Comparative Composition, Diversity and Trophic Ecology of Sediment Macrofauna at Vents, Seeps and Organic Falls
Review Comparative Composition, Diversity and Trophic Ecology of Sediment Macrofauna at Vents, Seeps and Organic Falls Angelo F. Bernardino1*, Lisa A. Levin2, Andrew R. Thurber3, Craig R. Smith4 1 Departamento de Oceanografia e Ecologia, Universidade Federal do Espı´rito Santo, Goiabeiras, Vito´ ria, Esp´ı rito Santo, Brazil, 2 Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation; Integrative Oceanography Division, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, California, United States of America,3 College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon, United States of America,4 Department of Oceanography, School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii, United States of America communities. Sulfide is toxic to most metazoan taxa [1,2], Abstract: Sediments associated with hydrothermal vent- although some sediment-dwelling taxa have adapted to conditions ing, methane seepage and large organic falls such as of low oxygen and appear capable of tolerating the presence of whale, wood and plant detritus create deep-sea networks sulfide. Due to high local production, metazoans in reducing of soft-sediment habitats fueled, at least in part, by the sediments in the deep sea are often released from the extreme food oxidation of reduced chemicals. Biological studies at limitation prevalent in the background community (e.g. [3]). deep-sea vents, seeps and organic falls have looked at Instead, chemical toxicity may drive infaunal community macrofaunal taxa, but there has yet to be a systematic comparison of the community-level attributes of sedi- structure. In this meta-analysis we ask which taxa are common ment macrobenthos in various reducing ecosystems.
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