Temporal variability in polychaete assemblages of the abyssal NE Atlantic Ocean

Temporal variability in deep-sea polychaete assemblages was assessed at the Porcupine Abyssal Plain Sustained Observatory, NE Atlantic, over a 9-year period (eight cruises between August 1989 and September 1998). The polychaete communities were characterized by large number of individuals (abundance...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Deep-sea research. Part II, Topical studies in oceanography Topical studies in oceanography, 2010-08, Vol.57 (15), p.1396-1405
Main Authors: Soto, Eulogio H., Paterson, Gordon L.J., Billett, David S.M., Hawkins, Lawrence E., Galéron, Joelle, Sibuet, Myriam
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Deep Sea
Life Sciences
Long-term change
Northeast Atlantic
Polychaeta
Porcupine Abyssal Plain
Sciences of the Universe
Trophic groups
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Temporal variability in deep-sea polychaete assemblages was assessed at the Porcupine Abyssal Plain Sustained Observatory, NE Atlantic, over a 9-year period (eight cruises between August 1989 and September 1998). The polychaete communities were characterized by large number of individuals (abundance) and high family richness. The highest abundances occurred in the upper 1 cm sediment layer (53.2% of total abundance). The most abundant families were the Cirratulidae, Spionidae, Opheliidae and Paraonidae. Surface deposit feeders were the dominant trophic group (67.4% of total abundance). Significant temporal variability was evident in polychaete abundance with significant differences in polychaete abundance between sampling periods (cruises; p
ISSN:0967-0645
1879-0100
DOI:10.1016/j.dsr2.2009.02.003