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1
Tasabaramo, I. A., and A. H. Nugraha. "Abundance and Biodiversity of Benthic Infauna at Seagrass Ecosystem in Three Small Islands of Northern Papua, Indonesia: Liki Island, Meossu Island and Befondi Island." IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science 1148, no. 1 (March 1, 2023): 012022. http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/1148/1/012022.
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Abstract One of the ecological roles of seagrass ecosystems is as a habitat for marine organisms. Benthos is a group of marine biota that lives on the bottom of the waters and can be found in seagrass ecosystems. This study aims to inventory the diversity of benthic organisms in seagrass ecosystems in Liki, Befondi and Meossu island. This research is part of the second leg of the Nusa Manggala Expedition which was held in 2018 on Liki Island, Meossu and Befondi, the northern waters of Papua.. Benthos data was collected using cores at 0 m, 50 m and 100 m on the line transect. The results of this study indicate that the highest density of seagrass is on Liki Island. In addition, 33 species of benthic organisms were found on Liki Island, 42 species on Meossu Island and 20 species on Befondi Island. The highest abundance and diversity of benthic organisms was found on Meossu Island. The dominant benthic organisms come from the gastropod class with the species having the highest abundance, Euplica scripta. Based on this research, it is suspected that there is a relationship between the condition of the seagrass ecosystem and the abundance and diversity of benthos.
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Avila, Conxita, Xavier Buñuel, Francesc Carmona, Albert Cotado, Oriol Sacristán-Soriano, and Carlos Angulo-Preckler. "Would Antarctic Marine Benthos Survive Alien Species Invasions? What Chemical Ecology May Tell Us." Marine Drugs 20, no. 9 (August 24, 2022): 543. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/md20090543.
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Many Antarctic marine benthic macroinvertebrates are chemically protected against predation by marine natural products of different types. Antarctic potential predators mostly include sea stars (macropredators) and amphipod crustaceans (micropredators) living in the same areas (sympatric). Recently, alien species (allopatric) have been reported to reach the Antarctic coasts, while deep-water crabs are suggested to be more often present in shallower waters. We decided to investigate the effect of the chemical defenses of 29 representative Antarctic marine benthic macroinvertebrates from seven different phyla against predation by using non-native allopatric generalist predators as a proxy for potential alien species. The Antarctic species tested included 14 Porifera, two Cnidaria, two Annelida, one Nemertea, two Bryozooa, three Echinodermata, and five Chordata (Tunicata). Most of these Antarctic marine benthic macroinvertebrates were chemically protected against an allopatric generalist amphipod but not against an allopatric generalist crab from temperate waters. Therefore, both a possible recolonization of large crabs from deep waters or an invasion of non-native generalist crab species could potentially alter the fundamental nature of these communities forever since chemical defenses would not be effective against them. This, together with the increasing temperatures that elevate the probability of alien species surviving, is a huge threat to Antarctic marine benthos.
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Belmonte, Genuario, and Fernando Rubino. "POTENTIAL AND REALIZED DIVERSITY OF COASTAL PLANKTON: THE ROLE OF RESTING STAGES IN ECOSYSTEM FUNCTIONING." Arquivos de Ciências do Mar 55, Especial (March 21, 2022): 477–84. http://dx.doi.org/10.32360/acmar.v55iespecial.78207.
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Resting stages are the strategy for species to avoid the variability of environmental conditions. In coastal confined marine habitats, variability of conditions is higher than in the open sea, and bottoms accumulate plankton resting stages in the so-called “marine cyst banks”. The benthic-pelagic coupling generated by this bi-location of plankton, however, is not clearly evident for all the involved species. This result is due to the still scant knowledge of the life cycles and life histories of single species. The study of plankton dynamics from the benthos point of view is useful and informative and it increases the potential complexity of a planktonic community in a confined area.
Keywords: plankton, life cycles, resting stages, cysts, benthic-pelagic coupling, resurrection ecology.
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Signor, Philip W., and Geerat J. Vermeij. "The plankton and the benthos: origins and early history of an evolving relationship." Paleobiology 20, no. 3 (1994): 297–319. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0094837300012793.
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Modern marine plankton communities include a broad diversity of metazoans that are suspension-feeding or micropredatory as adults. Many benthic marine species have larval stages that reside, and often feed, in the plankton for brief to very long periods of time, and most marine benthic communities include large numbers of suspension-feeders. This has not always been the case. Cambrian benthic communities included relatively few suspension-feeders. Similarly, there were few metazoan clades represented in the plankton, either as adult suspension-feeders or as larvae. Review of the fossil record suggests that the diversification of the plankton and suspension-feeding marine animals began in the Late Cambrian and continued into the Ordovician. These changes were accompanied by, and probably influenced, concurrent major changes in the marine realm, including an increase in tiering within benthic communities, the replacement of the Cambrian fauna by the Paleozoic fauna, and a general taxonomic diversification. The ultimate cause of these changes is uncertain, but it appears likely that the plankton was and is a refuge from predation and bioturbation for adults and larvae alike. The expansion in plankton biomass thus provided increased ecological opportunities for suspension-feeders in the plankton and benthos.
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Kim, Sang Lyeol, Hyung Gon Lee, Yosup Park, and Ok Hwan Yu. "Relationship between Submerged Marine Debris and Macrobenthic Fauna in Jeju Island, South Korea." Journal of Marine Science and Engineering 11, no. 7 (July 17, 2023): 1427. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/jmse11071427.
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Pollution associated with marine debris is of global ecological concern, as it threatens wildlife and local economies. Submerged marine debris alters local benthic species composition and community characteristics. The study site of Jaguri, Jeju Island, where a variety of submerged marine debris was found, was used to investigate the impact of submerged marine debris on the macrobenthic fauna of sandy and rocky substrates. The dominant macrobenthos taxon differed by sediment type; the polychaete Armandia lanceolata was dominant in sandy bottom environments and the mollusk Leiosolenus lischkei was dominant in rocky bottom environments. The presence of marine debris was associated with differences in biomass in both the soft and rocky areas. The site without debris had higher biomass in the soft area, and the site with nets had a higher density of benthic animals within the site with debris. In the rocky area. the site with debris had a higher biomass. Macrobenthos were affected by the type of deposited marine debris and the type of sediment substrate. This study provides a basis for future studies on the impact of debris on marine ecosystems and identified the benthos species affected by marine debris.
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Mrozińska, Natalia, Katarzyna Glińska-Lewczuk, and Krystian Obolewski. "Salinity as a Key Factor on the Benthic Fauna Diversity in the Coastal Lakes." Animals 11, no. 11 (October 23, 2021): 3039. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ani11113039.
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Benthic communities were studied in nine Polish coastal lakes of the Baltic Sea; representing three levels of hydrological connection with the sea (isolated, periodically connected, and permanently connected), with resultant differences in salinity (freshwater, transitional, and brackish). The lakes classified in this way allowed us to investigate biodiversity in relation to the degree of environmental pressure. Stress intensity in coastal water bodies, resulting from contrasting marine and terrestrial influences, varied from mild to severe. Spatial variation in environmental predictors affected species richness more strongly than seasonal fluctuations. The broader the spatial salinity gradient, the smaller the species number recorded. Differences in the intensity of natural instability only slightly affected species number and α-diversity. In Baltic coastal lakes, characterized by low salinity (max. 7.5 PSU), benthic faunal communities were dominated by large populations of opportunistic species. This applied primarily to closed systems and those periodically influenced by seawater intrusion. The marine component of fauna played a more important role in increasing the diversity of benthos in permanently open water bodies (brackish). The highest density of benthic fauna was recorded in them, whereas low values were associated with the strongest instability, observed in lakes periodically linked with the sea (transitional).
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Giraldo-Ospina, Ana, Gary A. Kendrick, and Renae K. Hovey. "Depth moderates loss of marine foundation species after an extreme marine heatwave: could deep temperate reefs act as a refuge?" Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 287, no. 1928 (June 10, 2020): 20200709. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2020.0709.
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Marine heatwaves (MHWs) have been documented around the world, causing widespread mortality of numerous benthic species on shallow reefs (less than 15 m depth). Deeper habitats are hypothesized to be a potential refuge from environmental extremes, though we have little understanding of the response of deeper benthic communities to MHWs. Here, we show how increasing depth moderates the response of seaweed- and coral-dominated benthic communities to an extreme MHW across a subtropical–temperate biogeographical transition zone. Benthic community composition and key habitat-building species were characterized across three depths (15, 25 and 40 m) before and several times after the 2011 Western Australian MHW to assess resistance during and recovery after the heatwave. We found high natural variability in benthic community composition along the biogeographic transition zone and across depths with a clear shift in the composition after the MHW in shallow (15 m) sites but a lot less in deeper communities (40 m). Most importantly, key habitat-building seaweeds such as Ecklonia radiata and Syctothalia dorycarpa which had catastrophic losses on shallow reefs, remained and were less affected in deeper communities. Evidently, deep reefs have the potential to act as a refuge during MHWs for the foundation species of shallow reefs in this region.
