Challenges of deep-sea biodiversity assessments in the Southern Ocean

Despite recent progress in deep-sea biodiversity assessments in the Southern Ocean (SO), there remain gaps in our knowledge that hamper effi cient deep-sea monitoring in times of rapid climate change. These include geographical sampling bias, depth and size-dependent faunal gaps in biology, ecology,...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Angelika Brandt, Huw Griffiths, Julian Gutt, Katrin Linse, Tosca Ballerini, Bruno Danis, Olaf Pfannkuche, SCHIAPARELLI, STEFANO
Other Authors: Angelika, Brandt, Huw, Griffith, Julian, Gutt, Katrin, Linse, Schiaparelli, Stefano, Tosca, Ballerini, Bruno, Dani, Olaf, Pfannkuche
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2014
Subjects:
Antarctica
biodiversity
monitoring
deep sea
Southern Ocean
Antarc*
Ocean acidification
Polar Science
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/11567/771393
https://doi.org/10.13679/j.advps.2014.3.00204
Description
Summary:Despite recent progress in deep-sea biodiversity assessments in the Southern Ocean (SO), there remain gaps in our knowledge that hamper effi cient deep-sea monitoring in times of rapid climate change. These include geographical sampling bias, depth and size-dependent faunal gaps in biology, ecology, distribution, and phylogeography, and the evolution of SO species. The phenomena of species patchiness and rarity are still not well understood, possibly because of our limited understanding of physiological adaptations and thresholds. Even though some shallow water species have been investigated physiologically, community-scale studies on the effects of multiple stressors related to ongoing environmental change, including temperature rise, ocean acidification, and shifts in deposition of phytoplankton, are completely unknown for deep-sea organisms. Thus, the establishment of long-term and coordinated monitoring programs, such as those rapidly growing under the umbrella of the Southern Ocean Observing System (SOOS) or the Deep Ocean Observing Strategy (DOOS), may represent unique tools for measuring the status and trends of deep-sea and SO ecosystems.

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