Spatial heterogeneity of benthos associated with biogenic structures on the North Carolina continental slope

Abstract

Abstract The objective of this study was to determine if biogenic features such as mounds, pits and tubes produce small-scale (0.1–100 m) spatial heterogeneity in macrofaunal community structure on the continental slope off North Carolina at 850 m. Macrofaunal and microbial communities associated with sediment mounds, pits and level areas were compared off Cape Lookout, North Carolina. No significant differences were found in sediment microbial counts or total macrofaunal distributions. One paraonid polychaete (Levensenia gracilis) was more abundant in pits than in the other samples, and infaunal anemones exhibited depressed densities in sediment mounds. At a second site, off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, infaunal heterogeneity associated with the tube-building foraminiferanBathysiphon filiformis was examined by comparing an area with high tube densities (93.8 m−2) with an area 100 m away without tubes. No significant differences were found in the distribution and abundances of bacteria between the two areas. The only significant difference found in infaunal densities was the presence of high numbers of reproductive oligochaetes in the 5–10 cm fraction beneath tube beds. Oneterebellid polychaete species (Nicolea sp.), which lives exclusively onB. filiformis tubes, was absent in the non-tube area. With a few exceptions, the biogenic structures examined at these two sites appeared to exert only minor influence on macrofaunal or microbial community structure. Within each site, slope assemblages examined in this study appeared to be homogeneous on the small scales examined.