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Zhang, Xiaoxin, Luping Bi, Eleni Gentekaki, Jianmin Zhao, Pingping Shen, and Qianqian Zhang. "Culture-Independent Single-Cell PacBio Sequencing Reveals Epibiotic Variovorax and Nucleus Associated Mycoplasma in the Microbiome of the Marine Benthic Protist Geleia sp. YT (Ciliophora, Karyorelictea)." Microorganisms 11, no. 6 (June 5, 2023): 1500. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms11061500.
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Microbes in marine sediments constitute up to five-sixths of the planet’s total biomass, but their diversity is little explored, especially for those forming associations with unicellular protists. Heterotrophic ciliates are among the most dominant and diversified marine benthic protists and comprise hotspot niches of bacterial colonization. To date, studies using culture-independent single-cell approaches to explore microbiomes of marine benthic ciliates in nature are almost absent, even for the most ubiquitous species. Here, we characterize the major bacterial groups associated with a representative marine benthic ciliate, Geleia sp. YT, collected directly from the coastal zone of Yantai, China. PacBio sequencing of the nearly full-length 16Sr RNA genes was performed on single cells of Geleia. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) analysis with genus-specific probes was further applied to locate the dominant bacterial groups. We identified a Variovorax-like bacterium as the major epibiotic symbiont residing in the kineties of the ciliate host. We provide evidence of a nucleus-associated bacterium related to the human pathogen Mycoplasma, which appeared prevalently in the local populations of Geleia sp. YT for 4 months. The most abundant bacterial taxa associated with Geleia sp. YT likely represent its core microbiome, hinting at the important roles of the ciliate-bacteria consortium in the marine benthos. Overall, this work has contributed to the knowledge of the diversity of life in the enigmatic marine benthic ciliate and its symbioses.
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Tlig-Zouari, S., T. Mami, and F. Maamouri. "Structure of benthic macroinvertebrates and dynamics in the northern lagoon of Tunis." Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 89, no. 7 (August 5, 2009): 1305–18. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0025315409000721.
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Sampling data on abiotic parameters and benthic communities in the northern lagoon of Tunis were obtained seasonally from November 1999 to November 2000. Abiotic parameters studied revealed evident improvement of water quality compared with previous. Indeed, management has re-established a tidal marine influence (Gulf of Tunis), induced a remarkable change in physico-chemical parameters and as a consequence, a regulation of the lagoon environmental quality. A total of 90 species of benthic macroinvertebrates, belonging to seven different taxa were collected in the northern lagoon of Tunis. A comparison of ecological indices indicate significant variations in the spatial and seasonal distribution and structure of the benthic community and reflect changes that might be related to open marine water and climatic influences as well as effects of discharge of the neighbouring city. Generally, the lagoon macrobenthic community appeared to be better structured, richer and more diverse than the one described before sanitation works began. However, significant disturbance of the benthic communities is detected in the south-eastern lagoon zone (C) and is dominated by disturbance indicator species. In contrast, the Station A2 which is sufficiently influenced by marine currents, is dominated by species of marine affinity and indicates an undisturbed zone. Multivariate analysis indicates heterogeneity in the benthic community structure between stations and suggests that the most significant variations of abundance occur in the groups: Anthozoa, Placophora, Cephalopoda, Ascidia and Echinodermata. The results of correspondence analysis also testify to a gradational distribution of benthic species in relation to hydrological and edaphic (organic matter) factors.
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Soe-Htun, U., Soe Pa Pa Kyaw, Mya Kyawt Wai, Jar San, SeinMoh Moh Khaing, and Chaw Thiri Pyae Phyo Aye. "A review on the seaweed resources of Myanmar." Journal of Aquaculture and Marine Biology 10, no. 4 (2021): 152–66. http://dx.doi.org/10.15406/jamb.2021.10.00317.
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A total of 261species of marine benthic algae under 121genera,comprising 72 taxa belonging to 26 genera of Chlorophyta, 45 taxa belonging to 18 genera of Phaeophyta and 144 taxa belonging to 77 genera of Rhodophyta growing along the Tanintharyi Coastal Zone, Deltaic Coastal Zone and Rakhine Coastal Zone, were recorded. In general, diversity ratios of seaweeds occur in 3 Coastal Zones is 3:1:4 between the Tanintharyi Coastal Zone (146 taxa), Deltaic Coastal Zone (53 taxa) and Rakhine Coastal Zone (224 taxa).Among these, 89 species of marine benthic algae, including 25 taxa of green, 9 taxa of brown and 55 taxa of red algae, were newly recorded from Myanmar waters. The latitudinal distribution of marine benthic algae along the Myanmar Coastal Zones reveals 25 species of marine benthic algae which uniquely occur in low lattitute in the Tanintharyi Coastal Zone and 111 species which exclusively predominate in high lattitutein the Rakhine Coastal Zone. Monostroma, Ulva, Caulerpa and Codium of Chlorophyta, Dictyota, Spatoglossum, Hormophysa, Turbinaria and Sargassum of Phaeophyta and Phycocalidia, Dermonema, Gelidiella, Halymenia, Solieria, Hypnea, Gracilaria,Gracilariopsis, Hydopuntia, Catenella and Acanthophora of Rhodophyta could be considered as of dependable natural resources of Myanmar to produce the sea-vegetables and phycocolloids. Mariculture of some economically important marine red algae such as Gracilaria spp., Hydopuntia spp., Catenella spp. And Kappaphycus alvarezii was described. Current status and prospects of phycocolloid industries producing alginate, agar-agar and carrageenansfrom raw materials of seaweeds of Myanmar were discussed. Checklist, distribution and conservation of marine benthic algae were briefly presented.
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Reiss, Henning, Silvana Birchenough, Angel Borja, Lene Buhl-Mortensen, Johan Craeymeersch, Jennifer Dannheim, Alexander Darr, et al. "Benthos distribution modelling and its relevance for marine ecosystem management." ICES Journal of Marine Science 72, no. 2 (June 19, 2014): 297–315. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsu107.
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Abstract Marine benthic ecosystems are difficult to monitor and assess, which is in contrast to modern ecosystem-based management requiring detailed information at all important ecological and anthropogenic impact levels. Ecosystem management needs to ensure a sustainable exploitation of marine resources as well as the protection of sensitive habitats, taking account of potential multiple-use conflicts and impacts over large spatial scales. The urgent need for large-scale spatial data on benthic species and communities resulted in an increasing application of distribution modelling (DM). The use of DM techniques enables to employ full spatial coverage data of environmental variables to predict benthic spatial distribution patterns. Especially, statistical DMs have opened new possibilities for ecosystem management applications, since they are straightforward and the outputs are easy to interpret and communicate. Mechanistic modelling techniques, targeting the fundamental niche of species, and Bayesian belief networks are the most promising to further improve DM performance in the marine realm. There are many actual and potential management applications of DMs in the marine benthic environment, these are (i) early warning systems for species invasion and pest control, (ii) to assess distribution probabilities of species to be protected, (iii) uses in monitoring design and spatial management frameworks (e.g. MPA designations), and (iv) establishing long-term ecosystem management measures (accounting for future climate-driven changes in the ecosystem). It is important to acknowledge also the limitations associated with DM applications in a marine management context as well as considering new areas for future DM developments. The knowledge of explanatory variables, for example, setting the basis for DM, will continue to be further developed: this includes both the abiotic (natural and anthropogenic) and the more pressing biotic (e.g. species interactions) aspects of the ecosystem. While the response variables on the other hand are often focused on species presence and some work undertaken on species abundances, it is equally important to consider, e.g. biological traits or benthic ecosystem functions in DM applications. Tools such as DMs are suitable to forecast the possible effects of climate change on benthic species distribution patterns and hence could help to steer present-day ecosystem management.
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Skelton, Posa A., and G. Robin South. "Annotated catalogue of the benthic marine algae of the Palolo Deep National Marine Reserve of Samoa." Australian Systematic Botany 15, no. 2 (2002): 135. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/sb00036.
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A total of 124 species of benthic marine algae is reported from the Palolo Deep National Marine Reserve on the island of Upolu (Western) Samoa (13°49′S, 171°45′W). Included in the catalogue are 88 Rhodophyceae, 12 Phaeophyceae and 24 Chlorophyceae. This represents the first survey of benthic marine algae for any site in the Samoan Archipelago in the last 76 years. A total of 90 species newly recorded for the region brings the total reported species to 288 (includes Cyanophyceae not reported here). This is about 68% of the current flora from, for example, nearby Fiji. Of the 11 sites investigated, the eastern algal rim of the main Deep (0–10-m depth) is the most diverse, with 68 species. The subtidal (up to 25 m deep) is also diverse with 57 species recorded. The least diverse of all the sites is the Borrow Pit with only six species.
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Dauvin, Jean-Claude. "Overview of Predation by Birds, Cephalopods, Fish and Marine Mammals on Marine Benthic Amphipods." Journal of Marine Science and Engineering 12, no. 3 (February 26, 2024): 403. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/jmse12030403.
