Imants G. Priede
Does Presence of a Mid-Ocean Ridge Enhance Biomass and Biodiversity?
Priede, Imants G.; Bergstad, Odd Aksel; Miller, Peter I.; Vecchione, Michael; Gebruk, Andrey; Falkenhaug, Tone; Billett, David S.M.; Craig, Jessica; Dale, Andrew C.; Shields, Mark A.; Tilstone, Gavin H.; Sutton, Tracey T.; Gooday, Andrew J.; Inall, Mark E.; Jones, Daniel O.B.; Martinez-Vicente, Victor; Menezes, Gui M.; Niedzielski, Tomasz; Sigurðsson, Þorsteinn; Rothe, Nina; Rogacheva, Antonina; Alt, Claudia H.S.; Brand, Timothy; Abell, Richard; Brierley, Andrew S.; Cousins, Nicola J.; Crockard, Deborah; Hoelzel, A. Rus; Høines, Åge; Letessier, Tom B.; Read, Jane F.; Shimmield, Tracy; Cox, Martin J.; Galbraith, John K.; Gordon, John D.M.; Horton, Tammy; Neat, Francis; Lorance, Pascal
Authors
Odd Aksel Bergstad
Peter I. Miller
Michael Vecchione
Andrey Gebruk
Tone Falkenhaug
David S.M. Billett
Jessica Craig
Andrew C. Dale
Mark A. Shields
Gavin H. Tilstone
Tracey T. Sutton
Andrew J. Gooday
Mark E. Inall
Daniel O.B. Jones
Victor Martinez-Vicente
Gui M. Menezes
Tomasz Niedzielski
Þorsteinn Sigurðsson
Nina Rothe
Antonina Rogacheva
Claudia H.S. Alt
Timothy Brand
Richard Abell
Andrew S. Brierley
Nicola J. Cousins
Deborah Crockard
Professor Rus Hoelzel a.r.hoelzel@durham.ac.uk
Professor
Åge Høines
Tom B. Letessier
Jane F. Read
Tracy Shimmield
Martin J. Cox
John K. Galbraith
John D.M. Gordon
Tammy Horton
Francis Neat
Pascal Lorance
Abstract
In contrast to generally sparse biological communities in open-ocean settings, seamounts and ridges are perceived as areas of elevated productivity and biodiversity capable of supporting commercial fisheries. We investigated the origin of this apparent biological enhancement over a segment of the North Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR) using sonar, corers, trawls, traps, and a remotely operated vehicle to survey habitat, biomass, and biodiversity. Satellite remote sensing provided information on flow patterns, thermal fronts, and primary production, while sediment traps measured export flux during 2007–2010. The MAR, 3,704,404 km2 in area, accounts for 44.7% lower bathyal habitat (800–3500 m depth) in the North Atlantic and is dominated by fine soft sediment substrate (95% of area) on a series of flat terraces with intervening slopes either side of the ridge axis contributing to habitat heterogeneity. The MAR fauna comprises mainly species known from continental margins with no evidence of greater biodiversity. Primary production and export flux over the MAR were not enhanced compared with a nearby reference station over the Porcupine Abyssal Plain. Biomasses of benthic macrofauna and megafauna were similar to global averages at the same depths totalling an estimated 258.9 kt C over the entire lower bathyal north MAR. A hypothetical flat plain at 3500 m depth in place of the MAR would contain 85.6 kt C, implying an increase of 173.3 kt C attributable to the presence of the Ridge. This is approximately equal to 167 kt C of estimated pelagic biomass displaced by the volume of the MAR. There is no enhancement of biological productivity over the MAR; oceanic bathypelagic species are replaced by benthic fauna otherwise unable to survive in the mid ocean. We propose that globally sea floor elevation has no effect on deep sea biomass; pelagic plus benthic biomass is constant within a given surface productivity regime.
Citation
Priede, I. G., Bergstad, O. A., Miller, P. I., Vecchione, M., Gebruk, A., Falkenhaug, T., …Lorance, P. (2013). Does Presence of a Mid-Ocean Ridge Enhance Biomass and Biodiversity?. PLoS ONE, 8(5), Article e61550. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0061550
Journal Article Type | Article |
---|---|
Acceptance Date | Mar 11, 2013 |
Online Publication Date | May 2, 2013 |
Publication Date | May 2, 2013 |
Deposit Date | May 15, 2018 |
Publicly Available Date | May 15, 2018 |
Journal | PLoS ONE |
Publisher | Public Library of Science |
Peer Reviewed | Peer Reviewed |
Volume | 8 |
Issue | 5 |
Article Number | e61550 |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0061550 |
Public URL | https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1326583 |
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Copyright Statement
© 2013 Priede et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
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