Distribution of bathyal meiofauna in the region of the Subtropical Front, Chatham Rise, south-west Pacific

Grove, Simon L.; Probert, P. Keith; Berkenbusch, Katrin; Nodder, Scott D.

doi:10.1016/j.jembe.2005.12.038

Cited by 45 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 53 publications

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“…Previous descriptions of elevated benthic biomass and SCOC on the crest and southern flanks of the Chatham Rise were replicated in the present study and are likely to indicate the effect of higher organic flux at these sites (Probert and McKnight 1993;Nodder et al 2003;Grove et al 2006). …”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 80%

Focusing of phytodetritus deposition beneath a deep‐ocean front, Chatham Rise, New Zealand

Nodder

Duineveld

Pilditch

et al. 2007

Limnology & Oceanography

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In October 2001, we observed a deep-ocean phytodetritus deposition event on Chatham Rise beneath the Subtropical Front (STF). The origin of this phytodetritus was probably an extensive phytoplankton bloom that occurred in the STF in the preceding weeks. We assessed the spatial distribution of the deposition event using video images from benthic lander and epibenthic trawl deployments and sediment pigment analyses at six sites on a north-south transect across Chatham Rise. High surficial sediment chlorophyll a concentrations were restricted spatially to the southern flank of Chatham Rise (350-1,200-m depth) with the highest values centered at ,750-m water depth (750 S). This southern 750 S site was also the only site where macroscopic phytodetritus was observed, coincident with elevated benthic biomass and sediment community respiration rates. At 750 S, phytodetritus resuspension was observed on video and corroborated by current meter, sediment trap, and optical 1 Corresponding author (s.nodder@niwa.co.nz). AcknowledgementsWe thank the officers and crew of RV Tangaroa, and numerous scientific personnel at NIOZ and NIWA, especially Henk Franken and Eilke Berghuis for lander support. Figures were drafted by Erika Mackay (NIWA). We appreciate the provision of unpublished organic carbon accumulation rates for Chatham Rise by Elisabeth Sikes (Rutgers University). We thank the SeaWiFS Project (Code 970.2) and the Distributed Active Archive Center (Code 902) at the Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, for the production and distribution of the remotely sensed ocean color data, respectively. Thanks also to the two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 80%

Focusing of phytodetritus deposition beneath a deep‐ocean front, Chatham Rise, New Zealand

Nodder

Duineveld

Pilditch

et al. 2007

Limnology & Oceanography

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“…The Chatham Rise is a broad submarine ridge extending eastwards from the South Island of New Zealand at water depths of 350 to 3000 m. The highly productive Subtropical Front (STF) appears to be bathymetrically locked onto the southern flank of the rise near 44° S (Murphy et al 2001, Sutton 2001. Meio-and macrofaunal biomass peaks on the southern flank of the rise near the STF and declines rapidly below 1200 m depth, particularly on the northern flank of the rise (Probert & McKnight 1993, Nodder et al 2003, Grove et al 2006, Berkenbusch et al 2011. Nine sites on the Chatham Rise were sampled in September to October 2001 along a transect at 178°30' E (350 to 3100 m water depth; Table 1 The Kaikoura Canyon lies to the east of the South Island (~42°S), and has been described as one of the most productive deep-sea benthic habitats known (De Leo et al 2010).…”

Section: Sampling and Laboratory Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…DW: dry weight; ES(51): expected number of species for a sample of 51 ind. Asterisks (*) are diversity data from Leduc et al (2012) length and maximum body width measurements obtained by video image analysis (Nodder et al 2003, Grove et al 2006. Body volumes were converted to dry weight (DW) based on a relative density of 1.13, and a dry:wet weight ratio of 0.25 (Feller & Warwick 1988).…”

Section: Sampling and Laboratory Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unimodal relationship between biomass and species richness of deep-sea nematodes: implications for the link between productivity and diversity