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With about 8000 marine benthic species, the amphipod crustaceans form one of the richest animal groups of the worldwide Ocean. They have colonized a wide range of soft- and hard-bottom natural and artificial habitats extending from the intertidal to hadal zones. Moreover, they show a broad size spectrum, with numerous giant species exceeding 20 cm in length and some species smaller than 2 mm. When biofouling artificial hard surfaces, some tube-building species can form very dense populations comprising up to 100,000 individuals per square meter. Amphipods are important prey for fish and mammals. Along with cephalopod juveniles, they are also included in the trophic diet of shorebirds that consume amphipods mostly during the low tide on tidal flats. They display diel migration, which reinforces the predation by demersal fish in the suprabenthic zone just above the sea bed, as well as by pelagic fish in the water column. Despite their importance in terms of biodiversity and trophic transfer, no general overview is available on the role of benthic amphipods in marine ecosystem food webs. Various methods, including laboratory and field experiments, as well as the analysis of stomach contents and DNA extraction, have been used to identify the prey/predator trophic links. Based on an extensive literature review, this study discusses the role of marine benthic amphipods as potential food for higher trophic levels in natural and artificial hard-bottom communities created via the construction of offshore wind farms.
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Millar, Alan J. K. "Marine benthic algae of Norfolk Island, South Pacific." Australian Systematic Botany 12, no. 4 (1999): 479. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/sb98004.
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The marine benthic algae of Norfolk Island are documented and 60 of the 236 species are illustrated. All records are fully referenced, and type localities, local distribution and notes on taxonomic and biogeographic affinities of each species are given. Of the 236 taxa, 41 species are Chlorophyta, 41 are Phaeophyta and the remainder (154) are Rhodophyta. Apart from several undescribed taxa, none is endemic to the island, although Solieria anastomosa and Dasya fruticulosa are apparently restricted to Norfolk and Lord Howe Island, the two islands presently sharing 106 species (almost half the Norfolk marine flora and one-third that of Lord Howe). Although there are some species for which Norfolk Island represents a major range extension into or within the Pacific (Dasycladus ramosus, Halicoryne wrightii, Anotrichium anthericephalum, Herposiphonia arcuata and Polysiphonia japonica), a con- siderable number of the species are shared with the Great Barrier Reef and the New South Wales coastline as well as Lord Howe Island. Major northern range extensions are recorded for the large temperate brown alga Ecklonia radiata, and possibly Phyllospora comosa and Durvillaea antarctica, although the island more typically hosts numerous tropical algae such as Trichogloea requienii and members of the green algal order Dasycladales including Halicoryne wrightii, Bornetella nitida and Neomeris annulata. As a consequence of this survey, the two rhodymeniacean species Chrysymenia ornata and C. digitata are considered to be conspecific.
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Kokkadan, Rukhsana, Resha Neznin, Praseeja Cheruparambath, Jerisa Cabilao, and Salma Albouchi. "A Study of Infaunal Abundance, Diversity and Distribution in Chettuva Mangrove, Kerala, India." AIMS Environmental Science 10, no. 1 (2023): 82–92. http://dx.doi.org/10.3934/environsci.2023005.
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<abstract> <p>This study investigates an account on the diversity and abundance of benthic infauna of Chettuva mangrove in Kerala. Marine benthic infaunal species are an important factor in marine ecosystems and play a chief ecological function in the mangrove ecosystem. This research article gives an overview of infaunal diversity associated with eight sites of Chettuva mangrove. The present study revealed that infaunal species are significantly moderate within this mangrove ecosystem.</p> </abstract>
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Piatt, HM, and PJD Lambshead. "Neutral modelanalysis of patterns of marine benthic species diversity." Marine Ecology Progress Series 24 (1985): 75–81. http://dx.doi.org/10.3354/meps024075.
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Richard, Joëlle, Simon Anthony Morley, Julien Deloffre, and Lloyd Samuel Peck. "Thermal acclimation capacity for four Arctic marine benthic species." Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 424-425 (August 2012): 38–43. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jembe.2012.01.010.
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Rubino, Fernando, and Genuario Belmonte. "Habitat Shift for Plankton: The Living Side of Benthic-Pelagic Coupling in the Mar Piccolo of Taranto (Southern Italy, Ionian Sea)." Water 13, no. 24 (December 16, 2021): 3619. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/w13243619.
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Resting stages represent the answer for species to the variability of environmental conditions. In confined marine habitats, variability of conditions is high, and bottoms host plankton resting stages in the so-called “marine cyst banks”. The Mar Piccolo of Taranto was chosen as a pilot site in which to investigate how marine cyst banks and plankton affect each other in the living part of the benthic–pelagic coupling. The attempt was based on the use of multiple devices for integrated sampling of benthic and pelagic stages and allowed us to identify 207 taxa/categories in the whole system (127 as active forms, 91 as resting stages). The sediments added 80 taxa to the plankton list obtained only from the water column, thus confirming the importance of this kind of approach in perceiving the actual diversity of the studied site. The sediment cyst bank involved 0.15–1.00% of its content in daily benthic-pelagic exchanges, in terms of cyst germination and import, respectively. In addition, the cyst production, which was higher than the cyst germination, is responsible for the existence of a permanent biological reservoir in the sediments. The benthic-pelagic coupling, however, was completely depicted in the present investigation only for seven taxa. This result is due to the still scant knowledge of the life cycles and life histories of single species. Apart from the identification difficulties that still have to be clarified (which cysts belong to which species), the cycle presence/absence is also characterized by the diversification of strategies adopted by each species. The observation of plankton dynamics from the benthos point of view was useful and informative, unveiling a huge assemblage of resting forms in the sediments only minimally affected by cyst import/export, because it is more devoted to a storing role over long periods. Consequently, the continuation of life cycle studies appears necessary to understand the diversity of strategies adopted by the majority of plankton species.
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Cartes, J. E., T. Brey, J. C. Sorbe, and F. Maynou. "Comparing productionbiomass ratios of benthos and suprabenthos in macrofaunal marine crustaceans." Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 59, no. 10 (October 1, 2002): 1616–25. http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/f02-130.
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Using available data from the literature, we compared the productionbiomass ratios (P/B) between the suprabenthic (= hyperbenthic) and the benthic (infaunaepifauna) species within the group of the macrofaunal marine crustaceans. This data set consists of 91 P/B estimates (26 for suprabenthos and 65 for infaunaepifauna) for 49 different species. Suprabenthic crustacean P/B was significantly higher than P/B of benthic crustacean (post-hoc Scheffé test; one-way analysis of covariance, ANCOVA; p < 103) and also of other (noncrustacean) benthic invertebrate (p < 104). Predictive multilinear regression (MLR) analysis for macrofaunal marine crustaceans showed P/B to depend significantly on mean annual temperature (T) and mean individual weight (W) (R2 = 0.367). Adding the variable swimming capacity increased goodness-of-fit to R2 = 0.528. The higher P/B of suprabenthic (= swimming) macrofauna in comparison with that of the benthic compartment seems to be related to the most apparent feature of the suprabenthos, its swimming capacity. The high P/Bs reported for suprabenthic species indicate how a nontrivial part of benthic production can be ignored if suprabenthos is not well sampled, therefore biasing the models of energy flow generated for trophic webs.
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Hsiao, Po-Yuan, Teruhisa Shimada, Kuo-Wei Lan, Ming-An Lee, and Cheng-Hsin Liao. "Assessing Summertime Primary Production Required in Changed Marine Environments in Upwelling Ecosystems Around the Taiwan Bank." Remote Sensing 13, no. 4 (February 19, 2021): 765. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/rs13040765.
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The Taiwan Bank (TB) is located in the southern Taiwan Strait, where the marine environments are affected by South China Sea Warm Current and Kuroshio Branch Current in summer. The bottom water flows upward along the edge of the continental shelf, forming an upwelling region that is an essential high-productivity fishing ground. Using trophic dynamic theory, fishery resources can be converted into primary production required (PPR) by primary production, which indicates the environmental tolerance of marine ecosystems. This study calculated the PPR of benthic and pelagic species, sea surface temperature (SST), upwelling size, and net primary production (NPP) to analyze fishery resource structure and the spatial distribution of PPR in upwelling, non-upwelling, and thermal front (frontal) areas of the TB in summer. Pelagic species, predominated by those in the Scombridae, Carangidae families and Trachurus japonicus, accounted for 77% of PPR (67% of the total catch). The benthic species were dominated by Mene maculata and members of the Loliginidae family. The upwelling intensity was the strongest in June and weakest in August. Generalized additive models revealed that the benthic species PPR in frontal habitats had the highest deviance explained (28.5%). Moreover, frontal habitats were influenced by NPP, which was also the main factor affecting the PPR of benthic species in all three habitats. Pelagic species were affected by high NPP, as well as low SST and negative values of the multivariate El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) index in upwelling habitats (16.9%) and non-upwelling habitats (11.5%). The composition of pelagic species varied by habitat; this variation can be ascribed to impacts from the ENSO. No significant differences were noted in benthic species composition. Overall, pelagic species resources are susceptible to climate change, whereas benthic species are mostly insensitive to climatic factors and are more affected by NPP.
