Deep-sea meiofaunal and foraminiferal communities along a gradient of primary productivity in the eastern Mediterranean Sea

Nikolaos Lampadariou; Anastasios Tselepides; Eleni Hatziyanni

doi:10.3989/scimar.2009.73n2337

Autores/as

Nikolaos Lampadariou Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, Inst. of Oceanogr.
Anastasios Tselepides Univ. of Piraeus, Dept. of Maritime Studies
Eleni Hatziyanni Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, Inst. of Oceanogr.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3989/scimar.2009.73n2337

Palabras clave:

meiofauna, foraminíferos, mar profundo, oligotrofia, Mediterráneo oriental

Resumen

Durante la campaña METEOR 40/3 (diciembre 97-enero 98) se estudiaron los metazoos bentónicos y foraminíferos teñidos (>32 μm) en relación a parámetros ambientales persistentes en el mar Egeo (Cuencas de Sporades y mar de Creta) y cuenca Levantina (cuenca de Ierapetra). Las estaciones muestreadas se diferenciaron por el contenido en nutrientes, y fueron indicativas de oligotrofia en el este del Mediterráneo. La abundancia del meibentos disminuyó significativamente con la profundidad; y el total de la población en los primeros 6 cm de sedimento fue significativamente más alto en las estaciones del norte (204-231 ind./10 cm²). En la cuenca abisal de Ierapetra, la abundancia de todos los taxa del meiobentos fue mínima (10-26 ind./10 cm²). Los nemátodos y foraminíferos fueron dominantes y representaron el 79-93% de la abundancia total. Todos los taxa se concentraron cerca de la superficie del sedimento y solamente los nemátodos mostraron una penetración más profunda en la cuenca de Sporades. Las concentraciones de pigmentos cloroplásticos, carbón orgánico total y nitrógeno orgánico total fueron más altas en las cuencas de Sporades y Ierapetra que en el mar de Creta, reflejando: (a) los diferentes niveles de productividad y la mayor disponibilidad de alimento en el primero que en el segundo, (b) la acumulación estacional de materia orgánica desde la zona eufótica hacia los canales abisales y (c) el transporte de grandes cantidades de sedimentos y materia orgánica en las primeras áreas, que se encuentran en la boca de cañones submarinos, a través de los influjos de ríos, arrastre por inundaciones, fallos de sedimentos y cascadas de aguas densas de plataforma. Las abundancias de la meiofauna en el mar Egeo estuvieron positivamente correlacionadas con la clorofila a, los feopigmentos y pigmentos cloroplásticos equivalentes y no estuvieron correlacionados con ningún otro descriptor del sedimento, indicando la dependencia de la meiofauna de la disponibilidad de alimento.

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