The metazoan meiobenthos along a depth gradient in the Arctic Laptev Sea with special attentioto nematode communities

The meiobenthos along a depth transect of oligotrophic sediments in the Arctic Laptev Sea was studied. The meiobenthos followed the general trends reported from other studies: densities decreased with depth in relation to the more limited supply of degradable organic matter at greater depths. Althou...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Polar Biology
Main Authors: Vanaverbeke, Jan, Arbizu, PM, Dahms, HU, Schminke, HK
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 1997
Subjects:
Science General
MEIOFAUNA COMMUNITIES
DEEP-SEA
STRUCTURAL-ANALYSIS
AQUATIC NEMATODES
NORTH-CAROLINA
ABYSSAL-PLAIN
NE ATLANTIC
DIVERSITY
TRANSECT
ECOLOGY
Arctic
Laptev Sea
laptev
Polar Biology
Online Access:https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/270097
http://hdl.handle.net/1854/LU-270097
https://doi.org/10.1007/s003000050205
Description
Summary:The meiobenthos along a depth transect of oligotrophic sediments in the Arctic Laptev Sea was studied. The meiobenthos followed the general trends reported from other studies: densities decreased with depth in relation to the more limited supply of degradable organic matter at greater depths. Although the sediments along the transect were poor in organic matter in comparison with the NE Atlantic, the densities fitted well with the meiobenthic densities reported from the latter area. It is suggested that the meiobenthos in the cold polar waters is adapted to this extreme environment by a rapid response to short food pulses to the sediments. Nematodes were identified up to genus level and assigned to trophic groups. A total of 32 families comprising 95 genera were found along the transect. The communities were dominated by deposit feeders whose importance increased with depth. Both TWINSPAN and CCA analyses revealed a community shift along the depth transect: a shelf community dominated by Microlaimus and Chromadora could be distinguished from a slope community dominated by Monhystera and Leptolaimus. Generic diversity decreased with depth.

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