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Cui, Xiaohui, Shoujun Li, Hua Xu, Zhuo Zhang, Xiuli Zhao, Zongjun Gao, Ning Wei, and Xiangyu Zhang. "Late Quaternary Paleoenvironmental Reconstruction, Using Benthic Foraminifera and Ostracoda, of Marine Sedimentary Beds On the Southern Coast of Laizhou Bay, Bohai Sea, China." Journal of Foraminiferal Research 48, no. 2 (April 20, 2018): 87–99. http://dx.doi.org/10.2113/gsjfr.48.2.87.
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Abstract Extensive studies of Quaternary transgressions have been conducted in Bohai Sea, but debates continue regarding the sedimentary evolution and timing of transgressions, especially in the Pleistocene section. Benthic foraminifers and ostracodes from three boreholes (GK138, GK111, GK95) at Laizhou Bay, Bohai Sea, were utilized to interpret the paleoenvironments of deposition and elucidate the coastal response to global sea-level changes since the late Quaternary. Benthic foraminiferal species identified included 32 species from 15 genera; ostracodes included 28 species from 16 genera. Three marine sedimentary beds were recognized based on sedimentary characteristics, down-core changes in environmental proxies (benthic foraminifers and ostracodes), accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) 14C, and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dates. These three beds were interpreted as: marine sedimentary bed 3 (M3), deposited in the late-middle Pleistocene; marine sedimentary bed 2 (M2), deposited during the late Pleistocene; and marine sedimentary bed 1 (M1), deposited during the Holocene. Three microfossil assemblages were identified, all indicating nearshore conditions. Assemblage III indicated a fluvially influenced or paralic environment during a relatively small-scale late-middle Pleistocene transgression that produced bed M3. Assemblage II indicates an intertidal-subtidal environment where bed M2 was deposited during the late Pleistocene transgression. Assemblage I indicates somewhat more marine influence in a subtidal environment where bed M1 was deposited during the Holocene marine transgression.
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Aji, Ludi Parwadani, Diede Louise Maas, Agustin Capriati, Awaludinnoer Ahmad, Christiaan de Leeuw, and Leontine Elisabeth Becking. "Shifts in dominance of benthic communities along a gradient of water temperature and turbidity in tropical coastal ecosystems." PeerJ 12 (April 22, 2024): e17132. http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.17132.
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Tropical coastal benthic communities will change in species composition and relative dominance due to global (e.g., increasing water temperature) and local (e.g., increasing terrestrial influence due to land-based activity) stressors. This study aimed to gain insight into possible trajectories of coastal benthic assemblages in Raja Ampat, Indonesia, by studying coral reefs at varying distances from human activities and marine lakes with high turbidity in three temperature categories (<31 °C, 31–32 °C, and >32 °C). The benthic community diversity and relative coverage of major benthic groups were quantified via replicate photo transects. The composition of benthic assemblages varied significantly among the reef and marine lake habitats. The marine lakes <31 °C contained hard coral, crustose coralline algae (CCA), and turf algae with coverages similar to those found in the coral reefs (17.4–18.8% hard coral, 3.5–26.3% CCA, and 15–15.5% turf algae, respectively), while the higher temperature marine lakes (31–32 °C and >32 °C) did not harbor hard coral or CCA. Benthic composition in the reefs was significantly influenced by geographic distance among sites but not by human activity or depth. Benthic composition in the marine lakes appeared to be structured by temperature, salinity, and degree of connection to the adjacent sea. Our results suggest that beyond a certain temperature (>31 °C), benthic communities shift away from coral dominance, but new outcomes of assemblages can be highly distinct, with a possible varied dominance of macroalgae, benthic cyanobacterial mats, or filter feeders such as bivalves and tubeworms. This study illustrates the possible use of marine lake model systems to gain insight into shifts in the benthic community structure of tropical coastal ecosystems if hard corals are no longer dominant.
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An, Nguyen Van, Tran Thi An, Nguyen Hao Quang, Ha Nam Thang, and Le Van Thap. "Benthic Habitat Mapping and Bathymetry Retrieval in The Shallow Water of Cham Island, Vietnam." IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science 1278, no. 1 (December 1, 2023): 012038. http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/1278/1/012038.
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Abstract Coral reef ecosystems are under enormous pressure from human use and global climate change, particularly in the nearshore region. Cu Lao Cham Island and its surrounding water is a highly biodiverse marine area, it is home to 290 coral species together 370 species of underwater plant life, and nearly 280 reef fish species. Human activities like indiscriminate fishery and excessive tourism activities have had a great impact on these coral reefs. Thereby breaking the structure of marine ecosystems, leading to a decline in the number and types of aquatic and marine products. Therefore, high spatial resolution benthic habitat information is essential for coral reef protection and management in Cham Island. Planet Scope (PS) with very high spatial resolution (3 m) and temporal resolution (almost daily) can provide an ideal system for benthic habitat and seagrass mapping. In our study, several algorithms were applied with PS to provide bathymetry estimation, bottom reflectance retrieval, and per-pixel classification algorithms (Vector Machine – SVM, and Random Forest – RF) to identify different benthic compositions in the shallow water of Cham Island. The field measurements were used to validate classification results. Our results illustrate the benefit of using the bottom reflectance to discriminate the benthic features, with overall accuracy of 90.95% with SVM, and 90.55% with RF.
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SEN, AREEN, RATUL SAHA, KUPPUSWAMY SIVAKUMAR, and PUNYASLOKE BHADURY. "Inventorizing the modern benthic foraminiferal assemblage from marginal marine environments across the North West coast of Bay of Bengal." Zootaxa 4441, no. 2 (June 27, 2018): 245. http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4441.2.3.
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Modern benthic foraminiferal assemblages are instrumental in providing information regarding changes in relative sea level as well as prevailing environmental conditions in marine environments. Marginal marine environments are coastal environments that are in most cases characterized by high influx of terrestrially originated nutrients. Inventorizing of modern benthic foraminiferal assemblages from such habitats can act as biotic indicators of water quality variations along with any changes in relative sea level. The present study documents the modern benthic foraminiferal assemblage from three major marginal marine habitats located along the North West coast of Bay of Bengal, in the Indian Ocean. Sediment samples for the purpose were thus collected from the Indian Sundarbans Delta, Chilika lagoon and the Gautami Godavari estuarine zone which encompasses the Kakinada bay. A total of 32 species of benthic foraminifera were documented during the study. The present observations were compared with previous reports of benthic foraminiferal diversity from these habitats and exhibited variability.
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Cheung, Richard Ching Wa, Moriaki Yasuhara, Hokuto Iwatani, Chih-Lin Wei, and Yun-wei Dong. "Benthic community history in the Changjiang (Yangtze River) mega-delta: Damming, urbanization, and environmental control." Paleobiology 45, no. 3 (July 22, 2019): 469–83. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/pab.2019.21.
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AbstractThe coastal environment of the Changjiang delta has been influenced by recent anthropogenic activities such as dam construction and increased sewage and fertilizer inputs. Previous work examined the compositional shift of marine plankton to assess ecological impacts of these activities on marine ecosystems in the Changjiang discharge area. Here we used benthic marine ostracodes collected in the Changjiang estuary and the adjacent East China Sea in the 1980s and the 2010s, respectively, to investigate temporal changes of the benthic community and controlling factors for the benthic fauna. Our results revealed more shoreward distribution of some well-known offshore ostracode species in the 2010s compared with the 1980s and a relatively more important role for environmental processes (e.g., bottom-water temperature, bottom-water salinity, and eutrophic conditions of surface water) than spatial processes (e.g., the flow of ocean currents) in structuring ostracode compositions. The temporal changes in the ostracode community are likely attributable to the combined effects of reduced fresh water and sediment discharge and eutrophic conditions of the Changjiang due to the many dams constructed along the Changjiang and population expansion in the Changjiang Basin. Results of redundancy analysis and variation partitioning suggest that ocean currents facilitated environmental filtering of ostracode species such that they could disperse to preferred environmental conditions. These findings highlight the potential uses of marine microfossils to better understand ecological impacts on benthic ecosystems in vulnerable Asian mega-deltas and provide insights into the integration of metacommunity concepts in disentangling dynamics of marine benthic communities.
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De los Ríos, P., and E. Carreño. "Spatial distribution in marine invertebrates in rocky shore of Araucania Region (38° S, Chile)." Brazilian Journal of Biology 80, no. 2 (June 2020): 362–67. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/1519-6984.208863.
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Abstract The rocky shores in Chile have a wide invertebrate species diversity, that include species with marked abundances in determined regions. The aim of the present study is to analyse the spatial distribution pattern in different marine invertebrate species in rocky shore of Araucania region, considering if these species have random, uniform or associated patterns, and extrapolate if these patterns have Poisson, binomial or negative binomial distribution respectively. The results revealed the presence mainly of gastropods molluscs that would graze on benthic algae, these species have mainly aggregated pattern that has a robust negative binomial distribution pattern. The obtained results agree with observations for marine benthic fauna that mentioned the presence of aggregated pattern, has negative binomial distribution. Other ecological topics about spatial distribution were discussed.
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Riaux-Gobin, Catherine. "The diatom genus Cocconeis from an intertidal mud flat of North Brittany: source and diversity." Canadian Journal of Botany 69, no. 3 (March 1, 1991): 597–601. http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/b91-081.
