Towards improved understanding of the diversity and abundance patterns of the mid-ocean ridge macro- and megafauna

Bergstad, Odd Aksel; Falkenhaug, Tone; Astthorsson, Olafur S.; Byrkjedal, Ingvar; Gebruk, Andrey; Piatkowski, Uwe; Priede, Imants George; Santos, Ricardo S.; Vecchione, Michael; Lorance, Pascal; Gordon, J. D. M.

doi:10.1016/j.dsr2.2007.10.001

Cited by 53 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 15 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Here, we find rocky substratum exposed in the middle of the deep ocean resulting in a rugged terrain that includes a variety of habitats, from hills and seamounts a few hundred meters deep, to axial valleys and fracture zones dropping to more than 4000 m depth and often covered with sediment (Bergstad et al, 2008). The presence of these ridges affects the distribution of both pelagic and bathyal organisms.…”

Section: Deep-sea Volcanic Chainsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The rocky substratum contrasts with the surrounding abyssal plains, providing habitat for a variety of sessile fauna, many of which are filter feeders taking advantage of specific hydrographic conditions created around the ridge. Productivity over the ridge is a major factor influencing patterns of megafaunal abundance and distribution (King et al, 2006;Bergstad et al, 2008). In addition, a very specific environmental niche was discovered along the young volcanicallyformed seafloor of the mid-ocean ridges in the late 1970s: the submarine hydrothermal vents.…”

Section: Deep-sea Volcanic Chainsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Deep, diverse and definitely different: unique attributes of the world's largest ecosystem

et al. 2010

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. The deep sea, the largest biome on Earth, has a series of characteristics that make this environment both distinct from other marine and land ecosystems and unique for the entire planet. This review describes these patterns and processes, from geological settings to biological processes, biodiversity and biogeographical patterns. It concludes with a brief discussion of current threats from anthropogenic activities to deep-sea habitats and their fauna.Investigations of deep-sea habitats and their fauna began in the late 19th century. In the intervening years, technological developments and stimulating discoveries have promoted deep-sea research and changed our way of understanding life on the planet. Nevertheless, the deep sea is still mostly unknown and current discovery rates of both habitats and species remain high. The geological, physical and Correspondence to: E. Ramirez-Llodra (ezr@icm.csic.es) geochemical settings of the deep-sea floor and the water column form a series of different habitats with unique characteristics that support specific faunal communities. Since 1840, 28 new habitats/ecosystems have been discovered from the shelf break to the deep trenches and discoveries of new habitats are still happening in the early 21st century. However, for most of these habitats the global area covered is unknown or has been only very roughly estimated; an even smaller -indeed, minimal -proportion has actually been sampled and investigated. We currently perceive most of the deep-sea ecosystems as heterotrophic, depending ultimately on the flux on organic matter produced in the overlying surface ocean through photosynthesis. The resulting strong food limitation thus shapes deep-sea biota and communities, with exceptions only in reducing ecosystems such as inter alia hydrothermal vents or cold seeps. Here, chemoautolithotrophic bacteria play the role of primary producers fuelled by chemical energy sources rather than sunlight. Other ecosystems, such as seamounts, canyons or cold-water corals have an Published by Copernicus Publications on behalf of the European Geosciences Union. 2852 E. Ramirez-Llodra et al.: Unique attributes of the world's largest ecosystem increased productivity through specific physical processes, such as topographic modification of currents and enhanced transport of particles and detrital matter. Because of its unique abiotic attributes, the deep sea hosts a specialized fauna. Although there are no phyla unique to deep waters, at lower taxonomic levels the composition of the fauna is distinct from that found in the upper ocean. Amongst other characteristic patterns, deep-sea species may exhibit either gigantism or dwarfism, related to the decrease in food availability with depth. Food limitation on the seafloor and water column is also reflected in the trophic structure of heterotrophic deep-sea communities, which are adapted to low energy availability. In most of these heterotrophic habitats, the dominant megafauna is composed of detritivores, while filter feeders are abundant in...

show abstract

Section: Deep-sea Volcanic Chainsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Deep-sea Volcanic Chainsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Deep, diverse and definitely different: unique attributes of the world's largest ecosystem

et al. 2010

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Some of the known chemosynthetic ecosystems (Chapter 9 ) in these deep seafl oor habitats have been relatively well studied, but remarkably little is known about ridge -associated pelagic and benthic fauna that are sustained by photosynthetic production in association with mid -ocean ridges (Box 6.1 ). This knowledge gap inspired the initiation of the multinational fi eld project " Patterns and Processes of the Ecosystems of the Northern MidAtlantic " , MAR -ECO (Bergstad & God ø 2003 ;Bergstad et al 2008c ). Extensive investigations were conducted along the Mid -Atlantic Ridge between Iceland and the Azores (Fig.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biodiversity Patterns and Processes on the Mid‐Atlantic Ridge

Vecchione

Bergstad

Byrkjedal

et al. 2010

Life in the World's Oceans

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…It is unclear how many vessels or samplers it would take to do the full spectrum of life, Census' Mid-Ocean Ridges project has shown us that an advanced research vessel like the G.O Sars, supported by an independent sampling vessel can define the ecosystem in a column of water from top to bottom and potentially from bacteria to whales [20].…”

Section: Census 2020mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Census has shown by published examples the power of modern deep sea camera systems for identifying diversity [19], of tagging and tracking technologies for distribution [4 and 9] and of sonar systems for abundance. Advanced sonars can see shrimp 3km down [20] and wave-guide acoustics can count fish within a 100km circle [21]. Experimental concepts have become practical tools.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%