Abstract
Climatic fluctuations may significantly alter the taxonomic and biochemical composition of phytoplankton blooms and subsequently phytodetritus, the food source for the majority of deep-sea communities. To examine the response of abyssal benthic communities to different food resources we simulated a food sedimentation event containing diatoms and coccolithophorids at Station M in the NE Pacific. In one set of experiments we measured incorporation of C-diatom and N-cocco into the macrofauna using isotopically enriched C-13-diatoms and N-15-coccolithophores. In a second experiment we measured incorporation of C and N from dual-labelled (C-13 and N-15) diatoms. The second experiment was repeated 2 months later to assess the effect of seasonality. The simulated food pulses represented additions of 650 - 800 mg C m(-2) and 120 mg N m(-2) to the seafloor. In all cases rapid incorporation of tracer was observed within 4 days, with between 20% and 52% of the macrofauna displaying evidence of enrichment. However, incorporation levels of both C-diatom and N-cocco were low (
Original language | English |
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Article number | e80510 |
Number of pages | 15 |
Journal | PloS ONE |
Volume | 8 |
Issue number | 11 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 26 Nov 2013 |
Keywords
- tricarboxylic-acid cycle
- deep-sea nematodes
- particulate organic-carbon
- antarctic peninsula shelf
- benthic boundary-layer
- Eastern North Pacific
- time-series station
- food-web structure
- NE Pacific
- stable-isotopes