TY - JOUR
T1 - Deep-water macrofaunal diversity in the Faroe-Shetland region (NE Atlantic)
T2 - a margin subject to an unusual thermal regime
AU - Narayanaswamy, Bhavani
AU - Bett, Brian
AU - Hughes, David
N1 - Description
3* This study found that it is the unusual thermal regime that exerts a strong influence on the regional ecology of the FSC, whilst habitat hetereogeneity exerts an influence at a more local scale. This highlights the fact that it is not just organic matter which influences diversity and that other parameters can strongly influence both local and regional deep-sea diversity.
PY - 2010
Y1 - 2010
N2 - The Faroe-Shetland Channel, situated in the NE Atlantic, encompasses a number of different sediment types (habitats) as well as being subject to an unusual thermal regime. Our main objective was to assess variations in macrofaunal generic diversity and composition along two transects to gauge the relative influence of regional hydrography and local habitat heterogeneity. We found that generic richness and diversity on a West of Shetland (WoS) transect correlated most strongly with temperature range, whilst along a North of Shetland (NoS) transect, richness and diversity correlated negatively with sedimentary variables, notably total organic carbon. Macrofaunal composition at WoS is also strongly influenced by water temperature with specific genera (e.g. Galathowenia positively associated with the temperature eigenvectors), whereas at NoS it is a combination of temperature, silt + clay fraction and total organic carbon that has an impact on composition (e.g. Proclea and Pseudosphyrapus, showing a negative relationship with the temperature eigenvectors). Although the temperature regime exerts a strong control on regional ecology, local habitat heterogeneity remains a significant factor.
AB - The Faroe-Shetland Channel, situated in the NE Atlantic, encompasses a number of different sediment types (habitats) as well as being subject to an unusual thermal regime. Our main objective was to assess variations in macrofaunal generic diversity and composition along two transects to gauge the relative influence of regional hydrography and local habitat heterogeneity. We found that generic richness and diversity on a West of Shetland (WoS) transect correlated most strongly with temperature range, whilst along a North of Shetland (NoS) transect, richness and diversity correlated negatively with sedimentary variables, notably total organic carbon. Macrofaunal composition at WoS is also strongly influenced by water temperature with specific genera (e.g. Galathowenia positively associated with the temperature eigenvectors), whereas at NoS it is a combination of temperature, silt + clay fraction and total organic carbon that has an impact on composition (e.g. Proclea and Pseudosphyrapus, showing a negative relationship with the temperature eigenvectors). Although the temperature regime exerts a strong control on regional ecology, local habitat heterogeneity remains a significant factor.
KW - CHANNEL
KW - BATHYAL
KW - PACIFIC
KW - ECOLOGY
KW - SEA
KW - FAUNA
KW - Marine & Freshwater Biology
U2 - 10.1111/j.1439-0485.2010.00360.x
DO - 10.1111/j.1439-0485.2010.00360.x
M3 - Article
SN - 0173-9565
SP - 237
EP - 246
JO - Marine Ecology-Pubblicazioni Della Stazione Zoologica Di Napoli i
JF - Marine Ecology-Pubblicazioni Della Stazione Zoologica Di Napoli i
IS - 1
ER -