Colonisation of hard substrata along a channel system in the deep Greenland Sea |
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Authors: | Miriam Schulz Melanie Bergmann Karen von Juterzenka Thomas Soltwedel |
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Institution: | 1. Baltic Sea Research Institute, Warnemünde, Seestrasse 15, 18119, Warnemünde, Germany 2. Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Am Handelshafen 12, 27570, Bremerhaven, Germany 3. Institute for Polar Ecology, Wischhofstrasse 1–3, 24148, Kiel, Germany
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Abstract: | The colonisation of hard substrata (HS) by epibenthic megafauna was studied by photographic surveys along the Ardencaple Canyon
in the deep western Greenland Sea in 2000. Seven transects at 2,700–3,200 m water depth showed generally low densities of
dropstones, sunken wood, and other substrata including anthropogenic material (range: 2–11 HS km−1). Overall, 30 different taxa and morphotypes were found on or associated with HS. While the sea anemone Bathyphellia margaritacea and the pantopod Ascorhynchus abyssi dominated the fauna on the substrate surfaces, a ball-shaped morphotype of uncertain taxonomic origin characterised assemblages
marginally associated with HS. Community analysis revealed differences in faunal patterns near the continental rise and towards
the deep sea, but diversity and evenness did not differ significantly between the various regions. However, we conclude that
dropstones and other hard substrata at the seafloor serve as colonisation islands and thereby generally increase small-scale
habitat diversity in polar deep-sea environments. |
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