Temporal patterns in diversity and species composition of deep-sea benthic copepods in bathyal Sagami Bay, central Japan

Little is known about temporal changes in the diversity and species composition of deep-sea metazoan meiofauna and their relationships with changes in the food supply. Those changes were studied for benthic copepod assemblages based on 2-year time-series data at a bathyal site in Sagami Bay (1430 m...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Marine biology 2004-06, Vol.144 (6), p.1097-1110
Main Authors: SHIMANAGA, M, KITAZATO, H, SHIRAYAMA, Y
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal and plant ecology
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Biological and medical sciences
Copepoda
Deep sea
Diet
Environmental changes
Environmental factors
Food supply
Foraminifera
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Genetic diversity
Habitats
Marine
Marine biology
Mollusks
Natural & organic foods
Oceans
Sarcodina
Sea water ecosystems
Seasonal variations
Species composition
Species diversity
Synecology
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Summary:Little is known about temporal changes in the diversity and species composition of deep-sea metazoan meiofauna and their relationships with changes in the food supply. Those changes were studied for benthic copepod assemblages based on 2-year time-series data at a bathyal site in Sagami Bay (1430 m depth), central Japan, where annual fluctuation in the abundance of benthic foraminiferans was previously observed. Species diversity of benthic copepods at the site was as high as, or slightly higher than, that observed at other deep-sea sites, but did not fluctuate temporally through the study period. Multivariate analyses did not reveal any clear seasonal or directional change occurring over the longer term in their species composition, although there was some consistent pattern. These results indicate a lack of, or only weak, seasonality in the diversity and species structure of the deep-sea benthic copepod assemblages, even though the fresh organic food supply fluctuates seasonally. They also suggest that there are differences between copepods and foraminiferans in the response to changes in environmental factors, and that spatial differences in the composition of copepod communities are greater than temporal ones at this deep-sea site. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]
ISSN:0025-3162
1432-1793
DOI:10.1007/s00227-003-1273-7