Publication Date:
2019-03-21
Description:
The early life-history stages of polar marine invertebrates are
understudied, particularly in deep water. We present the results from a
long-term (1999 – 2017) colonization experiment at the LTER (Long-Term
Ecological Research) observatory HAUSGARTEN in the Fram Strait (Arctic
Ocean, 79⁰ N, 04⁰ E, 2500 m water depth). Recruitment panels were
constructed from plastic and brick and deployed attached to a metal frame
in 1999. The experiment was monitored using an ROV in 2003 and 2011
and recovered in 2017. Recruitment was very low, with only foraminiferans
being visible after 4 years (2003) and one metazoan species, the hydroid
Halisiphonia arctica, being visible on the panels after 12 years (2011).
After 18 years underwater, panels were colonized by 13 metazoan species
as well as calcareous and agglutinating foraminiferans. Recruitment was
higher on brick panels than on plastic, but while some species were more
common on panels at higher altitude (H. arctica and the crinoid
Bathycrinus carpenterii), others were more common on panels closer to the
seafloor (serpulid polychaetes, agglutinating foraminifera) or on panels in
line with the predominant bottom current (small round white sponge). The
most common recruiting species can be described as opportunistic and are
rare or absent in older communities on natural substrata nearby.
Meanwhile, large hexactinellid sponges that are common in natural
communities did not recruit to our panels. These results suggest that
succession in the Arctic deep sea takes decades and involves early
dominance by opportunistic species, with slower-growing, structureforming
species appearing later on.
Repository Name:
EPIC Alfred Wegener Institut
Type:
Article
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isiRev
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