Environmental Variability and Biodiversity of Megabenthos on the Hebrides Terrace Seamount (Northeast Atlantic)

Authors

Lea-Anne Henry, Heriot-Watt University - Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Johanne Vad, Ecole Normale Superieure de Paris - France
Helen S. Findlay, Plymouth Marine Laboratory - United Kingdom
Javier Murillo, Instituto Espanol de Oceanografia - Vigo, Spain
Rosanna Milligan, University of Glasgow - United KingdomFollow
J. Murray Roberts, Heriot-Watt University - Edinburgh, United Kingdom; Scottish Marine Institute - Argyll, United Kingdom; University of North Carolina - Wilmington

ORCID

0000-0002-8296-4780

ResearcherID

J-3058-2014

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Scientific Reports

ISSN

2045-2322

Publication Date

7-7-2014

Keywords

Biodiversity, Community ecology, Coral reefs, Ocean sciences

Abstract

We present the first remotely operated vehicle investigation of megabenthic communities (1004–1695 m water depth) on the Hebrides Terrace Seamount (Northeast Atlantic). Conductivity-temperature-depth casts showed rapid light attenuation below the summit and an oceanographic regime on the flanks consistent with an internal tide, and high short-term variability in water temperature, salinity, light attenuation, aragonite and oxygen down to 1500 m deep. Minor changes in species composition (3–14%) were explained by changes in depth, substratum and oceanographic stability, whereas environmental variability explained substantially more variation in species richness (40–56%). Two peaks in species richness occurred, the first at 1300–1400 m where cooler Wyville Thomson Overflow Water (WTOW) mixes with subtropical gyre waters and the second at 1500–1600 m where WTOW mixes with subpolar mode waters. Our results suggest that internal tides, substrate heterogeneity and oceanographic interfaces may enhance biological diversity on this and adjacent seamounts in the Rockall Trough.

DOI

10.1038/srep05589

Volume

4

Issue

5589

First Page

1

Last Page

10

Comments

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder in order to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

Additional Comments

National Environment Research Council United Kingdom Ocean Acidification Benthic Consortium project #: NE/H017305/1

NSUWorks Citation

Lea-Anne Henry, Johanne Vad, Helen S. Findlay, Javier Murillo, Rosanna Milligan, and J. Murray Roberts. 2014. Environmental Variability and Biodiversity of Megabenthos on the Hebrides Terrace Seamount (Northeast Atlantic) .Scientific Reports , (5589) : 1 -10. https://nsuworks.nova.edu/occ_facarticles/867.