Spatial variability of meiofaunal communities at areas of contrasting depth and productivity in the Aegean Sea (NE Mediterranean)

Lampadariou, Nikolaos; Τσελεπίδης, Α.

doi:10.1016/j.pocean.2006.02.013

Cited by 54 publications

(51 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…Nevertheless, the pronounced inter-replicate variability was consistent with previous studies on small-scale distributions of meiofauna, which have shown that meiobenthic communities can be highly variable even within a few tens of centimetres (De Bovée et al 1990, Agnes et al 2011. The mean values of the meiofauna abundance and biomass along the Malta Escarpment correspond to the range of values reported for other slope areas and for bathyal depths along the Mediterranean Sea continental margins (Soetaert and Heip 1995, Lampadariou and Tselepides 2006, just for stations in the Aegean sea), although these are lower in comparison to other areas at similar depths from other oceans (Soltwedel 2000). Nematodes usually have higher diversity with increasing depth (Coll et al 2010, although a clear trend of increasing or decreasing nematode diversity and species richness with depth is not always found (Lampadariou and Tselepides 2006).…”

Section: Variabilities In the Deep-sea Benthic Components Along The Msupporting

confidence: 90%

“…This finding is consistent with previous diversity studies that have reported a complex archaeal population structure of the deep-sea seafloor, and high archaeal diversity in marine sediments (Vetriani et al 1999, Auguet et al 2009). The total meiofauna abundance and biomass did not decrease significantly with depth, in contrast with results from other slope areas, where significant decreases in meiofauna stock with depth have been reported (Cartes et al 2002, Tselepides and; however, the present data are similar to reports by and Lampadariou and Tselepides (2006) from eastern Mediterranean slopes. In the present study, the short bathymetric transect considered may well make it difficult to detect a clear decreasing trend in meiofauna standing stock.…”

Section: Variabilities In the Deep-sea Benthic Components Along The Msupporting

confidence: 79%

“…The mean values of the meiofauna abundance and biomass along the Malta Escarpment correspond to the range of values reported for other slope areas and for bathyal depths along the Mediterranean Sea continental margins (Soetaert and Heip 1995, Lampadariou and Tselepides 2006, just for stations in the Aegean sea), although these are lower in comparison to other areas at similar depths from other oceans (Soltwedel 2000). Nematodes usually have higher diversity with increasing depth (Coll et al 2010, although a clear trend of increasing or decreasing nematode diversity and species richness with depth is not always found (Lampadariou and Tselepides 2006). Along the Malta Escarpment, neither the α diversity nor the turnover diversity of the nematode species composition showed significant and clear changes between the depth stations, probably becaue of the many eurybathic nematode genera found at almost all of these depth stations.…”

Section: Variabilities In the Deep-sea Benthic Components Along The Msupporting

confidence: 79%

“…Marked correlations are significant at p<0.05 (italic numbers) and p<0.01 (bold numbers). CPE, chloroplast pigment equivalent; PRT/ CHO, protein-to-carbohydrate ratio; BPC, biopolymeric organic carbon; ES(51) and ES(31), expected species number; H'(log 2 ), Shannon diversity index log 2. mus, Sabatiera, Sphaerolaimus, Metasphaerolaimus, Linhystera and Desmoscolex, are widespread in the deep sea, and they inhabit a wide bathymetric range and a variety of habitats (e.g., Soetaert and Heip 1995, Lampadariou and Tselepides 2006, Vanreausel et al 2010. Furthermore, the high values of the maturity indices, which were here always ca.…”

Section: Variabilities In the Deep-sea Benthic Components Along The Mmentioning

confidence: 99%

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From microbes to macrofauna: an integrated study of deep benthic communities and their response to environmental variables along the Malta Escarpment (Ionian Sea)

Baldrighi¹,

Aliani²,

Conversi³

et al. 2013

Sci. Mar.

