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Pan-Atlantic comparison of deep-water macrobenthos diversity collected by epibenthic sledge sampling and analysis of patterns and environmental drivers.
GB/NERC/BAS/PDC/01719

Summary

Abstract:
Comparable deep-water benthos datasets collected by epibenthic sledges (EBS) with an epibenthic and a suprabenthic netsampler in the Atlantic Ocean have been gathered since 2006. They were collected during the international research expeditions: ANDEEP-SYSTCO II, BIOPEARL I, DIVA1-3, IceAGE1-3&RR, IceDIVA1,2, JR275 and Vema-TRANSIT. While EBS diversity data at high taxon level were published for ANDEEP_SYSTCO II, DIVA1-3 and Vema-TRANSIT, unpublished diversity data for BIOPEARL I, IceAGE1-3&RR, IceDIVA1, 2 and JR275 came from sample databases at DZMB Senckenberg and British Antarctic Survey, and are published here for the first time. In total, diversity data for 143 EBS deployments from 13 expeditions were available for analyses based on identification on 50 taxon levels, including phyla, subphyla, classes and orders. During all 13 expeditions EBS with an epibenthic and a suprabenthic netsampler following sampler sizes and height , enabling comparability of samples. This type of EBS was a suitable device for sampling small benthic fauna on and above the seabed, including macrofauna and small-sized megafauna. We analyse pan-Atlantic benthic data from a range (119m - 8338m) of depths. For the pan-Atlantic analyses we defined seven regions to pool EBS locations based on their position North and South of the Equator and to the mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR): East and West of the MAR, the Vema Fracture Zone as a gap in the MAR, the Southern Ocean south of the MAR and the Puerto Rico Trench as a deep-sea trench. In this study we included data for 41 higher taxa of the initially separated 50 taxa ranging from phyla to orders. The environmental parameters for this study were provided by Bio-ORACLE, which identifies mean values for different physical and chemical variables over a 14 year time period through a combination of satellite and in-situ measurements (2000 - 2014), at a resolution of 5 arcmin. 4 multivariate analyses (principal components analysis, analysis of similarities, similarity of percentages and BioEnv BEST) were carried out on standardised abundances using PRIMER software, the results and parameters of which are presented in this dataset.

Funding over the years for the sample collection and analyses was provided by multiple NERC grants and international grants. Katrin Linse, Peter Enderlein and Huw J. Griffiths were part of the British Antarctic Survey Polar Science for Planet Earth Programme funded by The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) [NC-Science] and included the funding for the RSS James Clark Ross expeditions BIOPEARL I and JR275. This study was directly funded by the IceAGE_RR and IceDIVA grants by the German Science Foundation (DFG) and Bundesministerium fur Bildung und Forschung (BMBF) under grant numbers MSM75 (MerMet17-5), SO280 and SO286 to PIs Saskia Brix, James Taylor and Katrin Linse. Funding for previous expeditions that provided data were: IceAGE1-3, BR3843-3-1& 4-1, & SO276 (MerMet17-6). James Taylor and Karlotta Kurzel were supported via DFG grant GPF 20-3_087 as part of the IceDiva project 2021 - 2022 by DFG. Anne-Nina Lorz was funded by the German Science Foundation Project IceAGE Amphipoda, LO2543/1-1. Additionally, Angelika Brandt was granted funding (SO 237, Forderziffer 03G0237A) by the Bauer Foundation for the VEMA-Transit project. Inmaculada Frutos was supported through the junior research group''Vema TRANSIT. Puerto Rico Trench, Vema Fracture Zone and Abyssal Atlantic Biodiversity Study'' as part of the project ''Biodiversitatnachhaltige Ressourcennutzun'' (Aktenzeichen T237/25054/).

Keywords:
Deep sea, Southern ocean, benthic biodiversity, environmental biogeography, macrobenthos

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Citation

Kuerzel, K., Linse, K., Brandt, A., Brenke, N., Enderlein, P., Griffiths, H., Kaiser, S., Svavarsson, J., Loerz, A.-N., Frutos, I., Taylor, J., & Brix, S. (2023). Pan-Atlantic comparison of deep-water macrobenthos diversity collected by epibenthic sledge sampling and analysis of patterns and environmental drivers. (Version 1.0) [Data set]. NERC EDS UK Polar Data Centre. https://doi.org/10.5285/58080F33-884C-4E13-A419-C00CF1BAB6A6

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