Frontiers in Marine Science (Jan 2023)
Heterogeneity on the abyssal plains: A case study in the Bering Sea
- Julia D. Sigwart,
- Angelika Brandt,
- Angelika Brandt,
- Davide Di Franco,
- Elva Escobar Briones,
- Sarah Gerken,
- Andrew J. Gooday,
- Candace J. Grimes,
- Kamila Głuchowska,
- Sven Hoffmann,
- Anna Maria Jażdżewska,
- Elham Kamyab,
- Andreas Kelch,
- Andreas Kelch,
- Henry Knauber,
- Henry Knauber,
- Katharina Kohlenbach,
- Katharina Kohlenbach,
- Olmo Miguez-Salas,
- Camille Moreau,
- Akito Ogawa,
- Akito Ogawa,
- Angelo Poliseno,
- Andreu Santín Muriel,
- Andreu Santín Muriel,
- Anne Helene S. Tandberg,
- Franziska I. Theising,
- Franziska I. Theising,
- Thomas Walter,
- Anne-Cathrin Wölfl,
- Chong Chen
Affiliations
- Julia D. Sigwart
- Department of Marine Zoology, Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany
- Angelika Brandt
- Department of Marine Zoology, Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany
- Angelika Brandt
- Faculty of Biological Sciences, Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany
- Davide Di Franco
- Department of Marine Zoology, Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany
- Elva Escobar Briones
- Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnologiía, Universidad Nacional Autoínoma de Meíxico, Mexico City, Mexico
- Sarah Gerken
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alaska Anchorage, Anchorage, AL, United States
- Andrew J. Gooday
- National Oceanography Centre, European Way, Southampton, United Kingdom
- Candace J. Grimes
- Department of Biology and Marine Biology, University of North Carolina Wilmington, Wilmington, NC, United States
- Kamila Głuchowska
- Department of Invertebrate Zoology and Hydrobiology, Faculty of Biology and Environmental Protection, University of Łódź, Łódź, Poland
- Sven Hoffmann
- German Centre for Marine Biodiversity Research (DZMB), Senckenberg am Meer, Zoological Museum Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
- Anna Maria Jażdżewska
- Department of Invertebrate Zoology and Hydrobiology, Faculty of Biology and Environmental Protection, University of Łódź, Łódź, Poland
- Elham Kamyab
- German Centre for Marine Biodiversity Research (DZMB), Senckenberg am Meer, Wilhelmshaven, Germany
- Andreas Kelch
- Department of Marine Zoology, Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany
- Andreas Kelch
- Faculty of Biological Sciences, Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany
- Henry Knauber
- Department of Marine Zoology, Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany
- Henry Knauber
- Faculty of Biological Sciences, Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany
- Katharina Kohlenbach
- Department of Marine Zoology, Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany
- Katharina Kohlenbach
- 0Faculty of Biology and Chemistry (FB 02), University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany
- Olmo Miguez-Salas
- Department of Marine Zoology, Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany
- Camille Moreau
- 1Marine Biology Laboratory, CP160/15 Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Brussels, Belgium
- Akito Ogawa
- 2Center for Molecular Biodiversity Research, National Museum of Nature and Science, Tsukuba, Japan
- Akito Ogawa
- 3X-STAR, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), Yokosuka, Japan
- Angelo Poliseno
- 4Molecular Invertebrate Systematics and Ecology Laboratory, Graduate School of Engineering and Science, University of the Ryukyus, Okinawa, Japan
- Andreu Santín Muriel
- 5Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM-CSIC), Barcelona, Spain
- Andreu Santín Muriel
- 6CIIMAR – Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research, University of Porto, Matosinhos, Portugal
- Anne Helene S. Tandberg
- 7University Museum of Bergen, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
- Franziska I. Theising
- German Centre for Marine Biodiversity Research (DZMB), Senckenberg am Meer, Zoological Museum Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
- Franziska I. Theising
- 8Christian Albrechts University, Kiel, Germany
- Thomas Walter
- 9Independent Researcher, Bremen, Germany
- Anne-Cathrin Wölfl
- 0GEOMAR - Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, Kiel, Germany
- Chong Chen
- 3X-STAR, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), Yokosuka, Japan
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2022.1037482
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 9
Abstract
The abyssal plains are vast areas without large scale relief that occupy much of the ocean floor. Although long considered relatively featureless, they are now known to display substantial biological heterogeneity across different spatial scales. Ecological research in these regions benefits increasingly from non-destructive visual sampling of epifaunal organisms with imaging technology. We analysed images from ultra-high-definition towed camera transects at depths of around 3500 m across three stations (100–130 km apart) in the Bering Sea, to ask whether the density and distribution of visible epifauna indicated any substantial heterogeneity. We identified 71 different megafaunal taxa, of which 24 occurred at only one station. Measurements of the two most abundant faunal elements, the holothurian Elpidia minutissima and two xenophyophores morphotypes (the more common identifiable as Syringammina limosa), indicated significant differences in local densities and patchy aggregations that were strikingly dissimilar among stations. One station was dominated by xenophyophores, one was relatively depauperate in both target taxa as well as other identified megafauna, and the third station was dominated by Elpidia. This is an unexpected level of variation within comparable transects in a well-mixed oceanic basin, reinforcing the emerging view that abyssal habitats encompass biological heterogeneity at similar spatial scales to terrestrial continental realms.
Keywords
