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- Title
Community structure of infaunal macrobenthos around vestimentiferan thickets at the San Clemente cold seep, NE Pacific Bernardino & Smith Seep infaunal macrobenthos near vestimentiferan thickets.
- Authors
Bernardino, Angelo F.; Smith, Craig. R.
- Abstract
The San Clemente cold seep lies within 100-200 km of other reducing habitats in the NE Pacific, offering an opportunity to compare diversity and species overlap among reducing habitats ( i.e. whale-, kelp-, and wood-falls) at similar depths within a single region. Video observations from the research submersible Alvin at the San Clemente seep (1800 m depth) indicated clumps ('thickets') of vestimentiferans distributed as meter-scale patches interspersed with vesicomyid clam beds and black sediments. Sediment-core samples were collected at distances of 0 to 80-200 m along randomly oriented transects radiating outward from vestimentiferan thickets to evaluate changes in macrofaunal community structure from thickets into the background community. Macrofaunal abundance was elevated at distances of 0-1 m compared to 80-200 m ( i.e. the 'background' community). The tube-building frenulate worms Siboglinum spp., along with peracarid crustaceans, dominated sediments within 1 m of vestimentiferan thickets. Species diversity was depressed within 1 m of thickets but with high rates of species accumulation, suggesting that seep sites greatly increase sediment heterogeneity and facilitate colonization by non-background macrofaunal species. Stable isotope data indicate chemosynthetic nutrition for some dominant macrofaunal species within 1 m of tubeworm thickets. The macrofaunal community near vestimentiferan thickets in San Clemente seep contains intermediate levels of species richness and diversity compared to other deep-sea seep areas in the northeast Pacific. There was low species overlap between the San Clemente seep macrofauna and communities in reducing habitats near wood-, whale-, and kelp-falls at similar depths within the region, suggesting that seeps harbor a distinct infaunal community.
- Subjects
SAN Clemente (Calif.); CALIFORNIA; POGONOPHORA; BENTHOS; SPECIES diversity
- Publication
Marine Ecology, 2010, Vol 31, Issue 4, p608
- ISSN
0173-9565
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1111/j.1439-0485.2010.00389.x