A Source-Sink Hypothesis for Abyssal Biodiversity

Rex,; McClain,; Johnson, _______; Etter, Martin; Allen, Jennifer; Bouchet,; Warén,

doi:10.2307/3473143

Cited by 48 publications

(73 citation statements)

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“…S4) were still higher than those reported from most other deep-sea habitats. This contradicts the assumption that the abyss is simply a "sink habitat" (25), as has been suggested for some metazoans, and indicates that the diversity of benthic, deep-sea microbial eukaryotic communities can be attributed only partially to the sedimentation of organisms from the pelagial.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 69%

Large-scale patterns in biodiversity of microbial eukaryotes from the abyssal sea floor

Scheckenbach

Hausmann²,

Wylezich³

et al. 2009

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

104

123

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Eukaryotic microbial life at abyssal depths remains "uncharted territory" in eukaryotic microbiology. No phylogenetic surveys have focused on the largest benthic environment on this planet, the abyssal plains. Moreover, knowledge of the spatial patterns of deep-sea community structure is scanty, and what little is known originates primarily from morphology-based studies of foraminiferans. Here we report on the great phylogenetic diversity of microbial eukaryotic communities of all 3 abyssal plains of the southeastern Atlantic Ocean-the Angola, Cape, and Guinea Abyssal Plains-from depths of 5,000 m. A high percentage of retrieved clones had no close representatives in genetic databases. Many clones were affiliated with parasitic species. Furthermore, differences between the communities of the Cape Abyssal Plain and the other 2 abyssal plains point to environmental gradients apparently shaping community structure at the landscape level. On a regional scale, local species diversity showed much less variation. Our study provides insight into the community composition of microbial eukaryotes on larger scales from the wide abyssal sea floor realm and marks a direction for more detailed future studies aimed at improving our understanding of deep-sea microbes at the community and ecosystem levels, as well as the ecological principles at play.benthic | clone library | deep sea | protists | protozoa

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 69%

Large-scale patterns in biodiversity of microbial eukaryotes from the abyssal sea floor

Scheckenbach

Hausmann²,

Wylezich³

et al. 2009

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

104

123

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“…Patterns in the biodiversity and biogeography of the deep SO differ between meiofaunal, macrofaunal and megafaunal taxa. This points to the fact that largescale biodiversity and biogeography patterns largely depend on size, biology (feeding mode and reproductive patterns) and mobility of the taxa investigated (compare also Rex et al, 2005b), combined with historical geologic patterns, productivity, predation and the relationship between regional and local species diversity (Witman et al, 2004). One potential explanation for the high SO deep-sea biodiversity could be that the SO deep sea exhibits unique environmental features, including a very deep continental shelf, a weakly stratified water column and formation of abyssal waters flowing to other basins.…”

Section: High Levels Of New Biodiversity In the Southern Oceanmentioning

confidence: 93%

“…Since then, the question of whether the deep sea is (hyper) diverse (Gray, 1994(Gray, , 2002Gray et al, 1997;Lambshead and Boucher, 2003) and what mechanisms maintain such high diversity (Grassle and Sanders, 1973;Grassle, 1989;Gage and Tyler, 1991;Etter and Grassle, 1992;Lambshead, 1993;Rogers, 2000;Levin et al, 2001;Snelgrove and Smith, 2002;Rex et al, 2005b) have been constantly discussed and remain controversial (May, 1994). According to Gage and Tyler (1991), seasonal food input is one of the factors that is a source of temporal patchiness and regulates species coexistence in the deep sea.…”

Section: Large-scale Diversity Trendsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

et al. 2010

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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...

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“…Although large-scale temporal diversity patterns are a new research field, and we have only touched upon the advances in paleoceanography, the discussion above suggests that multiple factors control diversity in various oceanographic regimes, and during certain climate conditions. In addition to further high-resolution sediment core records, research is needed on taxonomic composition (including functional groups and beta diversity), spatial distribution (e.g., species' geographic and bathymetric distributions), body size, abundance, morphology, and other ecological controls in order to understanding large-scale deep-sea diversity patterns (e.g., Cronin et al 1996, 1999, McClain 2004, Rex et al 2005b, Hunt and Roy 2006, Danovaro et al 2008. Ideally, diversity patterns should be coupled with high quality paleoceanographic reconstructions in key parts of the world's oceans.…”

Section: Future Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climatic Influences on Deep‐sea Ostracode (Crustacea) Diversity for the Last Three Million Years

Yasuhara¹,

Cronin²

2008

Ecology

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Abstract. Ostracodes are small, bivalved crustaceans with the finest-scale fossil resolution of any metazoan, rivaled only by the fossil record of the protistan Foraminifera. This article presents a synthesis of the patterns and possible causes of alpha species diversity variation in benthic deep-sea ostracodes at drilling sites in the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans. Taken together, these sites represent a period of great climatic variability covering the past three million years. Sediment cores taken from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge show a positive correlation between warm temperatures and high species diversity. These Mid-Atlantic Ridge cores, at the same latitude as northern Spain, show the same positive correlation during the last two glacial-interglacial cycles (200-0 ka [thousands of years ago]) as they do during the pre-glacial Pliocene 2.85-2.4 Ma (millions of years ago). This positive correlation is also found in Pliocene cores from the Rockall Plateau, at the same latitude as Ireland. During the last 200 thousand years, however, this correlation is reversed in cores taken from both the Rockall and Iceland Plateaus. The discovery of high diversity during colder periods in recent high-latitude Rockall and Iceland cores seems to be explained by spikes in diversity caused by ice-rafting events, which would not affect the lower-latitude Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The Heinrich ice-rafting events reduce North Atlantic surface temperatures and salinity every ;6-12 ka, dramatically decreasing surface productivity. This increase in diversity during Heinrich events may be explained either by a negative correlation between surface productivity and benthic diversity or by increase in diversity caused by moderate disturbance when ice rafted debris fall to the bottom of the ocean.

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A Source-Sink Hypothesis for Abyssal Biodiversity

Cited by 48 publications

References 0 publications

Large-scale patterns in biodiversity of microbial eukaryotes from the abyssal sea floor

Large-scale patterns in biodiversity of microbial eukaryotes from the abyssal sea floor

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

Climatic Influences on Deep‐sea Ostracode (Crustacea) Diversity for the Last Three Million Years

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