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A 1 -year survey of an epipelic diatom assemblage from a North Brittany marine mud flat revealed the presence of 23 species of Cocconeis. About 10 of these species were common, and the remaining ones were rare. These species of Cocconeis for the most part have small dimensions (nannophytobenthos). The species collected from the intertidal sediment, the specific richness, and seasonal occurrences are compared with those of an epiphytic assemblage on Zostera marina L. from the same region. Key words: benthic diatoms, Cocconeis, North Brittany, mud flat.
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Wulff, Angela, Katharina Zacher, Dieter Hanelt, Adil Al-Handal, and Christian Wiencke. "UV radiation - a threat to Antarctic benthic marine diatoms?" Antarctic Science 20, no. 1 (October 12, 2007): 13–20. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0954102007000739.
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AbstractThis investigation was motivated by the lack of ultraviolet radiation (UVR, 280–400 nm) studies on Antarctic benthic marine microalgae. The objective was to estimate the impact of UV-B (280–315 nm) and UV-A (315–400 nm), on photosynthetic efficiency, species composition, cell density and specific growth rate in a semi-natural soft-bottom diatom community. In both experiments, cell density increased over time. The most frequently observed species were Navicula cancellata, Cylindrotheca closterium, Nitzschia spp., and Petroneis plagiostoma. For both experiments, a shift in species composition and a decreased photosystem II (PSII) maximum efficiency (Fv/Fm) over time was observed, irrespective of treatment. UVR significantly reduced Fv/Fm on days 3 and 10 (Expt 1), disappearing on the last sampling date. A similar trend was found in Expt 2. A significant UV effect on cell density was observed in Expt 1 (day 10) but not in Expt 2. No treatment effects on species composition or specific growth rate were found. Thus, the UV effects were transient (photosynthetic efficiency and cell density) and the growth of the benthic diatoms was generally unaffected. Overall, according to our results, UVR does not seem to be a threat to benthic marine Antarctic diatoms.
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Gaudin, François, Nicolas Desroy, Stanislas F. Dubois, Caroline Broudin, Louis Cabioch, Jérôme Fournier, Franck Gentil, et al. "Marine sublittoral benthos fails to track temperature in response to climate change in a biogeographical transition zone." ICES Journal of Marine Science 75, no. 6 (August 23, 2018): 1894–907. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsy095.
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Abstract Species ranges are shifting globally to track temperature changes in response to climate warming, with substantial variability among taxa. In the English Channel, a biogeographical transition zone between the cold temperate and warm temperate provinces of the North-East Atlantic, distribution shifts have been relatively well documented for plankton, fish and intertidal benthic organisms, but little information is available on sublittoral benthos. Following a description of the magnitude of the sea bottom temperature (SBT) rise, the changes in the distribution and occupancy of 65 benthic invertebrate species were analysed by comparing data collected throughout the English Channel at more than 200 stations sampled during a cool period in the 1960s–1970s and at present in 2012–2014. A non-uniform rise in SBT for the last three decades was observed at the regional scale, varying from 0.07 to 0.54°C per decade. This rise differs from that reported for sea surface temperature (SST) in stratified areas suggesting that SBT should be used rather than SST to analyse responses of subtidal organisms to climate change. Despite shifts in both minimum and maximum sea bottom isotherms (2.5 and 3.2 km.year−1, respectively), the distribution centroid shift of most species remained <1.0 km.year−1, regardless of the average temperatures they usually experience. Conversely, decreases were observed in the occurrence of most cold-water species and increases were found in the occurrence of most warm-water species. These results suggest that ongoing climate change could lead to a decrease in benthic biodiversity at range limits, especially where connection routes are lacking for new migrants.
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Amado Filho, Gilberto M., Paulo A. Horta, Poliana S. Brasileiro, Maria B. Barros-Barreto, and Mutue T. Fujii. "Subtidal benthic marine algae of the Marine State Park of Laje de Santos (São Paulo, Brazil)." Brazilian Journal of Oceanography 54, no. 4 (December 2006): 225–34. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/s1679-87592006000300006.
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Laje de Santos Marine State Park has been pointed out as a site of high marine diversity. In spite of its importance to conservation of marine biota no results of investigations about its marine biodiversity have been published. The aim of this work was to characterize the subtidal seaweed flora of this Marine Park. Samplings were performed by scuba diving: a qualitative one that included the subtidal zone down to 26 m depth and other quantitative at two pre-determined depths, 10 and 20 m. Among the 129 taxa identified, 5 species were identified for the first time for the São Paulo State, 3 for the Brazilian coast and 1 for the South Atlantic Ocean. The most abundant algae were Sargassum vulgare and turf composed by geniculate coralline and filamentous groups. The frequency of occurrence of taxa revealed that most of species are restricted to frequencies less than 20 % in all samples. The analyses of the subtidal marine benthic algal flora indicate the Marine State Park of Laje de Santos as a site of elevated species richness and that its floristic composition is related to a benthic community structure dominated by turf-forming groups and population of S. vulgare.
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Tavares, Marcos Domingos Siqueira, Leina Carvalho, and Joel Braga de Mendonça Jr. "Towards a review of the decapod crustacea from the remote oceanic archipelago of Trindade and Martin Vaz, south Atlantic Ocean: new records and notes on ecology and zoogeography." Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia (São Paulo) 57, no. 14 (March 16, 2017): 157. http://dx.doi.org/10.11606/0031-1049.2017.57.14.
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The remoteness of the Trindade and Martin Vaz young volcanic archipelago (TMV) raises questions about the source of its marine benthic fauna and levels of endemism. Addressing these questions requires a comprehensive knowledge of the taxonomic composition of the marine fauna of the islands. A five-year survey in the shallow marine waters (up to 30 m) and a literature review on the data published for TMV have been conducted to document the biodiversity of the benthic fauna. Here we report on ten new records of decapod crustaceans from TMV: Gnathophyllum americanum and Thor amboinensis are circumtropical in distribution, whereas Stenopus hispidus, Gnathophylloides mineri and Parribacus antarcticus are disjunct circumtropical species as their distribution in the Atlantic Ocean is limited eastwardly to TMV or Ascension Island (S. hispidus), therefore, do not extending into the eastern Atlantic. Gnathophyllum circellum and Thor manningi are western Atlantic species, with G. circellum previously known only from the Caribbean Sea. Pontonia manningi, Tuleariocaris neglecta and Enoplometopus antillensis are amphi-Atlantic in distribution. Two of the above species are recorded from the southwestern Atlantic for the first time: Gnathophyllum circellum and Tuleariocaris neglecta. These new records corroborate that the marine benthic invertebrate fauna of the TMV archipelago is actually a mosaic of amphi-Atlantic, eastern Atlantic, central Atlantic (insular), endemic and circumtropical species, with a strong western Atlantic component.
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Ringvold, Halldis, John-Arvid Grytnes, and Gro I. van der Meeren. "Diver-operated suction sampling in Norwegian cobble grounds: technique and associated fauna." Crustaceana 88, no. 2 (2015): 184–202. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/15685403-00003406.
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Marine cobble habitats in shallow waters are rich in faunal assemblages and known settling grounds for valuable fishery resources such as lobsters and crabs. Sampling these grounds is challenging as traditional techniques do not efficiently collect fast-moving benthic invertebrates. Typically, fast moving crustaceans are not sampled according to actual densities. This study used airlift suction sampling, pioneered in North America, to quantify benthic faunal assemblages in cobble grounds across 68 sampling locations in south-western Norway. In total, 72 species of benthic invertebrates (5276 individual specimens) were identified, with an overall sampling efficiency of 76.4%. Polychaeta and decapod crustaceans dominated the samples, with species diversity (Shannon Index, ) highest in Location 3. Cluster and Ordination analyses were further used to relate assemblages to a number of selected variables. Overall, the study highlights that suction sampling provides a low-cost and efficient method for quantifying mobile benthic fauna in structurally complex marine habitats (i.e., cobble).
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FAROUK, SHERIF, and SREEPAT JAIN. "Benthic foraminiferal response to relative sea-level changes in the Maastrichtian–Danian succession at the Dakhla Oasis, Western Desert, Egypt." Geological Magazine 155, no. 3 (December 13, 2016): 729–46. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0016756816001023.
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AbstractThe Maastrichtian–Danian benthic foraminiferal diversity and assemblages through sequence stratigraphy were studied at Dakhla Oasis, Egypt. Benthic foraminifera numbers (BFN), high-flux species and characteristic benthic foraminiferal species and genera distribution are also incorporated to assess palaeobathymetry, palaeoenvironment and palaeoproductivity. All these proxies are then taken together to construct a sea-level curve and interpreted in terms of regional tectonics, climate and eustasy. Data suggest a remarkably highly equitable benthic environment deposited in a brackish littoral and/or marsh setting with moderate (?) to low oxygen conditions and reduced salinity (oligotrophic), possibly due to increased precipitation and terrestrial runoff. The interrupted dominance of calcareous forms and high-organic-flux species suggests occasional marine incursions and high palaeoproductivity, due to local upwelling. The inferred sea-level curve replicates the global eustatic curve and suggests that the curve is more influenced by the prevailing climate and global eustasy rather than by regional tectonics. The post-Cretaceous–Palaeogene boundary displays improvement in the environment in terms of diversity and number of species and specimens, with a marked reduction in the abundance of high-organic-flux species during early Paleocene (Danian) time, indicating a shift from a more mesotrophic open marine environment to much reduced oligotrophic conditions.
