Editorial: Biodiversity of the Clarion Clipperton Fracture Zone

Kaiser, Stefanie; Smith, Craig R.; Arbizu, Pedro Martínez

doi:10.1007/s12526-017-0733-0

Cited by 30 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 28 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…This could be attributed to the presence of two highly dominant genera, Acantholaimus (> 17 %) and Monhystrella (> 21 %; Table 6), as compared to only Monhystrella in the other areas (> 25 %; Table 6). Nematode communities generally consisted of typical deepsea families and genera such as Monhystrella (and Monhysteridae in general), Acantholaimus and Halalaimus, all of which have been reported from previous CCZ samplings (Lambshead et al, 2003;Miljutina et al, 2010;Miljutin et al, 2011Miljutin et al, , 2015Radziejewska, 2014;Singh et al, 2016;Pape et al, 2017; see Table 6) and other abyssal areas worldwide (Vanreusel et al, 2010;Lins et al, 2014;Singh et al, 2016). Differences between results described here and previous CCZ studies mainly lie in their relative abundances.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 60%

“…One of the requirements of the ISA toward contractors is documentation of the biota in their license area and evaluation of the impact that planned mining activities will have on the environment (Lodge et al, 2014;. However, besides these baseline exploration studies, scientific knowledge on the abyssal communities of the CCZ is relatively scant and generally has limited geographic coverage (Lambshead et al, 2003;Singh et al, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Over the past few decades several studies have investigated meiofaunal communities, and nematodes specifically, within the CCZ (e.g. Lambshead et al, 2003;Mahatma, 2009;Miljutina et al, 2010;Radziejewska, 2014;Miljutin et al, 2015;Singh et al, 2016;Pape et al, 2017); however, most of them focused on one particular area. This study reports data for meiofauna across a broad latitudinal and longitudinal range within the CCZ and includes species-level information for a typical subdominant deep-sea genus of nematodes, Halalaimus (see Sebastian et al, 2007;Vanreusel et al, 2010, and references therein).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Distribution of free-living marine nematodes in the Clarion–Clipperton Zone: implications for future deep-sea mining scenarios

et al. 2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. Mining of polymetallic nodules in abyssal seafloor sediments promises to address the growing worldwide demand for metallic minerals. Given that prospective mining operations are likely to have profound impacts on deep seafloor communities, industrial investment has been accompanied by scientific involvement for the assessment of baseline conditions and provision of guidelines for environmentally sustainable mining practices. Benthic meiofaunal communities were studied in four prospective mining areas of the Clarion–Clipperton Zone (CCZ) in the eastern Pacific Ocean, arranged in a southeast–northwest fashion coinciding with the productivity gradient in the area. Additionally, samples were collected from the Area of Particular Environmental Interest no. 3 (APEI-3) in the northwest of the CCZ, where mining will be prohibited and which should serve as a “source area” for the biota within the larger CCZ. Total densities in the 0–5 cm upper layer of the sediment were influenced by sedimentary characteristics, water depth and nodule density at the various sampling locations, indicating the importance of nodules for meiofaunal standing stock. Nematodes were the most abundant meiobenthic taxon, and their assemblages were typically dominated by a few genera (generally 2–6) accounting for 40 %–70 % of all individuals, which were also widely spread along the CCZ and shared among all sampled license areas. However, almost half of the communities consisted of rare genera, each contributing less than 5 % to the overall abundances and displaying a distribution which was usually restricted to a single license area. The same observations (dominant and widely spread versus rare and scattered) could be made for the species of one of the dominant genera, Halalaimus, implying that it might be mainly these rare genera and species that will be vulnerable to mining-induced changes in their habitat.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 60%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Distribution of free-living marine nematodes in the Clarion–Clipperton Zone: implications for future deep-sea mining scenarios

et al. 2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…For example, exploration areas for polymetallic nodules in the abyssal plains of the Clarion‐Clipperton Zone in the NE Pacific cover millions of square kilometres and petroleum protraction areas cover the entire Exclusive Economic Zone of the United States in the Gulf of Mexico. Yet, adequate environmental baselines have been lacking for many of these areas, particularly in deeper water (Cordes et al, ; Kaiser, Smith, & Arbizu, ). We frequently lack an understanding of how biodiversity is structured at regional scales, such as how much biodiversity could be lost due to catastrophic or accumulated impacts.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Mexico. Yet, adequate environmental baselines have been lacking for many of these areas, particularly in deeper water (Cordes et al, 2016;Kaiser, Smith, & Arbizu, 2017). We frequently lack an understanding of how biodiversity is structured at regional scales, such as how much biodiversity could be lost due to catastrophic or accumulated impacts.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Regional‐scale patterns of deep seafloor biodiversity for conservation assessment

O'Hara

Williams

Althaus

et al. 2020

Diversity and Distributions

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Aim Mining and petroleum industries are exploring for resources in deep seafloor environments. Lease areas are often spatially aggregated and continuous over hundreds to thousands of kilometres. Sustainable development of these resources requires an understanding of the patterns of biodiversity at similar scales, yet these data are rarely available for the deep sea. Here, we compare biodiversity metrics and assemblage composition of epibenthic megafaunal samples from deep‐sea benthic habitats from the Great Australian Bight (GAB), a petroleum exploration zone off southern Australia, to similar environments off eastern Australia. Location The Great Australian Bight (34–36°S, 129–134°E) and south‐eastern (SE) and north‐eastern (NE) Australian continental margins (23–42°S, 149–155°E) in depths of 1,900–5,000 m. Methods A species–sample matrix was constructed from invertebrate and fish megafauna collected from beam trawl samples across regions at lower bathyal (1,900–3,200 m) and abyssal (>3,200 m) depths, and analysed using multivariate, rarefaction and model‐based statistics. We modelled rank abundance distributions (RAD) against environmental factors to identify drivers of abundance, richness and evenness. Results Multivariate analyses showed regional and bathymetric assemblage structure across the region. There was an almost complete turnover of sponge fauna between the GAB and SE. SE samples had the highest total faunal abundance and species richness. RAD models linked total abundance and species richness to levels of carbon flux. Evenness was associated with seasonality of net primary production. Conclusions Significant assemblage structure at regional scales is reported for the first time at lower bathyal and abyssal depths in the southern Indo‐Pacific region along latitudinal and longitudinal gradients. The GAB fauna was distinct from other studied areas. Relatively high species richness, previously reported from the GAB continental shelf, did not occur at lower bathyal or abyssal depths. Instead, the abundance, richness and evenness of the benthic fauna are linked to surface primary production, which is elevated off SE Australia.

show abstract

First insights into the phylogeny of deep-sea glass sponges (Hexactinellida) from polymetallic nodule fields in the Clarion-Clipperton Fracture Zone (CCFZ), northeastern Pacific

et al. 2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Editorial: Biodiversity of the Clarion Clipperton Fracture Zone

Cited by 30 publications

References 28 publications

Distribution of free-living marine nematodes in the Clarion–Clipperton Zone: implications for future deep-sea mining scenarios

Distribution of free-living marine nematodes in the Clarion–Clipperton Zone: implications for future deep-sea mining scenarios

Regional‐scale patterns of deep seafloor biodiversity for conservation assessment

First insights into the phylogeny of deep-sea glass sponges (Hexactinellida) from polymetallic nodule fields in the Clarion-Clipperton Fracture Zone (CCFZ), northeastern Pacific

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About