Bathymetric zonation of deep-sea macrofauna in relation to export of surface phytoplankton production

Abstract

MEPS Marine Ecology Progress Series Contact the journal Facebook Twitter RSS Mailing List Subscribe to our mailing list via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout the JournalEditorsTheme Sections MEPS 399:1-14 (2010) - DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/meps08388 FEATURE ARTICLE Bathymetric zonation of deep-sea macrofauna in relation to export of surface phytoplankton production Chih-Lin Wei1,*, Gilbert T. Rowe2, G. Fain Hubbard2,†, Amélie H. Scheltema3, George D. F. Wilson4, Iorgu Petrescu5, John M. Foster6, Mary K. Wicksten7, Min Chen8, Roe Davenport7,†, Yousria Soliman2, Yuning Wang9 1Department of Oceanography, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843, USA 2Department of Marine Biology, Texas A&M University at Galveston, Galveston, Texas 77551, USA 3Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543, USA 4Australian Museum, Sydney, New South Wales 2010, Australia 5National Museum of Natural History ‘Grigore Antipa’, Bucharest 011341, Romania 6Department of Coastal Sciences, University of Southern Mississippi, Ocean Springs, Mississippi 39564, USA 7Department of Biology, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843, USA 8ExxonMobil Biomedical Sciences, Annandale, New Jersey 08801, USA 9Oceanside Biology Lab, San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, San Francisco, California 94132, USA *Email: weic@tamug.edu†Deceased ABSTRACT: Macrobenthos of the deep, northern Gulf of Mexico (GoM) was sampled with box cores (0.2 m2) along multiple cross-depth transects extending from depths of 200 m to the maximum depth of the basin at 3700 m. Bathymetric (depth) zonation of the macrofaunal community was documented for 6 major taxa (a total of 957 species) on the basis of shared species among geographic locations; 4 major depth zones were identified, with the 2 intermediate-depth zones being divided into east and west subzones. Change of faunal composition with depth reflects an underlying continuum of species replacements without distinct boundaries. The zonal patterns correlated with depth and detrital particulate organic carbon (POC) export flux estimated from remotely-sensed phytoplankton pigment concentrations in the surface water. The Mississippi River and its associated mesoscale eddies, submarine canyon, and deep sediment fan appear to influence the horizontal zonation pattern through export of organic carbon from the ocean surface and the adjacent continental margin. On the local scale, near-bottom currents may shape the zonation pattern by altering sediment grain size, food availability, and larval dispersal. This study suggests a macroecological relationship between depth, export POC flux, and zonation; parsimonious zonal thresholds need to be tested independently for other continental margin ecosystems. KEY WORDS: Northern Gulf of Mexico · Deep sea · Macrofauna · Zonation · Biogeography · Community structure · POC export flux · Macroecology Full text in pdf format Information about this Feature Article Supplementary material NextCite this article as: Wei CL, Rowe GT, Hubbard GF, Scheltema AH and others (2010) Bathymetric zonation of deep-sea macrofauna in relation to export of surface phytoplankton production. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 399:1-14. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps08388Export citation RSS - Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in MEPS Vol. 399. Online publication date: January 28, 2010 Print ISSN: 0171-8630; Online ISSN: 1616-1599 Copyright © 2010 Inter-Research.