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SUMMARY: A comparative study for abundance, biomass and diversity was carried out for the prokaryote, meiofauna and macrofauna communities at three depth stations (1200, 1800 and 2100 m) along the Malta Escarpment (Mediterranean Sea). Our investigation showed a two-fold increase with depth in prokaryote abundance; the contribution of prokaryote biomass to the total benthic biomass was predominant at all depths. Bacteria were the dominant prokaryote component and Archaea formed a considerable fraction (20%-30%) of the prokaryote assemblages. The meio-and macrofauna abundances and meiofauna biomass did not decrease significantly with depth but macrofauna biomass did. The α diversity did not follow a clear bathymetric trend for both nematode and macrofauna species. Probably because of the large number of eurybathic nematode genera, nor did the turnover diversity in nematode composition change down the depth gradient. Conversely, for the macrofauna there was a perceptible change in community composition between the shallowest station and the two deeper stations. Food availability affected only the macrobenthic component. The increase in the prokaryote organisms with depth and the dominance of nematodes and macrofauna deposit feeders suggest active grazing by the two benthic components on microbes. This would transfer energy to the higher trophic levels through the microbial compartment.Keywords: prokaryote, meiofauna, macrofauna, abundance, biomass, diversity, Malta Escarpment, Mediterranean Sea.RESUMEN: Desde microorganismos a la macrofauna: un estudio comparativo de las comunidades bentónicas profundas y su respuesta a las variables ambientales a lo largo del talud de Malta (mar Jónico). -Se llevó a cabo un estudio comparativo de las comunidades de procariotas, meiofauna y macrofauna sobre la abundancia, biomasa y diversidad. Fue realizado en tres estaciones en varias profundidades (1200, 1800 y 2100 m) a lo largo del talud de Malta (mar Mediterráneo). Nuestra investigación muestra que, aumentando la profundidad, la abundancia de procariotas se duplica. La contribución de la biomasa procariota al total de la biomasa bentónica predominó en todas las profundidades. Las bacterias eran la fracción procariota dominante y junto con los Archaea representaban al 20-30% del total de procariotas. Por otra parte la abundancia de la meiofauna y macrofauna y la biomasa de la meiofauna no disminuían significativamente con la profundidad, mientras que la biomasa de la macrofauna sí lo hacía. La diversidad α no siguió una tendencia batimétrica muy clara para las especies de los nematodos y macrofauna. Probablemente debido a la gran abundancia de géneros de nematodos eurybatiales, la tasa derenovación de la diversidad en la composición de nematodos tampoco cambió por el gradiente de profundidad. En cambio, para la macrofauna hubo un cambio apreciable en la composición de la comunidad entre la estación más superficial y las dos estaciones más profundas. La disponibilidad de alimentos afectó sólo al componente macrobentónico. El aum...

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Section: Variabilities In the Deep-sea Benthic Components Along The Msupporting

confidence: 90%

Section: Variabilities In the Deep-sea Benthic Components Along The Msupporting

confidence: 79%

Section: Variabilities In the Deep-sea Benthic Components Along The Msupporting

confidence: 79%

Section: Variabilities In the Deep-sea Benthic Components Along The Mmentioning

confidence: 99%

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From microbes to macrofauna: an integrated study of deep benthic communities and their response to environmental variables along the Malta Escarpment (Ionian Sea)

Baldrighi¹,

Aliani²,

Conversi³

et al. 2013

Sci. Mar.

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“…The Δ+ test (average taxonomic distinctness) used in this procedure shows the probability that the taxonomic distinctness of the given list of taxa represents a random selection from a specified faunistic complex. For creating a dataset, the following references were used: Soetaert & Vincx, 1987;Decraemer & Soetaert, 1989;Soetaert, 1989;Lampadariou & Tselepides, 2006;De Leonardis et al, 2008. The taxonomic levels of 'genus-subfamily-family-superfamily-suborder-order-subclass-class' were used.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Meiobenthos and nematode assemblages from different deep-sea habitats of the Strait of Sicily (Central Mediterranean Sea)

Sandulli

Miljutin²,

Angeletti³

et al. 2015

Medit. Mar. Sci.

