Deep-Sea Biodiversity in the Mediterranean Sea: The Known, the Unknown, and the Unknowable
Roberto Danovaro,Cinzia Corinaldesi,Gianfranco D'Onghia,Bella S. Galil,Cristina Gambi,Andrew J. Gooday,Nikolaos Lampadariou,Gian Marco Luna,Caterina Morigi,Karine Olu,Paraskevi N. Polymenakou,Eva Ramirez-Llodra,Anna Sabbatini,Francesc Sardà,Myriam Sibuet,Anastasios Tselepides +15 more
TLDR
It is shown 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.Abstract:
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 deepsea 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.read more
Citations
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Biodiversity of the Mediterranean Sea: estimates, patterns and threats
Marta Coll,Jacopo Aguzzi,Enric Ballesteros,Marta Estrada,Josep M. Gasol,João Gil,Daniel Martin,Daniel Oro,José Templado,Xavier Turon,Roger Villanueva,Eleni Voultsiadou +11 more
TL;DR: Overall spatial and temporal patterns of species diversity and major changes and threats were assessed, and temporal trends indicated that overexploitation and habitat loss have been the main human drivers of historical changes in biodiversity.
Journal ArticleDOI
The Biodiversity of the Mediterranean Sea: Estimates, Patterns, and Threats
Marta Coll,Marta Coll,Chiara Piroddi,Jeroen Steenbeek,Kristin Kaschner,Frida Ben Rais Lasram,Jacopo Aguzzi,Enric Ballesteros,Carlo Nike Bianchi,Jordi Corbera,Thanos Dailianis,Roberto Danovaro,Marta Estrada,Carlo Froglia,Bella S. Galil,Josep M. Gasol,Ruthy Gertwagen,João Gil,François Guilhaumon,Kathleen Kesner-Reyes,Miltiadis-Spyridon Kitsos,Athanasios Koukouras,Nikolaos Lampadariou,Elijah Laxamana,Carlos M. López-Fé de la Cuadra,Heike K. Lotze,Daniel Martin,David Mouillot,Daniel Oro,Saša Raicevich,Josephine Rius-Barile,J.I. Saiz-Salinas,Carles San Vicente,Samuel Somot,José Templado,Xavier Turon,Dimitris Vafidis,Roger Villanueva,Eleni Voultsiadou +38 more
TL;DR: In this article, the authors combined an extensive literature analysis with expert opinions to update publicly available estimates of major taxa in this marine ecosystem and to revise and update several species lists.
Journal ArticleDOI
Deep, diverse and definitely different: unique attributes of the world's largest ecosystem
Eva Ramirez-Llodra,Angelika Brandt,Roberto Danovaro,B. De Mol,Elva Escobar,Christopher R. German,Lisa A. Levin,P. Martinez Arbizu,Lenaick Menot,Pål Buhl-Mortensen,Bhavani Narayanaswamy,Craig R. Smith,Derek P. Tittensor,Paul A. Tyler,Ann Vanreusel,Michael Vecchione +15 more
TL;DR: A review of deep-sea habitats and their fauna can be found in this paper, where the authors discuss threats from anthropogenic activities to deep sea habitats and faunal communities.
Journal ArticleDOI
A census of marine biodiversity knowledge, resources, and future challenges.
Mark J. Costello,Marta Coll,Marta Coll,Roberto Danovaro,Patrick N. Halpin,Henn Ojaveer,Patricia Miloslavich +6 more
TL;DR: A global review of gaps in marine biodiversity knowledge and resources is overdue because society and many scientists believe the authors have discovered most species, or that doing so is out of fashion except when new technologies are employed.
Journal ArticleDOI
Self-powered soft robot in the Mariana Trench
Guorui Li,Chen Xiangping,Fanghao Zhou,Yiming Liang,Youhua Xiao,Cao Xunuo,Zhen Zhang,Mingqi Zhang,Baosheng Wu,Yin Shunyu,Yi Xu,Fan Hongbo,Zheng Chen,Wei Song,Wenjing Yang,Binbin Pan,Jiaoyi Hou,Weifeng Zou,Shunping He,Xuxu Yang,Guoyong Mao,Zheng Jia,Haofei Zhou,Tiefeng Li,Shaoxing Qu,Zhongbin Xu,Zhilong Huang,Yingwu Luo,Tao Xie,Jason Gu,Shiqiang Zhu,Wei Yang +31 more
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors developed a self-powered soft robot for deep-sea exploration, with onboard power, control and actuation protected from pressure by integrating electronics in a silicone matrix.
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