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Large-scale patterns in biodiversity of microbial eukaryotes from the abyssal sea floor.

ABSTRACT: Eukaryotic microbial life at abyssal depths remains "uncharted territory" in eukaryotic microbiology. No phylogenetic surveys have focused on the largest benthic environment on this planet, the abyssal plains. Moreover, knowledge of the spatial patterns of deep-sea community structure is scanty, and what little is known originates primarily from morphology-based studies of foraminiferans. Here we report on the great phylogenetic diversity of microbial eukaryotic communities of all 3 abyssal plains of the southeastern Atlantic Ocean--the Angola, Cape, and Guinea Abyssal Plains--from depths of 5,000 m. A high percentage of retrieved clones had no close representatives in genetic databases. Many clones were affiliated with parasitic species. Furthermore, differences between the communities of the Cape Abyssal Plain and the other 2 abyssal plains point to environmental gradients apparently shaping community structure at the landscape level. On a regional scale, local species diversity showed much less variation. Our study provides insight into the community composition of microbial eukaryotes on larger scales from the wide abyssal sea floor realm and marks a direction for more detailed future studies aimed at improving our understanding of deep-sea microbes at the community and ecosystem levels, as well as the ecological principles at play.

SUBMITTER: Scheckenbach F

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2806785 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Large-scale patterns in biodiversity of microbial eukaryotes from the abyssal sea floor.

Scheckenbach Frank F Hausmann Klaus K Wylezich Claudia C Weitere Markus M Arndt Hartmut H

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 20091210 1

Eukaryotic microbial life at abyssal depths remains "uncharted territory" in eukaryotic microbiology. No phylogenetic surveys have focused on the largest benthic environment on this planet, the abyssal plains. Moreover, knowledge of the spatial patterns of deep-sea community structure is scanty, and what little is known originates primarily from morphology-based studies of foraminiferans. Here we report on the great phylogenetic diversity of microbial eukaryotic communities of all 3 abyssal plai ...[more]

PMID: 20007768

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Project description:The Mediterranean Sea is a marine biodiversity hot spot. Here we combined an extensive literature analysis with expert opinions to update publicly available estimates of major taxa in this marine ecosystem and to revise and update several species lists. We also assessed overall spatial and temporal patterns of species diversity and identified major changes and threats. Our results listed approximately 17,000 marine species occurring in the Mediterranean Sea. However, our estimates of marine diversity are still incomplete as yet-undescribed species will be added in the future. Diversity for microbes is substantially underestimated, and the deep-sea areas and portions of the southern and eastern region are still poorly known. In addition, the invasion of alien species is a crucial factor that will continue to change the biodiversity of the Mediterranean, mainly in its eastern basin that can spread rapidly northwards and westwards due to the warming of the Mediterranean Sea. Spatial patterns showed a general decrease in biodiversity from northwestern to southeastern regions following a gradient of production, with some exceptions and caution due to gaps in our knowledge of the biota along the southern and eastern rims. Biodiversity was also generally higher in coastal areas and continental shelves, and decreases with depth. Temporal trends indicated that overexploitation and habitat loss have been the main human drivers of historical changes in biodiversity. At present, habitat loss and degradation, followed by fishing impacts, pollution, climate change, eutrophication, and the establishment of alien species are the most important threats and affect the greatest number of taxonomic groups. All these impacts are expected to grow in importance in the future, especially climate change and habitat degradation. The spatial identification of hot spots highlighted the ecological importance of most of the western Mediterranean shelves (and in particular, the Strait of Gibraltar and the adjacent Alboran Sea), western African coast, the Adriatic, and the Aegean Sea, which show high concentrations of endangered, threatened, or vulnerable species. The Levantine Basin, severely impacted by the invasion of species, is endangered as well. This abstract has been translated to other languages (File S1).

Dataset Information

Large-scale patterns in biodiversity of microbial eukaryotes from the abyssal sea floor.

Publications

Large-scale patterns in biodiversity of microbial eukaryotes from the abyssal sea floor.

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