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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ftpubmed:oai:pubmedcentral.nih.gov:4143267 2023-05-15T16:18:04+02:00 High Biodiversity on a Deep-Water Reef in the Eastern Fram Strait Meyer, Kirstin S. Soltwedel, Thomas Bergmann, Melanie 2014-08-25 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4143267 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25153985 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0105424 en eng Public Library of Science http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25153985 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0105424 This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. CC-BY Research Article Text 2014 ftpubmed https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0105424 2014-08-31T00:54:34Z 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. Text Fram Strait Svalbard PubMed Central (PMC) Svalbard PLoS ONE 9 8 e105424 |
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Research Article |
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Research Article Meyer, Kirstin S. Soltwedel, Thomas Bergmann, Melanie High Biodiversity on a Deep-Water Reef in the Eastern Fram Strait |
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Research Article |
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 |
Text |
author |
Meyer, Kirstin S. Soltwedel, Thomas Bergmann, Melanie |
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 of Science |
publishDate |
2014 |
url |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4143267 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25153985 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0105424 |
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Svalbard |
geographic_facet |
Svalbard |
genre |
Fram Strait Svalbard |
genre_facet |
Fram Strait Svalbard |
op_relation |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25153985 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0105424 |
op_rights |
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. |
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CC-BY |
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https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0105424 |
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PLoS ONE |
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9 |
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e105424 |
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