Habitat variability and faunal zonation at the Ægir Ridge, a canyon-like structure in the deep Norwegian Sea

The Ægir Ridge System (ARS) is an ancient extinct spreading axis in the Nordic seas extending from the upper slope east of Iceland (∼550 m depth), as part of its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), to a depth of ∼3,800 m in the Norwegian basin. Geomorphologically a rift valley, the ARS has a canyon-like...

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Published in:PeerJ
Main Authors: Brix, Saskia, Kaiser, Stephanie M., Lörz, Anne-Nina, Le Saout, Morgane, Schumacher, Mia, Bonk, Frederic, Egilsdottir, Hrönn, Hilma Ólafsdóttir, Steinunn, Tandberg, Anne Helene Solberg, Taylor, James, Tewes, Simon, Xavier, Joana R, Linse, Katrin
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2022
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Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/11250/2999730
https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.13394
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spelling ftimr:oai:imr.brage.unit.no:11250/2999730 2023-05-15T15:15:00+02:00 Habitat variability and faunal zonation at the Ægir Ridge, a canyon-like structure in the deep Norwegian Sea Brix, Saskia Kaiser, Stephanie M. Lörz, Anne-Nina Le Saout, Morgane Schumacher, Mia Bonk, Frederic Egilsdottir, Hrönn Hilma Ólafsdóttir, Steinunn Tandberg, Anne Helene Solberg Taylor, James Tewes, Simon Xavier, Joana R Linse, Katrin 2022 application/pdf https://hdl.handle.net/11250/2999730 https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.13394 eng eng urn:issn:2167-8359 https://hdl.handle.net/11250/2999730 https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.13394 cristin:2033565 PeerJ Peer reviewed Journal article 2022 ftimr https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.13394 2022-06-22T22:40:31Z The Ægir Ridge System (ARS) is an ancient extinct spreading axis in the Nordic seas extending from the upper slope east of Iceland (∼550 m depth), as part of its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), to a depth of ∼3,800 m in the Norwegian basin. Geomorphologically a rift valley, the ARS has a canyon-like structure that may promote increased diversity and faunal density. The main objective of this study was to characterize benthic habitats and related macro- and megabenthic communities along the ARS, and the influence of water mass variables and depth on them. During the IceAGE3 expedition (Icelandic marine Animals: Genetics and Ecology) on RV Sonne in June 2020, benthic communities of the ARS were surveyed by means of a remotely-operated vehicle (ROV) and epibenthic sledge (EBS). For this purpose, two working areas were selected, including abyssal stations in the northeast and bathyal stations in the southwest of the ARS. Video and still images of the seabed were usedtoqualitatively describebenthic habitats based on the presence of habitat-forming taxa and the physical environment. Patterns of diversity and community composition of the soft-sediment macrofauna, retrieved from the EBS, were analyzed in a semiquantitative manner. These biological data were complemented by producing high-resolution bathymetric maps using the vessel’s multi-beam echosounder system. As suspected, we were able to identify differences in species composition and number of macro- and megafaunal communities associated with a depth gradient. A biological canyon effect became evident in dense aggregates of megafaunal filter feeders and elevated macrofaunal densities. Analysis of videos and still images from the ROV transects also led to the discovery of a number ofVulnerable Marine Ecosystems (VMEs) dominated by sponges and soft corals characteristic of the Arctic region. Directions for future research encompass a more detailed, quantitative study of the megafauna and more coherent sampling over the entire depth range in order to fully capture ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Iceland Nordic Seas Norwegian Sea Institute for Marine Research: Brage IMR Arctic Norwegian Sea PeerJ 10 e13394
institution Open Polar
collection Institute for Marine Research: Brage IMR
op_collection_id ftimr
language English
