Search

We examine the main drivers that may elevate biomass and biodiversity of nonchemosynthetic benthic megafauna of the lower bathyal (800-3500m depth) of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge in the North Atlantic Ocean (MAR). Specifically: 1. Primary production in surface waters (10°-48°N) from remote sensing data 2002-2020 over the MAR was not significantly different from abyssal regions to the east and west. We reject the hypothesis that presence of a mid ocean ridge may enhance surface primary production. 2. The quantity of particulate organic matter reaching the sea floor was estimated as a proportion of surface export production scaled by bathymetry. Flux was 1.3 to 3.0 times greater on the MAR as a function of shorter vertical transport distance from the surface than on adjacent abyssal regions. 3. Depth variation effect on species richness. Demersal fishes living between 41° and 60°N showed a maximum of species richness at 2000 m depth and linear increase in regional (Gamma) diversity of 32 species per 1,000 m elevation of the MAR above the abyss. Elevated topography provides niches for species that cannot otherwise survive. 4. Substrate heterogeneity. The MAR >95% covered with soft sediment with frequent hard rocky patches spaced at a mean nearest neighbour distance of

The Southern Adriatic (SA) is the deepest part of the Adriatic Sea (1242 m) and one of three sites of open-sea deep convection in the Mediterranean. Due to winter convection events, the dense water formation processes in the open SA result in a homogenization of the water column, which determines the nutrient input into the euphotic zone, enhances phytoplankton growth and consequently, the abundance of zooplankton.By analyzing zooplankton samples, together with acoustic data (ADCP) and data from sediment traps (at 125 m and 1150 m) taken in the SA from November 2015 to June 2016, we investigated the relationship between the distribution of zooplankton abundance and the flow of organic carbon in the deep open southern Adriatic Sea. During the pre-convection period (November 2015), the highest organic carbon flux (C org flux) was found at both depth (125 m, 1150 m), which is probably related to the autumn phytoplankton bloom and consequently an increase in zooplankton abundance. During the winter mixing phase, a lower C org flux was recorded in the upper trap samples which was a consequence of the reduced growth of phytoplankton and the transport of the cells to the deeper aphotic layers; where some increase of org C flux in the lower trap was recorded. Thus, the deepest layers were enriched leading to a minimum vertical zooplankton-migration (DVM). In spring, during the post-convection period (March, April), high abundance of mesozooplankton, mostly copepods, was registered in the upper layer, as well as an evident increase of C org flux. Other species than copepods (which remain at the food rich surface), probably ostracods and euphausiids, played a significant role in the DVM because they are more abundant in the deeper layers. The increase in C org flux in the upper samples in May is in accordance with a recorded salp bloom (also evident through a strong backscatter signal). Salp fecal pellets were observed to contribute significantly to vertical carbon flux in various ocean regions.The relationship between vertical zooplankton distribution, zooplankton migration and carbon export has generally been poorly studied in the Adriatic Sea. Preliminary results for the open SA are presented here, but for more accurate knowledge of this topic, a long term study is needed.

Short-term changes in the flux of particulate matter were determined in the central north western Mediterranean Sea (near DYFAMED site) using drifting sediment traps at 200 m depth in the course of the DYNAPROC 2 cruise (14 September–17 October 2004). In this period of marked water column stratification, POC fluxes varied by an order of magnitude, in the range of 0.03–0.29 mgC m−2 h−1 over the month and showed very rapid and high variations. Particulate carbon export represented less than 5% of integrated primary production, suggesting that phytoplankton production was essentially sustained by internal recycling of organic matter and retained within the photic zone. While PON and POP fluxes paralleled one another, the elemental ratios POC/PON and POC/POP, varied widely over short-term periods. Values of these ratios generally higher than the conventional Redfield ratio, together with the very low chlorophyll a flux recorded in the traps (mean 0.017 μg m−2 h−1), and the high phaeopigment and acyl lipid hydrolysis metabolite concentrations of the settling material, indicated that the organic matter reaching 200 m depth was reworked (by grazing, fecal pellets production, degradation) and that algal sinking, dominated by nano- and picoplankton, made a small contribution to the downward flux. Over time, the relative abundance of individual lipid classes in organic matter (OM) changed from glycolipids-dominated to neutral (wax esters, triacylglycerols) and phospholipids-dominated, suggesting ecosystem maturation as well as rapid and continual exchanges between dissolved, suspended and sinking pools. Our most striking result was documenting the rapid change in fluxes of the various measured parameters. In the situation encountered here, with dominant regenerated production, a decrease of fluxes was noticed during windy periods (possibly through reduction of grazing). But fluxes increased as soon as calm conditions settle.