Challenges of deep-sea biodiversity assessments in the Southern Ocean

• 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

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.