Abundance and characteristics of Polychaeta taxa and associated sediment during POLARSTERN campaign ANT-XXII/3 (ANDEEP-IIII)

During the austral summer of 2005, the Weddell deep sea and adjacent basins were sampled in the course of the ANDEEP III project. In this study, 19 epibenthic-sledge stations are analyzed, with a focus on species diversity and distribution patterns of polychaetes. The polychaete fauna of the deep So...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Schüller, Myriam, Ebbe, Brigitte, Wägele, Johann-Wolfgang
Format: Dataset
Language:English
Published: PANGAEA 2009
Subjects:
Priority Programme 1158 Antarctic Research with Comparable Investigations in Arctic Sea Ice Areas
SPP1158
Antarctic
Arctic
Austral
Southern Ocean
The Antarctic
Weddell
Antarc*
Sea ice
Online Access:https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.854983
https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.854983
Description
Summary:During the austral summer of 2005, the Weddell deep sea and adjacent basins were sampled in the course of the ANDEEP III project. In this study, 19 epibenthic-sledge stations are analyzed, with a focus on species diversity and distribution patterns of polychaetes. The polychaete fauna of the deep Southern Ocean has been found to be similarly speciose and diverse compared with deep-sea basins worldwide. Also, in depths below 2,000 m many polychaete species do not seem to be endemic for certain areas but are rather far spread within the Southern Ocean and beyond. Therefore, ongoing faunal exchanges between adjacent basins, even beyond the Antarctic convergence, are strongly suggested, ruling out a general isolation of the Southern Ocean deep-sea benthos. Driving forces behind species distribution patterns were investigated. The findings indicate that polychaete species' distribution in the Southern Ocean deep sea is rather dependent on local environment than depths.

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