Leduc¹,

Rowden²,

Bowden³

et al. 2012

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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Describing large-scale patterns of biological diversity is a first step towards understanding the mechanisms that generate and maintain diversity. The highly diverse deep-sea floor is the largest ecosystem on Earth, but the productivity−diversity relationship in this biome is not well characterized. We investigated this relationship by using biomass of nematodes as a proxy for productivity (particulate organic carbon flux to the seabed). We used sample data collected from the New Zealand and Antarctic regions and combined these with published data from around the globe for broader analyses. There was a significant unimodal relationship between nematode biomass and diversity, i.e. expected number of species, ES(51) both within the New Zealand region and across ocean basins. This relationship remained significant after accounting for the effects of both water depth and nematode abundance. These findings support earlier suggestions of a unimodal productivity−diversity relationship in the deep sea that were based on other proxies (e.g. water depth, modelled particulate organic carbon flux). We argue that the 'productivity context' is of primary importance when determining the strength and nature of the relationship between other environmental factors and diversity. Studies that include either or both extremes of the productivity scale are likely to find that productivity is the main factor limiting deep-sea diversity, whereas those focusing on the intermediate productivity range are more likely to find that other factors (e.g. disturbance, habitat heterogeneity) play a role.KEY WORDS: Southwest Pacific · Kaikoura Canyon · Ross Sea · Southern Ocean · Nematodes · Macroecology · Biomass Resale or republication not permitted without written consent of the publisherMar Ecol Prog Ser 454: [53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61][62][63][64] 2012 ships are also common (Mittelbach et al. 2001, Witman et al. 2008. A number of underlying mechanisms have been proposed to explain productivity− diversity relationships, although there is much debate about their relative contributions (Rosenzweig 1992, Waide et al. 1999, Gross & Cardinale 2007. As the number of individuals increases with productivity, diversity may increase through higher proportions of rare (Preston 1962) and specialist species (Evans et al. 2006), lowered extinction rates and/or higher speciation rates (Rex 1973, Wright 1983. Negative productivity−diversity relationships may result from increased rates of competitive exclusion (Grime 1973, Rosenzweig & Abramsky 1993, temporal variability in productivity (Chown & Gaston 1999) or environmental stress (e.g. hypoxia, Levin & Gage 1998). A combination of these mechanisms, operating to increase and decrease diversity, might be responsible for the unimodal productivity−diversity relationship often observed.Most of our knowledge of productivity−diversity relationships has been gained from terrestrial and shallow aquatic habitats (e.g. Mittelbach et al. 2001). Such relationships, however, have not been well char...

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“…Five haphazardly allocated cores (2.6 cm diameter, 2 cm depth) were taken and fixed in 5% formalin for estimation of meiofaunal and harpacticoid copepod abundance and biomass. Samples were extracted using the Ludox flotation technique and biomass estimated using video image analysis (Grove et al 2006). The microcosms were immediately brought to the Portobello Marine Laboratory and each microcosm was provided with 2 seawater inflows at opposite corners and left to settle.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A multi-method approach for identifying meiofaunal trophic connections

Leduc¹,

Probert²,

Duncan³

2009

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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Meiofauna can play an important role in the energetics of benthic communities, but determining their diet remains problematic due to their small size. In this study, the contribution of primary producers to the diet of meiofauna and to bulk and fine (<125 µ µm) sediment organic matter (SOM) was investigated in Papanui Inlet, southern New Zealand, using stable isotopes (δ 13 C and δ 15 N) and fatty acid analyses in the field and in a microcosm experiment. Seston did not contribute significantly to SOM of vegetated (seagrass Zostera muelleri) and unvegetated habitats, suggesting limited bentho-pelagic coupling. The contribution of different benthic primary producers to SOM and meiofaunal diet could not be determined accurately based on isotopic signatures alone due to overlapping isotopic signatures. The high content of highly unsaturated fatty acids (HUFAs) of harpacticoid copepods from vegetated and unvegetated sites suggested that their main food item was microphytobenthos (MPB), although bacterial biomarkers were twice as abundant in copepods sampled from the seagrass bed than in copepods sampled from unvegetated sediments. Isotopic and fatty acid analyses showed that the uptake of 13 C-labeled macroalgal (Enteromorpha sp.) detritus by harpacticoid copepods in the microcosm experiment was minimal. Nematode diet could not be assessed with certainty, but seagrass detritus and MPB are likely to represent significant food sources at the vegetated and unvegetated sites, respectively, based on the fatty-acid profile of fine SOM. This combined approach (i.e. isotopic and fatty acid analyses, field sampling and microcosms), and analysis of bulk SOM, fine SOM, and aged seagrass detritus helped circumvent limitations associated with the individual methods. The combination of approaches was still insufficient to quantify the contribution of different primary producers to meiofaunal diet, however, highlighting the difficulties associated with the study of meiofaunal trophic connections in coastal systems. KEY WORDS: Parastenhelia megarostrum · Feeding ecology · Intertidal Resale or republication not permitted without written consent of the publisherMar Ecol Prog Ser 383: [95][96][97][98][99][100][101][102][103][104][105][106][107][108][109][110][111] 2009 Vincx 1997). The use of stable isotopes as tracers of organic matter flows in benthic food webs has shed light on the diet of nematodes and harpacticoid copepods in a variety of shallow benthic habitats (e.g. Couch 1989, Middelburg et al. 2000, Moens et al. 2005. Few studies have determined the isotopic signature of nematodes and harpacticoid copepods in seagrass meadows (e.g. Vizzini & Mazzola 2003), which contrasts with the numerous stable isotope studies of macrofauna of seagrass beds (see review by Lepoint et al. 2004).Carbon stable isotopes can be particularly useful for the study of food webs of seagrass communities due to the often elevated δ 13 C signature of seagrass tissue relative to other primary producers (Hemminga & Mateo 1996). The difference ...

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Distribution of bathyal meiofauna in the region of the Subtropical Front, Chatham Rise, south-west Pacific

Cited by 45 publications

References 53 publications

Focusing of phytodetritus deposition beneath a deep‐ocean front, Chatham Rise, New Zealand

Focusing of phytodetritus deposition beneath a deep‐ocean front, Chatham Rise, New Zealand

Unimodal relationship between biomass and species richness of deep-sea nematodes: implications for the link between productivity and diversity

A multi-method approach for identifying meiofaunal trophic connections

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