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Keating-Bitonti, Caitlin R., and Jonathan L. Payne. "Environmental influence on growth history in marine benthic foraminifera." Paleobiology 44, no. 4 (September 18, 2018): 736–57. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/pab.2018.19.
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AbstractEnergy availability influences natural selection on the ontogenetic histories of organisms. However, it remains unclear whether physiological controls on size remain constant throughout ontogeny or instead shift as organisms grow larger. Benthic foraminifera provide an opportunity to quantify and interpret the physicochemical controls on both initial (proloculus) and adult volumes across broad environmental gradients using first principles of cell physiology. Here, we measured proloculus and adult test dimensions of 129 modern rotaliid species from published images of holotype specimens, using holotype size to represent the maximum size of all species’ occurrences across the North American continental margin. We merged size data with mean annual temperature, dissolved oxygen concentration, particulate organic carbon flux, and seawater calcite saturation for 718 unique localities to quantify the relationship between physicochemical variables and among-species adult/proloculus size ratios. We find that correlation of community mean adult/proloculus size ratios with environmental parameters reflects covariation of adult test volume with environmental conditions. Among-species proloculus sizes do not covary identifiably with environmental conditions, consistent with the expectation that environmental constraints on organism size impose stronger selective pressures on adult forms due to lower surface area-to-volume ratios at larger sizes. Among-species adult/proloculus size ratios of foraminifera occurring in resource-limited environments are constrained by the limiting resource in addition to temperature. Identified limiting resources are food in oligotrophic waters and oxygen in oxygen minimum zones. Because among-species variations in adult/proloculus size ratios from the North American continental margin are primarily driven by the local environment’s influence on adult sizes, the evolution of foraminiferal sizes over the Phanerozoic may have been strongly influenced by changing oceanographic conditions. Furthermore, lack of correspondence between among-species proloculus sizes and environmental conditions suggests that offspring sizes in foraminifera are rarely limited by physiological constraints and are more susceptible to selection related to other aspects of fitness.
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McClintock, J. B., and D. Karentz. "Mycosporine-like amino acids in 38 species of subtidal marine organisms from McMurdo Sound, Antarctica." Antarctic Science 9, no. 4 (December 1997): 392–98. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0954102097000503.
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Mycosporine-like amino acids (MAAs) that absorb UV radiation (310–360 nm) were investigated in 34 species of benthic marine invertebrates (fourteen sponges, two cnidarians, one nemertean, four molluscs, one bryozoan, two arthropods, eight echinoderms and two tunicates), two species of benthic fish and two species of red algae collected during the spring of 1992 from McMurdo Sound. In addition, MAAs were measured in the ripe ovaries, testes and brooded juveniles of four species of echinoderms. While 90% of the species had MAAs in their tissues, both quantitative and qualitative measurements reflected a general lack of UV protectants among these fauna. Eight MAAs were detected among the species examined, but only four of these (mycosporine-glycine, shinorine, porphyra-334 and palythine) occurred in any appreciable number of the species. Palythinol only occurred in the sponge Isodictya erinacea and asterina-330 and palythene only occurred in the red alga Iridaea cordata. MAAs were detected in the ripe ovaries and testes of the sea urchin Sterechinus neumayeri and the ripe ovaries and brooded young of the sea cucumber Cucumaria ferrari. Low levels and abundances of MAAs may reflect a reduced need for UV protectants in marine organisms inhabiting subtidal (>20 m depth) benthic environments that experience seasonal sea-ice cover. Low concentrations of MAAs may also be a function of diet, since the majority of benthic species present in McMurdo Sound are not herbivorous.
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Klochkova, N. G., T. A. Klochkova, and A. V. Klimova. "MARINE BENTHIC ALGAE FROM COMMANDER ISLANDS (REVISION 2021). II. RHODOPHYTA." Bulletin оf Kamchatka State Technical University, no. 55 (2021): 41–72. http://dx.doi.org/10.17217/2079-0333-2021-55-41-72.
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We present results of revision based on our personal data and reports published from 1889 to 2020 on the red algal species composition from the Commander Islands. The general list includes 150 species. Six species are reported for the first time, including Phymatolithon lamii, Neoabbottiella valentinae, Callophyllis beringensis, Kallymeniopsis verrucosa, Velatocarpus kurilensis, and Mazzaella hemisphaerica. These species are illustrated by photographs of samples collected by us from Bering Island in September 2020. Another 15 red algal species reported from this area by different authors we attributed by us to doubtful and incorrectly identified taxa. The list of valid species is organized similarly to that in our recent paper on flora of the green and brown algae from the Commander Islands [Klochkova et al., 2020]. In the list, we cite papers containing information on species records from this area. For all species, information on their distribution frequency, depth, and some ecological and biological features are provided. It is shown that in contrast to many other regions of the Russian Far East, the Commander Islands are well studied from phycological and floristic aspects. This is due to seasonal and year-round investigations carried out in this region in different time periods, a thorough diving survey on the coastal area and more complete study on microepiphyte species composition, including microscopic red algae.
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ASWANI, SHANKAR, and MATTHEW LAUER. "Benthic mapping using local aerial photo interpretation and resident taxa inventories for designing marine protected areas." Environmental Conservation 33, no. 3 (September 2006): 263–73. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0376892906003183.
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Given the frequent socioeconomic, political and concomitant ecological failures of science-driven marine protected area (MPA) programmes, it is now important to design MPAs by integrating natural and social science research more comprehensively. This study shows how indigenous peoples assisted in the design of MPAs by identifying marine substrates and related resident taxa on aerial photos, information which was then incorporated into a geographical information system (GIS) database, along with dive survey data. Two questions were asked: (1) Is indigenous ecological knowledge accurate enough for mapping the benthos and associated taxa? (2) Is such an approach an appropriate way for assisting in the biological and social design of MPAs in Oceania? Conventional quadrat field dive surveys were used to measure the accuracy of substrate identification by local informants and a visual survey was used to test hypotheses formulated from local knowledge regarding the spatial distribution and relative abundance of non-cryptic species within certain benthic habitats. Equivalence rates between indigenous aerial photo interpretations of dominant benthic substrates and in situ dive surveys were 75–85% for a moderately detailed classification scheme of the benthos, which included nine locally-defined abiotic and biotic benthic classes for the MPA seabed. Similarly, the taxa inventory showed a strong correspondence between the qualitative predictions of local fisherfolk and the quantitative analysis of non-cryptic species distribution, including their relative abundance and geophysical locations. Indigenous people's predictions about the presence or absence of fish in different benthic habitats corresponded 77% and 92% of the time (depending on scoring schema) with in situ visual measurements. These results demonstrate how incorporating local knowledge of benthic heterogeneity, existing biological communities, and particular spatio-temporal events of biological significance into a GIS database can corroborate the production of scientifically reliable base resource maps for designing MPAs in an environmentally and culturally sound fashion. This participatory approach was used to design and then establish MPAs in the Roviana and Vonavona region of the Western Solomon Islands. Under appropriate conditions, interdisciplinary work can complement the design of scientific fishery management and biodiversity conservation prescriptions for coastal Oceania.
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Williamson, Bo, Paul W. Gabrielson, and Margarita Brandt. "First report of any species of the red algal order Nemaliales from mainland Ecuador: Neoizziella asiatica (Liagoraceae, Rhodophyta)." Botanica Marina 65, no. 2 (February 28, 2022): 135–39. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/bot-2021-0092.
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Abstract The benthic marine algae of the mainland coast of Ecuador are poorly known mainly due to a lack of collections. Currently, DNA barcoding is the preferred method to identify species of benthic marine algae worldwide, as morpho-anatomical characters are inadequate to distinguish many species of macroalgae. We used the red algal barcode rbcL-3P to identify specimens collected in January 2020 from Manabí, Ecuador as Neoizziella asiatica. This is the first member of the red algal order Nemaliales to be reported from the mainland coast of Ecuador and extends the distribution of this alga by 1,100 km to the south from Panama.
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TSUDA, ROY T. "Bibliographic Catalogue of the Marine Benthic Algae in the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument (Northwestern Hawaiian Islands)." Phytotaxa 167, no. 1 (May 5, 2014): 35. http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.167.1.2.
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The algal bibliographic catalogue of the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument (PMNM) is based on previously published records for the 10 northwestern islands, atolls and shoals in the Hawaiian Archipelago, and includes, aligned from northwest to southeast, Kure Atoll (90 species), Midway Atoll (123 species), Pearl & Hermes Atoll (74 species), Lisianski Island including Neva Shoals (52 species), Laysan Island (131 species), Maro Reef (79 species), Gardner Pinnacles (75 species), French Frigate Shoals including La Pérouse Pinnacle (173 species), Necker Island (118 species) and Nihoa Island (33 species). The first section (I. Classification) provides a listing of classes, orders, and families of the 148 genera reported from the PMNM. The second section (II. Species-Reference Index) provides an alphabetized listing of the 335 algal species under the four Phyla, i.e., Cyanobacteria (18 species), Rhodophyta (198 species), Ochrophyta (45 species) and Chlorophyta (74 species) with the applicable reference citations for each island, atoll or shoal. Brief notes are provided, when appropriate, for selected species. The third section (III. Island-Reference Index) provides a chronological listing of all published algal references for each respective island, atoll or shoal. The Reference section contains the complete citation for each reference.
