2011). This appears to reflect a general relationship with topography (Rowe 1971) as concentrations of elpidiids are a common feature of underwater canyons and other depressions which are known to contain elevated levels of organic matter and deposit feeding benthic biomass (De Leo et al 2010).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Whilst we have been able to describe the likely ecological role of E. atakama at hadal depths, the high-resolution time-lapse sequences also enabled us to highlight some procedural difficulties that are likely to hinder progress in understanding the structure and functioning of hadal communities (Jamieson et al 2010). Reanalysis of our timelapse sequences at progressively lower temporal resolution suggests that the extended time-lapse intervals used in longterm observatories (Kaufmann and Smith 1997) are likely to miss the subtleties of holothurian behaviour and grossly underestimate the locomotion/feeding rates of individual species, because rest periods and alternative bouts of behaviour can occur between successive images (typically \1 h).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Frequently observed mass abundances of holothurians, particularly in trenches associated with high productivity in temperate and sub-Antarctic latitudes, have led some authors to refer to the hadal zone as ''the kingdom of Holothuroidea'' (sensu Belyaev 1989), a view that has been reinforced by trawl-catch frequencies of 88% at depths [6,000 m (comparable only to Polychaeta) and high levels of dominance (75-98% in number of all organisms retrieved, [90% biomass) at depths [7,500 m (Belyaev 1989). Although such high returns tend to be associated with trawls confined to the bottom of the axial part of the trenches, where the greatest quantity of organic matter accumulates (Otosaka and Noriki 2000;Danovaro et al 2003;De Leo et al 2010;Jamieson et al 2010), it follows that the cumulative contribution of the Holothuroidea to deep ocean benthic process and functioning must be considerable (Amaro et al 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Functional effects of the hadal sea cucumber Elpidia atakama (Echinodermata: Holothuroidea, Elasipodida) reflect small-scale patterns of resource availability

et al. 2011

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Holothuroidea represent the dominant benthic megafauna in hadal trenches (*6,000-11,000 m), but little is known about their behaviour and functional role at such depths. Using a time-lapse camera at 8,074 m in the PeruChile Trench (SE Pacific Ocean), we provide the first in situ observations of locomotory activity for the elasipodid holothurian Elpidia atakama Belyaev in Shirshov Inst Oceanol 92: 326-367, (1971). Time-lapse sequences reveal 'run and mill' behaviour whereby bouts of feeding activity are interspersed by periods of locomotion. Over the total observation period (20 h 25 min), we observed a mean (±SD) locomotion speed of 7.0 ± 5.7 BL h -1 , but this increased to 10.9 ± 7.2 BL h -1 during active relocation and reduced to 4.8 ± 2.9 BL h -1 during feeding. These observations show E. atakama translocates and processes sediment at rates comparable to shallower species despite extreme hydrostatic pressure and remoteness from surfacederived food.

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Hadal trenches: the ecology of the deepest places on Earth

Cited by 316 publications

References 87 publications

Assessment of goods and services, vulnerability, and conservation status of European seabed biotopes: a stepping stone towards ecosystem-based marine spatial management

Assessment of goods and services, vulnerability, and conservation status of European seabed biotopes: a stepping stone towards ecosystem-based marine spatial management

Hadal biosphere: Insight into the microbial ecosystem in the deepest ocean on Earth

Functional effects of the hadal sea cucumber Elpidia atakama (Echinodermata: Holothuroidea, Elasipodida) reflect small-scale patterns of resource availability

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