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Much attention is currently devoted at upgrading our knowledge on biodiversity and functioning of deep water ecosystems. Information is constantly enriched by researchers, even from basins as the long-studied Mediterranean Sea. In such a perspective, we studied meiobenthic and nematode communities inhabiting muddy sediments from three different habitats at bathyal depths in the Strait of Sicily: a cold-water coral site (CS) in the Maltese Coral Province, a muddy bottom in the same area (MS), and a hydrocarbon imprinted pockmark site (PS) in the Gela Basin. The average meiofauna density at CS (1343 ind/10 cm 2 ) and MS (1804 ind/10 cm 2 ) is much higher than that reported in literature for similar habitats; it is also markedly more elevated than that recorded at PS (224 ind/10 cm 2 ). Although nematodes of the three sites show different abundances, they share similar assemblage structure. Nematodes (avg. 86%) and copepods (avg. 9.3%) were the most abundant meiofaunal taxa at all sites followed by annelids, kinorhynchs and turbellarians. Nematodes were composed by 21 families and 46 genera, with Terschellingia as most abundant genus (12.4%), followed by Microlaimus (11%), Daptonema (11%), Thalassomonhystera (10.8%), Acantholaimus (9.5%) and Sabatieria (8.7%). The genera Thalassomonhystera, Terschellingia, Microlaimus, Daptonema, Chromadorita, Sabatieria, and Anticoma display a dominance in at least one station. The taxonomic structure of meiofaunal communities of the studied sites is rather similar but differences in relative abundance are evident.

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Deep‐sea meiofaunal communities in the south‐eastern Levantine basin and their shaping factors – Morphological‐taxonomy‐free metabarcoding approach

Harbuzov,

Farberova,

Tom

et al. 2024

Ecology and Evolution

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The <3% dissimilar Amplicon Sequence Variant (ASV) clusters of the 18S‐V4 barcode were used as species‐proxies for the evaluation of ASV composition and ASV diversity indices characterizing the hitherto poorly investigated meiofaunal communities of the south‐eastern part of the Levantine basin. Accompanied by abundance measurements, the relationships of these characteristics with sedimentary and bottom terrain parameters were interpreted. The construction of community composition profiles, namely ASVs' list and their estimated abundances, was done using our previously established procedure (Harbuzov et al., 2022, Marine Genomics 65, 100980), combining metabarcoding with sample reads normalization by the abundance of hard‐bodied meiofaunal taxa. The study province included the 54–1418 m depth range, across vertical sub‐bottom horizons ranging 0–17 cm. Oxygen, hydrogen sulfide and methane concentrations in the pore water, as well as sediment grain size spectra and sedimentary protein and carbohydrate levels, were measured, followed by an evaluation of their involvement in the shaping of the meiofaunal communities' characteristics. Community composition was generally site‐and‐horizon dependent and its abundance decreased with increasing bottom depth and across sub‐bottom horizons, typical to benthic habitats which are nourished by organic carbon from the euphotic zone. The relatively sharply inclined continental slope bottom located in the northern part of the Israeli coast was an exception. Its meiofaunal community characteristics were speculated to be affected by intensive sediment mixing and lateral transport of food from the shelf, in addition to the effect of the euphotic zone‐originated food sources.

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Spatial variability of meiofaunal communities at areas of contrasting depth and productivity in the Aegean Sea (NE Mediterranean)

Cited by 54 publications

References 49 publications

From microbes to macrofauna: an integrated study of deep benthic communities and their response to environmental variables along the Malta Escarpment (Ionian Sea)

From microbes to macrofauna: an integrated study of deep benthic communities and their response to environmental variables along the Malta Escarpment (Ionian Sea)

Meiobenthos and nematode assemblages from different deep-sea habitats of the Strait of Sicily (Central Mediterranean Sea)

Deep‐sea meiofaunal communities in the south‐eastern Levantine basin and their shaping factors – Morphological‐taxonomy‐free metabarcoding approach

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