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Lipps, Jere H., and Stephen J. Culver. "The Trophic Role of Marine Microorganisms Through Time." Paleontological Society Papers 8 (October 2002): 69–92. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s1089332600001066.
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Microorganisms (prokaryotes and protists) seldom fossilize, but they form much of the trophic structure in marine pelagic and benthic environments, chiefly as primary producers and secondary consumers. The fossil record of unskeletonized groups is meager or non-existent. Skeletonized groups have excellent records but represent a small portion of the total microbial diversity.The evolution of trophic structures and roles of microorganisms can be reconstructed broadly for most of geologic history. When life first evolved, it had a trophic structure. The first microbial fossils appear to be benthic mats; these are abundant in the Precambrian but sparse later; body fossils are very rare. The Archean saw pelagic and benthic prokaryotes and possibly protists later on. Proterozoic trophic structures became increasingly complex as protists entered pelagic environments. Benthic assemblages likewise became complex, as prokaryotes and protists formed mats and stromatolites in many environments. At the end of the eon, animals appeared; microbial primary producers and predation on microorganisms and among animals fueled these assemblages. The fundamental trophic structures that developed then persisted with modification into modern times. Phanerozoic ecosystems became very complex as skeletonized animals and protists evolved. Among the important trophic developments in the Phanerozoic history of microorganisms were the early diversification of phytoplankton and siliceous micro-zooplankton (Cambrian), algal endosymbiosis with benthic metazoans (Cambrian to Recent) and rock-forming foraminifera (late Paleozoic to Recent), the radiation of pelagic skeletal primary producers and micro-zooplankton (mid-Mesozoic), and radiations in the deep sea, reefs, and shallow areas (Mesozoic and Cenozoic). Each evolutionary change increased trophic complexity by adding more species at each level, while episodic mass extinctions decreased species diversity and trophic complexity.Marine trophic structures evolved over immense intervals of geologic time, growing complex and then suffering destruction at major extinction events. The effects of human impact on these structures should be examined, for without them, Earth may change dramatically.
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Balasubramanian, Sathiyapandian, Selvaraj Soniya, Saleem Jameer Ahamed, Mariavincent Michael Babu, Rayappan Anantha Rajan, and Thavasimuthu Citarasu. "Taxonomic List of Macro Benthic Polychaetes of Kanyakumari Coast." UTTAR PRADESH JOURNAL OF ZOOLOGY 44, no. 23 (December 9, 2023): 416–29. http://dx.doi.org/10.56557/upjoz/2023/v44i233802.
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Polychaetes are one of the most important macro-invertebrate species found in marine benthic habitats. India is foremost in terms of polychaete fauna biodiversity, followed by the Kanyakumari coast. According to the whole study's findings, the sandy, rocky and muddy substratum the establishment of benthic polychaete species appears to be most favorable in the Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea area. The distribution of polychaetes along the Kanyakumari coast reveals the diversity of large species identified 27 species in east coast and 31 species in estuaries on the southwest coast. About 58 species of polychaetes belonging to 22 families and 46 genera are known to transpire. An attempt was made to identify the polychaete species found in the study area between 2021 and 2023. The families Eunicidae and Nereidae were found to have higher diversity than Nephtyidae, Spionidae, and Capitellidae. Around 58 distinct polychaete species such as Nereis indica, Capitella capitata, Heteromastus similis, Paraprionospio pinnata, and Malacocerous indica were seemed as prevalent species and plays as pollution indicator as well. These diverse marine invertebrates’ habitats widely in sediments (Capitella capitata, Heteromastus similis, Paraprionospio pinnata) and Malacocerous indica certain were found in both muddy and rocky environments (Nereis indica). It consumes dead matters of marine creatures as primary feed and this distinct five species can be used as indirect pollution monitors of hydrocarbon and heavy metal pollution of harbor sites as well estuaries near by the coconut coir retting area hence found dominantly found in pollution sites further helps to surveying the coastal health moreover can also be used for bio-remediation of organic and inorganic pollutants.
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Tsiamis, Konstantinos, Akira F. Peters, Dawn M. Shewring, Aldo O. Asensi, Pieter Van West, and Frithjof C. Küpper. "Marine benthic algal flora of Ascension Island, South Atlantic." Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 97, no. 4 (August 27, 2014): 681–88. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0025315414000952.
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This paper provides a comprehensive checklist of the marine benthic macroalgal flora of Ascension Island (tropical South Atlantic Ocean), based on both new collections and previous literature. 82 marine macroalgae were identified from our work, including 18 green algae (Ulvophyceae), 15 brown algae (Phaeophyceae) and 49 red algae (Rhodophyta). Among our collections, 38 species and infraspecific taxa are reported for the first time from Ascension Island, including seven green, three brown and 28 red macroalgae, raising the total number of seaweeds recorded in Ascension so far to 112 taxa in species and infraspecific level. No seagrasses have been recorded at Ascension Island.
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Lustosa Gomes de Campos, Ana Carolina, Marcos Bastos Pereira, Alexandre Macedo Fernandes, and Mônica Dias Correa da Silva. "Assessment of the environmental sustainability of cobia fish farm (Rachycentron Canadum) in the bay of Ilha Grande - Brazil and the relationship with benthic macrofauna." Journal of Aquaculture and Marine Biology 11, no. 1 (March 14, 2022): 1–7. http://dx.doi.org/10.15406/jamb.2022.11.00329.
Full textAbstract:
Studies on the sustainability of aquaculture have been carried out around the world. The input of organic matter in the sediment and the influence of current velocity on the deposition of particles produced by fish in captivity can be used to assess the distribution of benthic assemblages below marine farms. Sediment and benthic organisms were collected in April, September and December 2019 and in August and October 2020 in the fish farming area and in two control areas in the Bananal cove in Ilha Grande Bay. The measurement of the speed of local currents was carried out below the net-tank, in periods of 24 days in of April and July 2019. The heterogeneity of the biological data was evident between the collection points, indicating that several factors can influence the distribution of benthic macrofauna. There was no correlation between the values of organic matter and species richness and for organic matter and species diversity. The values of the Marine Biotic Index (AMBI) for the three collection stations were smaller than 1 (one), that is, there was a predominance of species sensitive to pollution and organic enrichment. The marine farm and the control areas were considered an unpolluted environment. The results also indicated that the local currents presented insufficient intensities to disperse the organic matter produced in the marine farm to the control areas.
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Vaquer-Sunyer, Raquel, and Carlos M. Duarte. "Thresholds of hypoxia for marine biodiversity." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 105, no. 40 (September 29, 2008): 15452–57. http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0803833105.
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Hypoxia is a mounting problem affecting the world's coastal waters, with severe consequences for marine life, including death and catastrophic changes. Hypoxia is forecast to increase owing to the combined effects of the continued spread of coastal eutrophication and global warming. A broad comparative analysis across a range of contrasting marine benthic organisms showed that hypoxia thresholds vary greatly across marine benthic organisms and that the conventional definition of 2 mg O2/liter to designate waters as hypoxic is below the empirical sublethal and lethal O2 thresholds for half of the species tested. These results imply that the number and area of coastal ecosystems affected by hypoxia and the future extent of hypoxia impacts on marine life have been generally underestimated.
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Mohamed, Hassan, Kazuo Nadaoka, and Takashi Nakamura. "Semiautomated Mapping of Benthic Habitats and Seagrass Species Using a Convolutional Neural Network Framework in Shallow Water Environments." Remote Sensing 12, no. 23 (December 7, 2020): 4002. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/rs12234002.
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Benthic habitats are structurally complex and ecologically diverse ecosystems that are severely vulnerable to human stressors. Consequently, marine habitats must be mapped and monitored to provide the information necessary to understand ecological processes and lead management actions. In this study, we propose a semiautomated framework for the detection and mapping of benthic habitats and seagrass species using convolutional neural networks (CNNs). Benthic habitat field data from a geo-located towed camera and high-resolution satellite images were integrated to evaluate the proposed framework. Features extracted from pre-trained CNNs and a “bagging of features” (BOF) algorithm was used for benthic habitat and seagrass species detection. Furthermore, the resultant correctly detected images were used as ground truth samples for training and validating CNNs with simple architectures. These CNNs were evaluated for their accuracy in benthic habitat and seagrass species mapping using high-resolution satellite images. Two study areas, Shiraho and Fukido (located on Ishigaki Island, Japan), were used to evaluate the proposed model because seven benthic habitats were classified in the Shiraho area and four seagrass species were mapped in Fukido cove. Analysis showed that the overall accuracy of benthic habitat detection in Shiraho and seagrass species detection in Fukido was 91.5% (7 classes) and 90.4% (4 species), respectively, while the overall accuracy of benthic habitat and seagrass mapping in Shiraho and Fukido was 89.9% and 91.2%, respectively.
