Biodiversity of nematode assemblages from the region of the Clarion-Clipperton Fracture Zone, an area of commercial mining interest

BACKGROUND: The possibility for commercial mining of deep-sea manganese nodules is currently under exploration in the abyssal Clarion-Clipperton Fracture Zone. Nematodes have potential for biomonitoring of the impact of commercial activity but the natural biodiversity is unknown. We investigate the feasibility of nematodes as biomonitoring organisms and give information about their natural biodiversity. RESULTS: The taxonomic composition (at family to genus level) of the nematode fauna in the abyssal Pacific is similar, but not identical to, the North Atlantic. Given the immature state of marine nematode taxonomy, it is not possible to comment on the commonality or otherwise of species between oceans. The between basin differences do not appear to be directly linked to current ecological factors. The abyssal Pacific region (including the Fracture Zone) could be divided into two biodiversity subregions that conform to variations in the linked factors of flux to the benthos and of sedimentary characteristics. Richer biodiversity is associated with areas of known phytodetritus input and higher organic-carbon flux. Despite high reported sample diversity, estimated regional diversity is less than 400 species. CONCLUSION: The estimated regional diversity of the CCFZ is a tractable figure for biomonitoring of commercial activities in this region using marine nematodes, despite the immature taxonomy (i.e. most marine species have not been described) of the group. However, nematode ecology is in dire need of further study

Darkness visible: reflections on underground ecology

1 Soil science and ecology have developed independently, making it difficult for ecologists to contribute to urgent current debates on the destruction of the global soil resource and its key role in the global carbon cycle. Soils are believed to be exceptionally biodiverse parts of ecosystems, a view confirmed by recent data from the UK Soil Biodiversity Programme at Sourhope, Scotland, where high diversity was a characteristic of small organisms, but not of larger ones. Explaining this difference requires knowledge that we currently lack about the basic biology and biogeography of micro-organisms. 2 It seems inherently plausible that the high levels of biological diversity in soil play some part in determining the ability of soils to undertake ecosystem-level processes, such as carbon and mineral cycling. However, we lack conceptual models to address this issue, and debate about the role of biodiversity in ecosystem processes has centred around the concept of functional redundancy, and has consequently been largely semantic. More precise construction of our experimental questions is needed to advance understanding. 3 These issues are well illustrated by the fungi that form arbuscular mycorrhizas, the Glomeromycota. This ancient symbiosis of plants and fungi is responsible for phosphate uptake in most land plants, and the phylum is generally held to be species-poor and non-specific, with most members readily colonizing any plant species. Molecular techniques have shown both those assumptions to be unsafe, raising questions about what factors have promoted diversification in these fungi. One source of this genetic diversity may be functional diversity. 4 Specificity of the mycorrhizal interaction between plants and fungi would have important ecosystem consequences. One example would be in the control of invasiveness in introduced plant species: surprisingly, naturalized plant species in Britain are disproportionately from mycorrhizal families, suggesting that these fungi may play a role in assisting invasion. 5 What emerges from an attempt to relate biodiversity and ecosystem processes in soil is our extraordinary ignorance about the organisms involved. There are fundamental questions that are now answerable with new techniques and sufficient will, such as how biodiverse are natural soils? Do microbes have biogeography? Are there rare or even endangered microbes

Nematode abundance at the oxygen minimum zone in the Arabian Sea

This paper supports the hypothesis that low oxygen does not influence deep-sea nematode abundance by investigating an oxygen minimum zone (OMZ) on the Oman slope in the Arabian Sea. Correlation with a number of environmental variables indicated that food quality (measured as the hydrogen index) rather than oxygen was the major predictor of nematode abundance. Nematode abundance was also positively correlated with abundance of total macrofauna, annelids, spionid polychaetes and macrofaunal tube builders. Comparison with published data showed Arabian Sea nematode abundance to be similar to that of the Porcupine Seabight and Bay of Biscay regions of the northeast Atlantic, which also receive significant quantities of phytodetritus but have no OMZ

Species richness of the genus Molgolaimus (Nematoda) from local- to ocean-scale along continental slopes

