Impact of local iron enrichment on the small benthic biota in the deep Arctic Ocean
This study assesses the impact of local iron enrichment on the small benthic biota (bacteria, meiofauna) at the deep seafloor. To evaluate the hypothesis that abundance, distribution, and diversity of the small benthic biota varies in relation to a local input of structural steel at the seabed, we a...
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2023.1118431 https://doaj.org/article/e9e44c8b47454ce38c86ffa808a42b29 |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:e9e44c8b47454ce38c86ffa808a42b29 2023-05-15T15:16:11+02:00 Impact of local iron enrichment on the small benthic biota in the deep Arctic Ocean Thomas Soltwedel Josephine Z. Rapp Christiane Hasemann 2023-02-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2023.1118431 https://doaj.org/article/e9e44c8b47454ce38c86ffa808a42b29 EN eng Frontiers Media S.A. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2023.1118431/full https://doaj.org/toc/2296-7745 2296-7745 doi:10.3389/fmars.2023.1118431 https://doaj.org/article/e9e44c8b47454ce38c86ffa808a42b29 Frontiers in Marine Science, Vol 10 (2023) deep sea sediments iron bacteria meiofauna nematoda Science Q General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 article 2023 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2023.1118431 2023-02-26T01:35:50Z This study assesses the impact of local iron enrichment on the small benthic biota (bacteria, meiofauna) at the deep seafloor. To evaluate the hypothesis that abundance, distribution, and diversity of the small benthic biota varies in relation to a local input of structural steel at the seabed, we analyzed sediment samples and the associated infauna along a short transect (~1.5 m in length) with increasing distance to an iron source, i.e., corroding steel weights (30 cm in length and width, and 6 cm in height) of a free-falling observational platform (bottom-lander), lying on the seafloor for approximately seven years. Bacterial and meiofaunal densities and biomasses in iron-enriched sediments were significantly lower than those in unaffected sediments. Moreover, bacterial and nematode community structure between iron-enriched sediments and unaffected sediments differed strongly; taxonomic richness as well as diversity was lowest closest to the iron source. The presence of iron fostered the establishment of specialized iron oxidizers and other chemolithoautotrophic bacterial members, which were rare or absent in the unaffected sediments, within which opportunistic heterotrophs predominated. Nematodes comprised >90% of the total metazoan meiofauna and were therefore studied in more detail. A total of 26 genera from 16 families occurred in iron-enriched sediments (three genera were found exclusively in these sediments), while 65 genera from 27 families occurred in the unaffected sediments (39 genera and 12 families were found exclusively in these sediments). Nematode genera number (S), estimated genera richness (EG(51)) and heterogeneity (H’(log2)) were significantly lower in iron-enriched sediments than in unaffected sediments. Our results confirm that the local enrichment of deep-sea sediments by metallic and corroding structures (e.g., by ship hulls, containers, scientific equipment) strongly affects the diversity of the small benthic biota at short distances from these sources. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Arctic Ocean Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Arctic Ocean Frontiers in Marine Science 10 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
deep sea sediments iron bacteria meiofauna nematoda Science Q General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 |
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deep sea sediments iron bacteria meiofauna nematoda Science Q General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 Thomas Soltwedel Josephine Z. Rapp Christiane Hasemann Impact of local iron enrichment on the small benthic biota in the deep Arctic Ocean |
topic_facet |
deep sea sediments iron bacteria meiofauna nematoda Science Q General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 |
description |
This study assesses the impact of local iron enrichment on the small benthic biota (bacteria, meiofauna) at the deep seafloor. To evaluate the hypothesis that abundance, distribution, and diversity of the small benthic biota varies in relation to a local input of structural steel at the seabed, we analyzed sediment samples and the associated infauna along a short transect (~1.5 m in length) with increasing distance to an iron source, i.e., corroding steel weights (30 cm in length and width, and 6 cm in height) of a free-falling observational platform (bottom-lander), lying on the seafloor for approximately seven years. Bacterial and meiofaunal densities and biomasses in iron-enriched sediments were significantly lower than those in unaffected sediments. Moreover, bacterial and nematode community structure between iron-enriched sediments and unaffected sediments differed strongly; taxonomic richness as well as diversity was lowest closest to the iron source. The presence of iron fostered the establishment of specialized iron oxidizers and other chemolithoautotrophic bacterial members, which were rare or absent in the unaffected sediments, within which opportunistic heterotrophs predominated. Nematodes comprised >90% of the total metazoan meiofauna and were therefore studied in more detail. A total of 26 genera from 16 families occurred in iron-enriched sediments (three genera were found exclusively in these sediments), while 65 genera from 27 families occurred in the unaffected sediments (39 genera and 12 families were found exclusively in these sediments). Nematode genera number (S), estimated genera richness (EG(51)) and heterogeneity (H’(log2)) were significantly lower in iron-enriched sediments than in unaffected sediments. Our results confirm that the local enrichment of deep-sea sediments by metallic and corroding structures (e.g., by ship hulls, containers, scientific equipment) strongly affects the diversity of the small benthic biota at short distances from these sources. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Thomas Soltwedel Josephine Z. Rapp Christiane Hasemann |
author_facet |
Thomas Soltwedel Josephine Z. Rapp Christiane Hasemann |
author_sort |
Thomas Soltwedel |
title |
Impact of local iron enrichment on the small benthic biota in the deep Arctic Ocean |
title_short |
Impact of local iron enrichment on the small benthic biota in the deep Arctic Ocean |
title_full |
Impact of local iron enrichment on the small benthic biota in the deep Arctic Ocean |
title_fullStr |
Impact of local iron enrichment on the small benthic biota in the deep Arctic Ocean |
title_full_unstemmed |
Impact of local iron enrichment on the small benthic biota in the deep Arctic Ocean |
title_sort |
impact of local iron enrichment on the small benthic biota in the deep arctic ocean |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2023.1118431 https://doaj.org/article/e9e44c8b47454ce38c86ffa808a42b29 |
geographic |
Arctic Arctic Ocean |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Arctic Ocean |
genre |
Arctic Arctic Ocean |
genre_facet |
Arctic Arctic Ocean |
op_source |
Frontiers in Marine Science, Vol 10 (2023) |
op_relation |
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2023.1118431/full https://doaj.org/toc/2296-7745 2296-7745 doi:10.3389/fmars.2023.1118431 https://doaj.org/article/e9e44c8b47454ce38c86ffa808a42b29 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2023.1118431 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Marine Science |
container_volume |
10 |
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1766346473338830848 |