Ecology of the Deep-Sea Benthos

Sanders, Howard L.; Hessler, Robert R.

doi:10.1126/science.163.3874.1419

Cited by 341 publications

(168 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…In most abyssal benthic samples, asellote isopods represent the dominating crustacean taxon and often account for a large fraction of all species present in an area (Sanders et al 1963;Sanders & Hessler 1969;Brandt et al 2007). These isopods are mostly very small benthic or epibenthic blind animals with a body size of a few millimetres, which are difficult to identify at the species level.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multiple origins of deep-sea Asellota (Crustacea: Isopoda) from shallow waters revealed by molecular data

et al. 2008

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The Asellota are a highly variable group of Isopoda with many species in freshwater and marine shallowwater environments. However, in the deep sea, they show their most impressive radiation with a broad range of astonishing morphological adaptations and bizarre body forms. Nevertheless, the evolution and phylogeny of the deep-sea Asellota are poorly known because of difficulties in scoring morphological characters. In this study, the molecular phylogeny of the Asellota is evaluated for 15 marine shallowwater species and 101 deep-sea species, using complete 18S and partial 28S rDNA gene sequences. Our molecular data support the monophyly of most deep-sea families and give evidence for a multiple colonization of the deep sea by at least four major lineages of asellote isopods. According to our molecular data, one of these lineages indicates an impressive radiation in the deep sea. Furthermore, the present study rejects the monophyly of the family Janiridae, a group of plesiomorphic shallow-water Asellota, and several shallow-water and deep-sea genera (Acanthaspidia, Ianthopsis, Haploniscus, Echinozone, Eurycope, Munnopsurus and Syneurycope).

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multiple origins of deep-sea Asellota (Crustacea: Isopoda) from shallow waters revealed by molecular data

et al. 2008

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“…Long periods of time with a stable, predictable environment may allow high species diversity because populations would be stable and extinction rates due to population fluctuations would be low (Sanders and Hessler 1969). Moreover, stable environments permits specialization and equilibrium coexistence due to resource partitioning (Currie 1991).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interannual variability of NDVI and species richness in Kenya

Oindo

Skidmore²

2002

International Journal of Remote Sensing

144

117

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A central task in community ecology is to determine biophysical controls of species richness patterns. Most multivariate models relating environmental characteristics to species richness were developed with sparse point sampling from meteorological stations. However, satellite remote sensing provides an alternative, and in some ways potentially superior, means of estimating appropriate environmental factors and thereby improving predictions of species richness. The frequently used surrogate measures for species richness patterns are net primary productivity (NPP) and actual evapotranspiration (AET). Local spatial variability of NPP and AET, which indicates spatial heterogeneity, is hypothesized as another influence on species richness. The Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) derived Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) has been shown to be related to NPP and AET in many vegetation types. We examined the relationship between interannual NDVI parameters and species richness of vascular plants, large mammals and birds. Statistical analyses revealed that at small spatial scales (10 x 10 km) higher average NDVI results in lower species richness of mammals and plants, whereas standard deviation of maximum NDVI and coefficient of variation correlated positively with species richness. Conversely, at large spatial scales (55 x 55 km) bird species richness increases as average NDVI increases, whereas higher standard deviation and coefficient of variation result in lower species richness. Thus, NDVI parameters appear to represent environmental factors influencing species richness. In other words, by utilizing remote sensing, our understanding of the spatial variability of species richness has been improved.

