On the Vertical Distribution of the Metazoan Meiofauna in Shelf Break and Upper Slope Habitats of the NE Atlantic

✍ Scribed by Ann Vanreusel; Magda Vincx; Danielle Schram; Dirk van Gansbeke

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1995
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 771 KB
• Volume: 80
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1434-2944
• DOI: 10.1002/iroh.19950800218

✦ Synopsis

The metazoan meiofauna of nine stations in shelf break and upper slope areas (70 to 1500 m water depth) of the N.E. Atlantic were investigated in order to assess which environmental factors are important in the control of densities and sediment profiles. Total meiofaunal densities (ranging between 368 and 1523 ind/lO cm*) were correlated with bacterial densities. an important food source for meiofauna. However, considering sediment vertical distribution profiles, the relative importance of both food and oxygen on the meiofauna became obvious. A combination of both bacterial densities and oxygen supply could explain about 95 % of the variability in the vertical profiles of the meiofauna densities. Meiofauna numbers increase in proportion to food availability in the surface sediment layers, but this relationship breaks down in deeper sediment layers where the oxygen supply is often limiting, particularly in fine sediments.