description The Ægir Ridge System (ARS) is an ancient extinct spreading axis in the Nordic seas extending from the upper slope east of Iceland (∼550 m depth), as part of its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), to a depth of ∼3,800 m in the Norwegian basin. Geomorphologically a rift valley, the ARS has a canyon-like structure that may promote increased diversity and faunal density. The main objective of this study was to characterize benthic habitats and related macro- and megabenthic communities along the ARS, and the influence of water mass variables and depth on them. During the IceAGE3 expedition (Icelandic marine Animals: Genetics and Ecology) on RV Sonne in June 2020, benthic communities of the ARS were surveyed by means of a remotely-operated vehicle (ROV) and epibenthic sledge (EBS). For this purpose, two working areas were selected, including abyssal stations in the northeast and bathyal stations in the southwest of the ARS. Video and still images of the seabed were usedtoqualitatively describebenthic habitats based on the presence of habitat-forming taxa and the physical environment. Patterns of diversity and community composition of the soft-sediment macrofauna, retrieved from the EBS, were analyzed in a semiquantitative manner. These biological data were complemented by producing high-resolution bathymetric maps using the vessel’s multi-beam echosounder system. As suspected, we were able to identify differences in species composition and number of macro- and megafaunal communities associated with a depth gradient. A biological canyon effect became evident in dense aggregates of megafaunal filter feeders and elevated macrofaunal densities. Analysis of videos and still images from the ROV transects also led to the discovery of a number ofVulnerable Marine Ecosystems (VMEs) dominated by sponges and soft corals characteristic of the Arctic region. Directions for future research encompass a more detailed, quantitative study of the megafauna and more coherent sampling over the entire depth range in order to fully capture ...
format Article in Journal/Newspaper
author Brix, Saskia
Kaiser, Stephanie M.
Lörz, Anne-Nina
Le Saout, Morgane
Schumacher, Mia
Bonk, Frederic
Egilsdottir, Hrönn
Hilma Ólafsdóttir, Steinunn
Tandberg, Anne Helene Solberg
Taylor, James
Tewes, Simon
Xavier, Joana R
Linse, Katrin
spellingShingle Brix, Saskia
Kaiser, Stephanie M.
Lörz, Anne-Nina
Le Saout, Morgane
Schumacher, Mia
Bonk, Frederic
Egilsdottir, Hrönn
Hilma Ólafsdóttir, Steinunn
Tandberg, Anne Helene Solberg
Taylor, James
Tewes, Simon
Xavier, Joana R
Linse, Katrin
Habitat variability and faunal zonation at the Ægir Ridge, a canyon-like structure in the deep Norwegian Sea
author_facet Brix, Saskia
Kaiser, Stephanie M.
Lörz, Anne-Nina
Le Saout, Morgane
Schumacher, Mia
Bonk, Frederic
Egilsdottir, Hrönn
Hilma Ólafsdóttir, Steinunn
Tandberg, Anne Helene Solberg
Taylor, James
Tewes, Simon
Xavier, Joana R
Linse, Katrin
author_sort Brix, Saskia
title Habitat variability and faunal zonation at the Ægir Ridge, a canyon-like structure in the deep Norwegian Sea
title_short Habitat variability and faunal zonation at the Ægir Ridge, a canyon-like structure in the deep Norwegian Sea
title_full Habitat variability and faunal zonation at the Ægir Ridge, a canyon-like structure in the deep Norwegian Sea
title_fullStr Habitat variability and faunal zonation at the Ægir Ridge, a canyon-like structure in the deep Norwegian Sea
title_full_unstemmed Habitat variability and faunal zonation at the Ægir Ridge, a canyon-like structure in the deep Norwegian Sea
title_sort habitat variability and faunal zonation at the ægir ridge, a canyon-like structure in the deep norwegian sea
publishDate 2022
url https://hdl.handle.net/11250/2999730
https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.13394
geographic Arctic
Norwegian Sea
geographic_facet Arctic
Norwegian Sea
genre Arctic
Iceland
Nordic Seas
Norwegian Sea
genre_facet Arctic
Iceland
Nordic Seas
Norwegian Sea
op_source PeerJ
op_relation urn:issn:2167-8359
https://hdl.handle.net/11250/2999730
https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.13394
cristin:2033565
op_doi https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.13394
container_title PeerJ
container_volume 10
container_start_page e13394
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