Large-Scale Variation in Diversity of Biomass-Dominating Key Bryozoan Species in the Seas of the Eurasian Sector of the Arctic

Abstract

An analysis of archival and literary materials, as well as recently collected data in coastal areas at 14 locations in the Eurasian seas showed that the diversity of biomass-dominating key bryozoan species is low, totaling 26 species, less than 1/15 of the total bryozoan fauna richness. Their number decreases eastward from 17 species with an average total biomass of >16 g/m2 in the Barents Sea to three species with an average biomass of about 3 g/m2 in the East Siberian Sea. In the Chukchi Sea, their number and average biomass increase to 10 species and ~12 g/m2, respectively. Average biomass strongly correlates with the number of species in each sea. Furthermore, variation in biomass is significantly correlated with the composition of bottom sediments and, in some locations, with depth. The marked decrease in the number of key species along the vector from Barents→Kara→Laptev→East Siberian Sea is due to a decline in the number of boreal and boreal–Arctic bryozoans of Atlantic origin. In contrast, the appearance of boreal and boreal–Arctic Pacific species is responsible for the increase in key species in the Chukchi Sea.