Deep-sea biodiversity in the Mediterranean Sea: the known, the unknown, and the unknowable.
Deep-sea ecosystems represent the largest biome of the global biosphere, but knowledge of their biodiversity is still scant. The Mediterranean basin has been proposed as a hot spot of terrestrial and coastal marine biodiversity but has been supposed to be impoverished of deep-sea species richness. W...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2010-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC2914020?pdf=render |
| _version_ | 1818416493345374208 |
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| author | Roberto Danovaro Joan Batista Company Cinzia Corinaldesi Gianfranco D'Onghia Bella Galil Cristina Gambi Andrew J Gooday Nikolaos Lampadariou Gian Marco Luna Caterina Morigi Karine Olu Paraskevi Polymenakou Eva Ramirez-Llodra Anna Sabbatini Francesc Sardà Myriam Sibuet Anastasios Tselepides |
| author_facet | Roberto Danovaro Joan Batista Company Cinzia Corinaldesi Gianfranco D'Onghia Bella Galil Cristina Gambi Andrew J Gooday Nikolaos Lampadariou Gian Marco Luna Caterina Morigi Karine Olu Paraskevi Polymenakou Eva Ramirez-Llodra Anna Sabbatini Francesc Sardà Myriam Sibuet Anastasios Tselepides |
| author_sort | Roberto Danovaro |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Deep-sea ecosystems represent the largest biome of the global biosphere, but knowledge of their biodiversity is still scant. The Mediterranean basin has been proposed as a hot spot of terrestrial and coastal marine biodiversity but has been supposed to be impoverished of deep-sea species richness. We summarized all available information on benthic biodiversity (Prokaryotes, Foraminifera, Meiofauna, Macrofauna, and Megafauna) in different deep-sea ecosystems of the Mediterranean Sea (200 to more than 4,000 m depth), including open slopes, deep basins, canyons, cold seeps, seamounts, deep-water corals and deep-hypersaline anoxic basins and analyzed overall longitudinal and bathymetric patterns. We show that in contrast to what was expected from the sharp decrease in organic carbon fluxes and reduced faunal abundance, the deep-sea biodiversity of both the eastern and the western basins of the Mediterranean Sea is similarly high. All of the biodiversity components, except Bacteria and Archaea, displayed a decreasing pattern with increasing water depth, but to a different extent for each component. Unlike patterns observed for faunal abundance, highest negative values of the slopes of the biodiversity patterns were observed for Meiofauna, followed by Macrofauna and Megafauna. Comparison of the biodiversity associated with open slopes, deep basins, canyons, and deep-water corals showed that the deep basins were the least diverse. Rarefaction curves allowed us to estimate the expected number of species for each benthic component in different bathymetric ranges. A large fraction of exclusive species was associated with each specific habitat or ecosystem. Thus, each deep-sea ecosystem contributes significantly to overall biodiversity. From theoretical extrapolations we estimate that the overall deep-sea Mediterranean biodiversity (excluding prokaryotes) reaches approximately 2805 species of which about 66% is still undiscovered. Among the biotic components investigated (Prokaryotes excluded), most of the unknown species are within the phylum Nematoda, followed by Foraminifera, but an important fraction of macrofaunal and megafaunal species also remains unknown. Data reported here provide new insights into the patterns of biodiversity in the deep-sea Mediterranean and new clues for future investigations aimed at identifying the factors controlling and threatening deep-sea biodiversity. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-14T11:51:46Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-0f090853da1f453b8de58cb90c586e8c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-14T11:51:46Z |
| publishDate | 2010-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj.art-0f090853da1f453b8de58cb90c586e8c2022-12-21T23:02:17ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032010-01-0158e1183210.1371/journal.pone.0011832Deep-sea biodiversity in the Mediterranean Sea: the known, the unknown, and the unknowable.Roberto DanovaroJoan Batista CompanyCinzia CorinaldesiGianfranco D'OnghiaBella GalilCristina GambiAndrew J GoodayNikolaos LampadariouGian Marco LunaCaterina MorigiKarine OluParaskevi PolymenakouEva Ramirez-LlodraAnna SabbatiniFrancesc SardàMyriam SibuetAnastasios TselepidesDeep-sea ecosystems represent the largest biome of the global biosphere, but knowledge of their biodiversity is still scant. The Mediterranean basin has been proposed as a hot spot of terrestrial and coastal marine biodiversity but has been supposed to be impoverished of deep-sea species richness. We summarized all available information on benthic biodiversity (Prokaryotes, Foraminifera, Meiofauna, Macrofauna, and Megafauna) in different deep-sea ecosystems of the Mediterranean Sea (200 to more than 4,000 m depth), including open slopes, deep basins, canyons, cold seeps, seamounts, deep-water corals and deep-hypersaline anoxic basins and analyzed overall longitudinal and bathymetric patterns. We show that in contrast to what was expected from the sharp decrease in organic carbon fluxes and reduced faunal abundance, the deep-sea biodiversity of both the eastern and the western basins of the Mediterranean Sea is similarly high. All of the biodiversity components, except Bacteria and Archaea, displayed a decreasing pattern with increasing water depth, but to a different extent for each component. Unlike patterns observed for faunal abundance, highest negative values of the slopes of the biodiversity patterns were observed for Meiofauna, followed by Macrofauna and Megafauna. Comparison of the biodiversity associated with open slopes, deep basins, canyons, and deep-water corals showed that the deep basins were the least diverse. Rarefaction curves allowed us to estimate the expected number of species for each benthic component in different bathymetric ranges. A large fraction of exclusive species was associated with each specific habitat or ecosystem. Thus, each deep-sea ecosystem contributes significantly to overall biodiversity. From theoretical extrapolations we estimate that the overall deep-sea Mediterranean biodiversity (excluding prokaryotes) reaches approximately 2805 species of which about 66% is still undiscovered. Among the biotic components investigated (Prokaryotes excluded), most of the unknown species are within the phylum Nematoda, followed by Foraminifera, but an important fraction of macrofaunal and megafaunal species also remains unknown. Data reported here provide new insights into the patterns of biodiversity in the deep-sea Mediterranean and new clues for future investigations aimed at identifying the factors controlling and threatening deep-sea biodiversity.http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC2914020?pdf=render |
| spellingShingle | Roberto Danovaro Joan Batista Company Cinzia Corinaldesi Gianfranco D'Onghia Bella Galil Cristina Gambi Andrew J Gooday Nikolaos Lampadariou Gian Marco Luna Caterina Morigi Karine Olu Paraskevi Polymenakou Eva Ramirez-Llodra Anna Sabbatini Francesc Sardà Myriam Sibuet Anastasios Tselepides Deep-sea biodiversity in the Mediterranean Sea: the known, the unknown, and the unknowable. PLoS ONE |
| title | Deep-sea biodiversity in the Mediterranean Sea: the known, the unknown, and the unknowable. |
| title_full | Deep-sea biodiversity in the Mediterranean Sea: the known, the unknown, and the unknowable. |
| title_fullStr | Deep-sea biodiversity in the Mediterranean Sea: the known, the unknown, and the unknowable. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Deep-sea biodiversity in the Mediterranean Sea: the known, the unknown, and the unknowable. |
| title_short | Deep-sea biodiversity in the Mediterranean Sea: the known, the unknown, and the unknowable. |
| title_sort | deep sea biodiversity in the mediterranean sea the known the unknown and the unknowable |
| url | http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC2914020?pdf=render |
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