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“…Cuando toda la energía excedente es invertida en crecimiento, se alcanza la talla máxima. Los modelos de talla óptima para invertebrados marinos indican una disminución del tamaño corporal con la profundidad (Sebens, 1982;1987) debido a la disminución de la oferta de alimento hacia zonas profundas (Sanders & Hessler, 1969;Parsons et al, 1977;Lampitt et al, 1986;Hoey et al, 2004); esto reduciría la ingestión y aumentaría el costo de las funciones de alimentación con la profundidad, quedando menos energía para crecimiento.…”

Section: Discusión Los Resultados Demuestran Que Seis Especies (Astrounclassified

“…Los modelos teóricos de talla óptima formulados por Sebens (1982;1987), basados en experimentación con anémonas, predicen un decrecimiento del tamaño de los invertebrados marinos con la profundidad, debido a la disminución de alimento hacia zonas profundas del océano (Sanders & Hessler, 1969;Parsons, Takahashi, & Hargrave, 1977;Hoey, Degraer, & Vincx, 2004). Contrario a dichos modelos, otros autores (Peters, 1983;Mahaut, Sibuet, & Shirayama, 1995;Rex & Etter, 1998;Rex, Etter, Clain, & Hill, 1999, Berkenbusch, Probert, & Nodder, 2011 sugieren que la menor disponibilidad de alimento con la profundidad, pueden favorecer tamaños grandes, ya que organismos de mayor talla son metabólicamen-te más eficientes por unidad de masa (Childress & Thuesen, 1993;Olabarria & Thurson, 2003;Rex et al, 2006).…”

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Variaciones adaptativas en la talla de la megafauna bentónica de fondos blandos tropicales en función de parámetros bióticos y abióticos

Gómez

García

2017

RBT

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Understanding and predicting adaptations in body size of megabenthic invertebrates remains a major challenge in marine macroecology. This study was conducted in order to investigate size variations of benthic megafauna in the tropics and to identify the effect of biotic and abiotic factors that may produce changes to these organisms, testing unresolved hypothesis and paradigms of deep sea ecology from subtropical and temperate areas. The study area covered the continental shelf of the Colombian Caribbean. The samples were collected during 1998, 2001 and 2005, using semi-globe demersal net for a water depth of 10 to 500 m. The most common species were selected for further study: Eudolium crosseanum, Cosmioconcha nitens, Nuculana acuta (mollusks), Astropecten alligator, Brissopsis atlantica, B. elongata (equinoderms), Anasimus latus, Chasmocarcinus cylindricus and Achelous spinicarpus (crustaceans). Generalized Additive Models were used to detect significant changes in size and to infer the effects of biotic and environmental factors on organisms’ size. The dependent variable was size and the predicting model variables were depth, temperature, intraspecific density, interspecific density, richness, latitude, and longitude. A total of 7 000 individuals were measured. Six species showed an increase in body size towards deeper and colder sites. These species inhabit shallow and deep environments that exceed a variation in temperature of 10 °C. There was a remarkable size reduction in areas affected by the Magdalena River, possibly due to major physicochemical changes caused by the river. This region has the lowest planktonic primary productivity within the study area. An increase in sizes was observed north of the Magdalena River (long 74°W - 71°W & lat of 11°N - 13°N), which may be attributable to the coastal upwelling occurring in this part of Colombia. The relationship between the density of benthic organisms and size was not clear. However, five species showed an inverse relation with intraspecific density and three with interspecific density. Temperature and depth were the variables that best explained the variations in size. Most of the studied species showed an increase in body size when temperature dropped along the bathymetric range. The trend of increasing size in deeper zones is contrary to the prediction of the optimal size theoretical model (but consistent with recent studies), which indicates a reduction in organisms’ size in the deep sea, due to food limitation with increasing depth. It is possible that this increase in size is an adaptation to maximize energy, which is frequently observed in the coldest habitats of several species. Future studies in Caribbean should examine variations in size of benthic megafauna towards deeper zones (more than 500 m), were temperature is less variable and then other factors can play a more important role determining the size of these organisms.

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Ecology of the Deep-Sea Benthos

Cited by 341 publications

References 18 publications

Multiple origins of deep-sea Asellota (Crustacea: Isopoda) from shallow waters revealed by molecular data

Multiple origins of deep-sea Asellota (Crustacea: Isopoda) from shallow waters revealed by molecular data

Interannual variability of NDVI and species richness in Kenya

Variaciones adaptativas en la talla de la megafauna bentónica de fondos blandos tropicales en función de parámetros bióticos y abióticos

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