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Rostami, Masoud A., Fabrizio Frontalini, R. Mark Leckie, Rodolfo Coccioni, Eric Font, and Behnaz Balmaki. "Benthic Foraminifera Across the Cretaceous/Paleogene Boundary in the Eastern Tethys (Northern Alborz, Galanderud Section): Extinction Pattern and Paleoenvironmental Reconstruction." Journal of Foraminiferal Research 50, no. 1 (January 1, 2020): 25–40. http://dx.doi.org/10.2113/gsjfr.50.1.25.
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Abstract Extinction patterns, paleobathymetric inferences, and paleoenvironmental changes based on benthic foraminifera were investigated across the Cretaceous/Paleogene (K/Pg) boundary at the Galanderud section (Northern Alborz, Iran), which contains one of the most continuous and expanded K/Pg transitions in the eastern Tethys. On the basis of benthic foraminiferal taxa abundance and distribution, an outer neritic to uppermost bathyal paleo-depositional setting is inferred. In addition, benthic foraminiferal assemblages and planktic/benthic ratios do not indicate any major change in relative sea level during latest Maastrichtian-early Danian time. Changes in benthic foraminiferal assemblages, morphotypes, diversity, heterogeneity, and benthic foraminiferal oxygen index, coupled with statistical analyses, define three intervals. In the first interval (uppermost Maastrichtian Plummerita hantkeninoides Zone), benthic foraminiferal assemblages are moderately to well preserved and highly diverse, with a combination of epibenthic and endobenthic taxa indicating stable, mesotrophic to weakly eutrophic, normal marine conditions. A major change in benthic foraminiferal assemblages at the K/Pg boundary defines a second interval (basal Danian Guembelitria cretacea and lower part of Parvularugoglobigerina eugubina Zones) that is marked by a decrease in the endobenthic morphogroups as well as a decrease in diversity, heterogeneity, genus and species richness. This second interval denotes highly oligotrophic conditions and a collapse in productivity and food availability due to the extinction of some primary producers, with the exception of the three chalk beds representing short-lived blooms of calcareous dinoflagellates. Benthic foraminifera do not show significant extinction at the end of the Cretaceous at this section with only about an 8% loss of species. Additionally, the abundance of some opportunistic species, including Cibicidoides pseudoacutus and Tappanina selmensis, may reflect instability in the benthic foraminiferal assemblages. The third interval (middle-upper part of the Pv. eugubina Zone) is characterized by the dominance of epibenthic morphogroups (up to 70% of the assemblages) with a partial recovery of endobenthic groups. The characteristics of the benthic foraminiferal assemblages indicate that the flux of food to the benthos had not fully recovered during the early Danian.
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Shahin, Abdalla, and Sharif Elbaz. "Foraminiferal biostratigraphy, paleoenvironment and paleobiogeography of Cenomanian–Lower Turonian shallow marine carbonate platform in west central Sinai, Egypt." Micropaleontology 59, no. 2-3 (2013): 249–83. http://dx.doi.org/10.47894/mpal.59.2.12.
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The Cenomanian-Early Turonian succession exposed in west central Sinai was carefully studied for their foraminiferal content. Lithostratigraphically, this carbonate platform interval in the studied area include the Raha Formation (Early-Middle Cenomanian) andAbu Qada Formation (Late Cenomanian–Early Turonian). One hundred and one species belonging to 69 genera and 41 families are identified. Out of this content, 86 species belong to benthic foraminifera, and 16 belong to the planktonic ones. One larger benthic foraminiferal species namely Biconcava ribbata Shahin (n. sp.) is considered here as new species. Four large benthic foraminiferal zones and one planktonic foraminiferal zone are recognized and correlatedwith their equivalents inside and outside Egypt. The successive last and first appearances of most large agglutinated and porcellaneous benthic foraminifera refer to successive bioevents. The Heterohelix shift below the Cenomanian-Turonian boundary is an excellent biomarker for global event correlation for oxygen minimum zone.Also the scarcity or even the disappearance of larger benthic foraminifera in this interval can be interpreted as the final stages of the Late Cenomanian-Early Turonian Oceanic Anoxic Event 2. The wide paleobiogeographic distribution of the recorded larger foraminifera reveals that there was a strong affinity and direct connection all over the Tethyan Realm.
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Culhane, Fiona E., Robert A. Briers, Paul Tett, and Teresa F. Fernandes. "Response of a marine benthic invertebrate community and biotic indices to organic enrichment from sewage disposal." Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 99, no. 8 (October 28, 2019): 1721–34. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0025315419000857.
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AbstractNutrient enrichment is a significant cause of ecosystem change in coastal habitats worldwide. This study focuses on the change in a benthic macroinvertebrate community and environmental quality as assessed through different biotic indices following the construction of a sewage outfall pipe in the west of Scotland, from first implementation to seven years after operation of the pipe. Benthic macroinvertebrates are an important part of marine ecosystems because they mediate ecosystem processes and functions, are a key part of food webs and they provide many ecosystem services. Results indicated a clear change in benthic communities over time with an increase in species richness and changes to benthic community composition (specifically feeding type, bioturbation mode and ecological group) towards those indicative of organic enrichment. No clear spatial zonation was observed because organic carbon content increased over the entire area. According to a suite of benthic indices calculated, some negative changes were detectable following the start of sewage disposal, but largely negative community changes, and a change from ‘good’ to ‘moderate’ quality, only occurred seven years after implementation. The increase in species richness in response to increasing disturbance reduced the utility of a multi-metric index, the Infaunal Quality Index, which, instead of amplifying the signal of negative impact, dampened it. We suggest that any change in communities, regardless of direction, should be heeded, and species richness is a particularly sensitive and early warning indicator for this, but a suite of approaches is required to understand benthic community changes.
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Al-Handal, Adil Y., Anders Torstensson, and Angela Wulff. "Revisiting Potter Cove, King George Island, Antarctica, 12 years later: new observations of marine benthic diatoms." Botanica Marina 65, no. 2 (February 23, 2022): 81–103. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/bot-2021-0066.
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Abstract Continuous observations of Antarctic benthic diatoms are necessary to detect changes in species composition and biodiversity that may result from environmental changes. The present work provides a systematic list of benthic diatoms from Potter Cove (62.03°S 58.35°W) collected during summer 2015. The new findings are compared with observations made 12 years ago (summer 2003). In total, 80 taxa were found, similar to that encountered earlier, but 17 species (21% of the total species number) were not observed in 2003, and 26 species (31%) of those reported in 2003 did not appear in 2015. The dominant species in 2003 and 2015 was the large epipelic and cosmopolitan Gyrosigma fasciola. Most of the species either newly observed in the present study, or absent in the present study but observed previously, occurred either rarely or very rarely. Gyrosigma arcuatum and Pleurosigma diversestriatum were newly observed in 2015 and not previously reported from polar regions. This study provides systematic and ecological information on all taxa encountered and is illustrated with light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images. We emphasize that ice-inhabiting and other benthic diatoms should be included when considering the biodiversity of polar diatoms. Thus, we hope that the present study will add a piece to the puzzle of climate change effects on the benthic diatoms in this vulnerable region and will complement earlier published species records in the area.
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Hernández-Arana, Héctor A., and Brenda Ameneyro-Angeles. "Benthic biodiversity changes due to the opening of an artificial channel in a tropical coastal lagoon (Mexican Caribbean)." Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 91, no. 5 (December 23, 2010): 969–78. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0025315410002043.
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The construction of an artificial channel to a small embayment in the Chetumal Bay coastal lagoon complex, located on the Caribbean coast of Mexico, provided an opportunity to evaluate how large environmental changes influenced the structure of a low diversity benthic system. The objective of this study was to demonstrate that despite the absence of previous baseline information, the artificial channel has induced measurable changes in the biodiversity patterns of a hard substrata benthic community. The experimental design took into account the environmental setting influencing local benthic community structure and the sources of variability as a result of different substrate types and water depth. Four localities with ten replicates each were surveyed, and the presence/absence of macrobenthic biota species recorded during the rainy season. Our analysis using permutational multivariate analysis of variance indicated a significant increase in species richness in locations adjacent to the artificial channel. The highest species richness (66 species) was observed in the immediate area adjacent to the artificial channel and where exclusive species density was three to six times (18 exclusive species) than those present in other localities (6, 5 and 3 species) away from the channel. The presence of six species of hard corals indicated that the artificial channel offers a more suitable habitat for marine organisms colonizing the area than the natural channel. This study indicates the relative significance of confinement in structuring coastal lagoon benthic assemblages in tropical systems. Our results are similar to other findings underscoring the rate of colonization of marine organisms as a relevant process to explain benthic assemblage gradients and the importance of spatial–temporal interactions. The changes in species diversity caused by the artificial channel were clearly identified based on a sampling design that incorporated the main sources of environmental variability (distance to channels, substrate type and depth). Our study further demonstrates that changes in benthic community structure in the Chetumal Bay lagoon complex, as a result of human impacts, can be assessed even when community structure data before impact are absent.