High Biodiversity on a Deep-Water Reef in the Eastern Fram Strait

Meyer, Kirstin S.; Soltwedel, Thomas; Bergmann, Melanie

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0105424

Cited by 21 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 42 publications

(54 reference statements)

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“…Some morphotypes could be identified by comparison to the results of Bergmann et al (2011). For those morphotypes also observed on the rocky reef at station Senke, morphotype names in this study match the names used by Meyer et al (2014).…”

Section: Image Analysissupporting

confidence: 52%

“…Bottom temperature in the study area is ~ -0.8°C, and bottom current speed is ~5 cm s −1 to the northwest (Meyer et al 2014. Four of the 5 stations (S3, HG IV, N3, and N5) analyzed represent soft-sediment sites and constitute a latitudinal transect along the 2500 m isobath, while the remaining station, here referred to as 'Senke,' includes a steep deep-water rocky reef (Table 1, Fig.…”

Section: Image Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…1). However, at the Senke site, photographs included in the present image analysis were all recorded from the soft-sediment seafloor at the foot of the reef (Meyer et al 2014). The Senke rocky reef is the only rocky reef known in the HAUS-GARTEN area, as the majority of the seafloor is composed of soft sediments (Soltwedel et al 2005).…”

Section: Image Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A single iceberg may have carried many stones, which were released at the same time as the iceberg melted. Some stones may have broken off from the rocky reef and rolled down the adjacent slope (Meyer et al 2014); however, this does not appear to be the primary process affecting the distribution of dropstones because clusters of stones were distributed randomly on the sea floor, without regard for distance to the rocky reef.…”

Section: Dropstones As Habitatsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is possible that the stones in the present study are simply not large enough to host all available morphotypes of fauna; the maximum morphotype richness on a single stone was 26, less than half of the 56 available morphotypes found on all dropstones. In contrast, 45 hard-bottom morphotypes inhabit the Senke rocky reef (Meyer et al 2014). …”

Section: Relationship Of Stone Size To the Biotic Communitymentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

Rocky islands in a sea of mud: biotic and abiotic factors structuring deep-sea dropstone communities

Meyer¹,

Young²,

Sweetman³

et al. 2016

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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Stones released by melting icebergs are called dropstones, and these stones constitute island-like hard-bottom habitats at high latitudes. In 2012, dropstone megafauna in the HAUSGARTEN observatory in the Fram Strait was sampled photographically. We tested the hypothesis that dropstones would have the same species distribution patterns as terrestrial islands, using 5 patterns commonly found in the classical island literature. Higher richness, diversity, and abundance of fauna occurred on larger stones and on stones near a deep-water rocky reef. These patterns can be explained by the greater surface area of larger stones, the exposure of larger stones to faster current higher in the benthic boundary layer, and increased larval supply from the rocky reef. Some pairs of morphotypes (12 pairs out of 56 morphotypes and 1540 possible pairs) co-occurred less often than expected by chance. While similar patterns have been attributed to interspecific competition in the classical island literature, we offer alternative mechanisms for dropstones. Non-random co-occurrence on dropstones may be explained by larval dispersal. Dropstone fauna had an overdispersed (clumped) distribution, so pairs of morphotypes may have negative non-random co-occurrence simply because short larval life and limited dispersal ability prevent them from having randomly overlapping distributions. In addition, we found 8 morphotype pairs that co-occurred more often than expected by chance because of epibiontism. The patterns found in dropstone communities resemble terrestrial islands, but different mechanisms may be responsible.

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Section: Image Analysissupporting

confidence: 52%

Section: Image Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Image Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Dropstones As Habitatsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Relationship Of Stone Size To the Biotic Communitymentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Rocky islands in a sea of mud: biotic and abiotic factors structuring deep-sea dropstone communities

Meyer¹,

Young²,

Sweetman³

et al. 2016

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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Methane cold seeps as biological oases in the high‐Arctic deep sea

Åström

Carroll

Ambrose

et al. 2017

Limnology & Oceanography

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Cold seeps can support unique faunal communities via chemosynthetic interactions fueled by seabed emissions of hydrocarbons. Additionally, cold seeps can enhance habitat complexity at the deep seafloor through the accretion of methane derived authigenic carbonates (MDAC). We examined infaunal and megafaunal community structure at high-Arctic cold seeps through analyses of benthic samples and seafloor photographs from pockmarks exhibiting highly elevated methane concentrations in sediments and the water column at Vestnesa Ridge (VR), Svalbard (798 N). Infaunal biomass and abundance were five times higher, species richness was 2.5 times higher and diversity was 1.5 times higher at methane-rich Vestnesa compared to a nearby control region. Seabed photos reveal different faunal associations inside, at the edge, and outside Vestnesa pockmarks. Brittle stars were the most common megafauna occurring on the soft bottom plains outside pockmarks. Microbial mats, chemosymbiotic siboglinid worms, and carbonate outcrops were prominent features inside the pockmarks, and high trophic-level predators aggregated around these features. Our faunal data, visual observations, and measurements of sediment characteristics indicate that methane is a key environmental driver of the biological system at VR. We suggest that chemoautotrophic production enhances infaunal diversity, abundance, and biomass at the seep while MDAC create a heterogeneous deep-sea habitat leading to aggregation of heterotrophic, conventional megafauna. Through this combination of rich infaunal and megafaunal associations, the cold seeps of VR are benthic oases compared to the surrounding highArctic deep sea.

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Recruitment of Arctic deep‐sea invertebrates: Results from a long‐term hard‐substrate colonization experiment at the Long‐Term Ecological Research observatory HAUSGARTEN

Meyer-Kaiser

Bergmann

Soltwedel

et al. 2019

Limnology & Oceanography

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For benthic marine invertebrates, recruitment strongly influences the composition and abundance of resulting communities. We present the results of a long‐term (1999–2017) colonization experiment at the Long‐Term Ecological Research observatory HAUSGARTEN in the Fram Strait (Arctic Ocean, 79°N, 04°E, 2500 m water depth). Recruitment panels were constructed from plastic and brick and deployed attached to a metal frame in 1999. The experiment was monitored using a remotely operated vehicle in 2003 and 2011 and recovered in 2017. Recruitment was very low, with only foraminiferans being visible after 4 yr (2003) and one metazoan species, the hydroid Halisiphonia arctica, being visible on the panels after 12 yr (2011). After 18 yr underwater, panels were colonized by 13 metazoan species as well as calcareous and agglutinating foraminiferans. Recruitment was higher on brick panels than on plastic, but while some species were more common on panels at higher altitude (H. arctica and the crinoid Bathycrinus carpenterii), others were more common on panels closer to the seafloor (serpulid polychaetes) or on panels in line with the predominant bottom current (small round white sponges). The most common species recruiting to our panels can be described as opportunistic. Meanwhile, large hexactinellid sponges that are common in natural communities did not recruit to our panels. These results suggest that community assembly in the Arctic deep sea takes much longer than the two decades spanned by this study.

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High Biodiversity on a Deep-Water Reef in the Eastern Fram Strait

Cited by 21 publications

References 42 publications

Rocky islands in a sea of mud: biotic and abiotic factors structuring deep-sea dropstone communities

Rocky islands in a sea of mud: biotic and abiotic factors structuring deep-sea dropstone communities

Methane cold seeps as biological oases in the high‐Arctic deep sea

Recruitment of Arctic deep‐sea invertebrates: Results from a long‐term hard‐substrate colonization experiment at the Long‐Term Ecological Research observatory HAUSGARTEN

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