This study investigated the distribution of Molgolaimus species (Nematoda) at different hierarchical spatial scales and observed the turnover of species along bathymetrical transects and among transects in two separate geographical regions. Samples from six transects (200-2000 m) from the Southern Oceans (SO) and four bathymetric transects (50-2000 m) from the Western Indian Ocean (WIO) were compared. Of the 30 species recorded, only one was common to both regions. WIO had higher local species richness than the SO. In both regions, the local scale was the greatest contributor to the total species richness. In the SO, there was no difference between species turnover at the different spatial scales, however, in the WIO, the turnover along bathymetrical transects was higher than among separated transects. For the particular genus studied, the evidence suggests that the study area in WIO has more widespread species and was better sampled, while the SO has many restricted species and it is most probably characterized by different biogeographical provinces. At the ocean scale (i.e. WIO versus SO), evolutionary histories may have strongly influenced nematodes species composition, while at local and regional scales, ecological processes are probably promoting species co-existence and speciation. The high co-existence of certain species at local scale is partially explained by species preference for different sediment layers

Biodiversity links above and below the marine sediment-water interface that may influence community stability

Linkages across the sediment-water interface (SWI) between biodiversity and community stability appear to exist but are very poorly studied. Processes by which changes in biodiversity could affect stability on the other side of the SWI include carbon transfer during feeding, decomposition of organic matter, nutrient recycling, organism recruitment and structural stabilisation of sediments. The importance of these processes will clearly vary among habitats. Direct disturbance to communities on one side of the SWI, such as created by overfishing, habitat destruction, and species invasions, has the potential to impact communities on the other side of the SWI through the many functional links. Hypotheses are proposed to suggest further areas of research to fill the large gaps in our knowledge concerning the nature and intensity of such linkages. The linkage between benthic and pelagic diversity is likely to be tighter where there is a close energetic connection between the domains, such as polar and shallow coastal waters, and where communities are dominated by selective detritivores. The quantity of carbon reserves in the sediment and the predominant mode of larval development of sediment communities probably influence the stability of below SWI communities in the face of changes in above SWI diversity. The organisms, including hyperbenthos, that are found at the SWI may be of crucial importance to the linkage and stability of above and below SWI communities. [KEYWORDS: benthos, biodiversity, fish, links, pelagic, plankton, sediment-water interface, stability]

An apparent lack of response by metazoan meiofauna to phytodetritus deposition in the bathyal north-eastern Atlantic

Metazoan meiofauna were studied in replicated multiple-corer samples obtained at a bathyal site (1320–1360 m depth) in the Porcupine Seabight (51°36′N 13°00′W) before (April) and after (July) the delivery to the seafloor of a phytodetrital pulse originating from the 1982 spring bloom. In all samples the metazoan meiofauna was dominated by nematodes; harpacticoid copepods and their nauplii were the second most abundant taxon. Population densities and biomass were very similar in both sample sets, the only significant differences being in the numbers of ostracods (higher in April) and nauplii (higher in July). Furthermore, vertical distribution patterns in the top 5 cm of sediment indicate that the meiofauna did not migrate towards the sediment surface following the phytodetrital pulse. The lack of a metazoan meiofaunal response contrasts with published evidence, based on the same samples, for a substantial increase in the foraminiferal abundance following the sedimentation event. Thus our results suggest that metazoans (as a whole) fail to exploit and utilize phytodetritus as rapidly as foraminifera. This probably reflects the energetic expense of egg production coupled with frequently slower rates of somatic growth among metazoans. In addition, foraminifera may outcompete metazoans for detrital food because they possess extremely efficient food-gathering organelles (granuloreticulate pseudopodia) and are able to raise their levels of metabolic activity very rapidly. However, metazoan responses at the species level, or over longer time periods (>3 months), would not have been detected and so remain a possibility

Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) as a tool for identification of marine nematodes

Many phyla of marine invertebrates are difficult to identify using conventional morphological taxonomy. Larvae of a wider set of phyla are also difficult to identify as a result of conservation of morphology between species or because morphological characters are destroyed during sampling and preservation. DNA sequence analysis has the potential for identification of marine organisms to the species level. However, sequence analysis of specimens is time-consuming and impractical when species diversity is very high and densities of individuals huge, as they are in many marine habitats. The effectiveness of the 18S rRNA gene sequences for identification of one species-rich marine group, the Nematoda, is analysed. Following identification of variable regions of the 18S rRNA gene, primers were designed to amplify a small segment of sequences suitable for denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). The effectiveness of DGGE for identifying individual species is analysed. DGGE analysis of natural communities of nematodes detected less than ? of the species present. This fraction of the community probably represents the abundant species in the original samples. It is concluded that DGGE is not a useful tool for analysis of species richness in marine communities as it fails to detect rare species of which there are usually many in the marine benthic environment. However, DGGE may be a useful method for detecting changes in communities that influence the abundance of the most common taxa