The influence of different deep-sea coral habitats on sediment macrofaunal community structure and function
Deep-sea corals can create a highly complex, three-dimensional structure that facilitates sediment accumulation and influences adjacent sediment environments through altered hydrodynamic regimes. Infaunal communities adjacent to different coral types, including reef-building scleractinian corals and...
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crpeerj:10.7717/peerj.5276 2024-06-02T08:10:11+00:00 The influence of different deep-sea coral habitats on sediment macrofaunal community structure and function Bourque, Jill R. Demopoulos, Amanda W.J. US Geological Survey Outer Continental Shelf Environments Program Natural Resource Damage Assessment for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill 2018 http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.5276 https://peerj.com/articles/5276.pdf https://peerj.com/articles/5276.xml https://peerj.com/articles/5276.html en eng PeerJ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ PeerJ volume 6, page e5276 ISSN 2167-8359 journal-article 2018 crpeerj https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.5276 2024-05-07T14:13:56Z Deep-sea corals can create a highly complex, three-dimensional structure that facilitates sediment accumulation and influences adjacent sediment environments through altered hydrodynamic regimes. Infaunal communities adjacent to different coral types, including reef-building scleractinian corals and individual colonies of octocorals, are known to exhibit higher macrofaunal densities and distinct community structure when compared to non-coral soft-sediment communities. However, the coral types have different morphologies, which may modify the adjacent sediment communities in discrete ways. Here we address: (1) how infaunal communities and their associated sediment geochemistry compare among deep-sea coral types ( Lophelia pertusa, Madrepora oculata, and octocorals) and (2) do infaunal communities adjacent to coral habitats exhibit typical regional and depth-related patterns observed in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM). Sediment push cores were collected to assess diversity, composition, numerical abundance, and functional traits of macrofauna (>300 µm) across 450 kilometers in the GOM at depths ranging from 263–1,095 m. Macrofaunal density was highest in L. pertusa habitats, but similar between M. oculata and octocorals habitats. Density overall exhibited a unimodal relationship with depth, with maximum densities between 600 and 800 m. Diversity and evenness were highest in octocoral habitats; however, there was no relationship between diversity and depth. Infaunal assemblages and functional traits differed among coral habitats, with L. pertusa habitats the most distinct from both M. oculata and octocorals. These patterns could relate to differences in sediment geochemistry as L. pertusa habitats contained high organic carbon content but low proportions of mud compared to both M. oculata and octocoral habitats. Distance-based linear modeling revealed depth, mud content, and organic carbon as the primary factors in driving coral infaunal community structure, while geographic location (longitude) was the primary factor ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Lophelia pertusa PeerJ Publishing PeerJ 6 e5276 |
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English |
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Deep-sea corals can create a highly complex, three-dimensional structure that facilitates sediment accumulation and influences adjacent sediment environments through altered hydrodynamic regimes. Infaunal communities adjacent to different coral types, including reef-building scleractinian corals and individual colonies of octocorals, are known to exhibit higher macrofaunal densities and distinct community structure when compared to non-coral soft-sediment communities. However, the coral types have different morphologies, which may modify the adjacent sediment communities in discrete ways. Here we address: (1) how infaunal communities and their associated sediment geochemistry compare among deep-sea coral types ( Lophelia pertusa, Madrepora oculata, and octocorals) and (2) do infaunal communities adjacent to coral habitats exhibit typical regional and depth-related patterns observed in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM). Sediment push cores were collected to assess diversity, composition, numerical abundance, and functional traits of macrofauna (>300 µm) across 450 kilometers in the GOM at depths ranging from 263–1,095 m. Macrofaunal density was highest in L. pertusa habitats, but similar between M. oculata and octocorals habitats. Density overall exhibited a unimodal relationship with depth, with maximum densities between 600 and 800 m. Diversity and evenness were highest in octocoral habitats; however, there was no relationship between diversity and depth. Infaunal assemblages and functional traits differed among coral habitats, with L. pertusa habitats the most distinct from both M. oculata and octocorals. These patterns could relate to differences in sediment geochemistry as L. pertusa habitats contained high organic carbon content but low proportions of mud compared to both M. oculata and octocoral habitats. Distance-based linear modeling revealed depth, mud content, and organic carbon as the primary factors in driving coral infaunal community structure, while geographic location (longitude) was the primary factor ... |
author2 |
US Geological Survey Outer Continental Shelf Environments Program Natural Resource Damage Assessment for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Bourque, Jill R. Demopoulos, Amanda W.J. |
spellingShingle |
Bourque, Jill R. Demopoulos, Amanda W.J. The influence of different deep-sea coral habitats on sediment macrofaunal community structure and function |
author_facet |
Bourque, Jill R. Demopoulos, Amanda W.J. |
author_sort |
Bourque, Jill R. |
title |
The influence of different deep-sea coral habitats on sediment macrofaunal community structure and function |
title_short |
The influence of different deep-sea coral habitats on sediment macrofaunal community structure and function |
title_full |
The influence of different deep-sea coral habitats on sediment macrofaunal community structure and function |
title_fullStr |
The influence of different deep-sea coral habitats on sediment macrofaunal community structure and function |
title_full_unstemmed |
The influence of different deep-sea coral habitats on sediment macrofaunal community structure and function |
title_sort |
influence of different deep-sea coral habitats on sediment macrofaunal community structure and function |
publisher |
PeerJ |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.5276 https://peerj.com/articles/5276.pdf https://peerj.com/articles/5276.xml https://peerj.com/articles/5276.html |
genre |
Lophelia pertusa |
genre_facet |
Lophelia pertusa |
op_source |
PeerJ volume 6, page e5276 ISSN 2167-8359 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.5276 |
container_title |
PeerJ |
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6 |
container_start_page |
e5276 |
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1800756010827120640 |