High biodiversity on a deep-water reef in the eastern Fram Strait
We report on the distribution and abundance of megafauna on a deep-water rocky reef (1796–2373 m) in the Fram Strait, west of Svalbard. Biodiversity and population density are high, with a maximum average of 26.7±0.9 species m−2 and 418.1±49.6 individuals m−2 on the east side of the reef summit. The...
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ftawi:oai:epic.awi.de:34481 2024-09-15T18:07:01+00:00 High biodiversity on a deep-water reef in the eastern Fram Strait Meyer, Kirstin S. Soltwedel, Thomas Bergmann, Melanie 2014-08-25 https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/34481/ https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.44015 unknown PUBLIC LIBRARY SCIENCE Meyer, K. S. , Soltwedel, T. orcid:0000-0002-8214-5937 and Bergmann, M. orcid:0000-0001-5212-9808 (2014) High biodiversity on a deep-water reef in the eastern Fram Strait , PLoS ONE, 9 (8), e105424 . doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0105424 <https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0105424> , hdl:10013/epic.44015 EPIC3PLoS ONE, PUBLIC LIBRARY SCIENCE, 9(8), pp. e105424, ISSN: 1932-6203 Article isiRev 2014 ftawi https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0105424 2024-06-24T04:08:32Z We report on the distribution and abundance of megafauna on a deep-water rocky reef (1796–2373 m) in the Fram Strait, west of Svalbard. Biodiversity and population density are high, with a maximum average of 26.7±0.9 species m−2 and 418.1±49.6 individuals m−2 on the east side of the reef summit. These figures contrast with the surrounding abyssal plain fauna, with an average of only 18.1±1.4 species and 29.4±4.3 individuals m−2 (mean ± standard error). The east side of the reef summit, where the highest richness and density of fauna are found, faces into the predominant bottom current, which likely increases in speed to the summit and serves as a source of particulate food for the numerous suspension feeders present there. We conclude that the observed faunal distribution patterns could be the result of hydrodynamic patterns and food availability above and around the reef. To our knowledge, this study is the first to describe the distribution and diversity of benthic fauna on a rocky reef in deep water. Article in Journal/Newspaper Fram Strait Svalbard Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar- and Marine Research (AWI): ePIC (electronic Publication Information Center) PLoS ONE 9 8 e105424 |
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Open Polar |
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Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar- and Marine Research (AWI): ePIC (electronic Publication Information Center) |
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ftawi |
language |
unknown |
description |
We report on the distribution and abundance of megafauna on a deep-water rocky reef (1796–2373 m) in the Fram Strait, west of Svalbard. Biodiversity and population density are high, with a maximum average of 26.7±0.9 species m−2 and 418.1±49.6 individuals m−2 on the east side of the reef summit. These figures contrast with the surrounding abyssal plain fauna, with an average of only 18.1±1.4 species and 29.4±4.3 individuals m−2 (mean ± standard error). The east side of the reef summit, where the highest richness and density of fauna are found, faces into the predominant bottom current, which likely increases in speed to the summit and serves as a source of particulate food for the numerous suspension feeders present there. We conclude that the observed faunal distribution patterns could be the result of hydrodynamic patterns and food availability above and around the reef. To our knowledge, this study is the first to describe the distribution and diversity of benthic fauna on a rocky reef in deep water. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Meyer, Kirstin S. Soltwedel, Thomas Bergmann, Melanie |
spellingShingle |
Meyer, Kirstin S. Soltwedel, Thomas Bergmann, Melanie High biodiversity on a deep-water reef in the eastern Fram Strait |
author_facet |
Meyer, Kirstin S. Soltwedel, Thomas Bergmann, Melanie |
author_sort |
Meyer, Kirstin S. |
title |
High biodiversity on a deep-water reef in the eastern Fram Strait |
title_short |
High biodiversity on a deep-water reef in the eastern Fram Strait |
title_full |
High biodiversity on a deep-water reef in the eastern Fram Strait |
title_fullStr |
High biodiversity on a deep-water reef in the eastern Fram Strait |
title_full_unstemmed |
High biodiversity on a deep-water reef in the eastern Fram Strait |
title_sort |
high biodiversity on a deep-water reef in the eastern fram strait |
publisher |
PUBLIC LIBRARY SCIENCE |
publishDate |
2014 |
url |
https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/34481/ https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.44015 |
genre |
Fram Strait Svalbard |
genre_facet |
Fram Strait Svalbard |
op_source |
EPIC3PLoS ONE, PUBLIC LIBRARY SCIENCE, 9(8), pp. e105424, ISSN: 1932-6203 |
op_relation |
Meyer, K. S. , Soltwedel, T. orcid:0000-0002-8214-5937 and Bergmann, M. orcid:0000-0001-5212-9808 (2014) High biodiversity on a deep-water reef in the eastern Fram Strait , PLoS ONE, 9 (8), e105424 . doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0105424 <https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0105424> , hdl:10013/epic.44015 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0105424 |
container_title |
PLoS ONE |
container_volume |
9 |
container_issue |
8 |
container_start_page |
e105424 |
_version_ |
1810444384947142656 |