A deep-sea project documenting species diversity of abyssal plains to increase understanding of the historical causes and ecological factors regulating biodiversity and global change.
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Pedro
Martinez Arbizu |
Craig
Smith |
Project Leaders:
Dr. Pedro Martinez Arbizu, Deutsches Zentrum fur Marine, Biodiversitatsforschung
Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg, Germany
Dr. Craig Smith, Department of Oceanography, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
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| German icebreaker POLARSTERN at the shelf ice edge in the Southern Ocean. Photo by Brigitte Hilbig. |
Census of Diversity of Abyssal Marine Life (CeDAMar) is one of seven initial field projects of the Census of Marine Life (CoML). The goal of this project is to document actual species diversity of abyssal plans as a basis for global change research and for a better understanding of historical causes and actual ecological factors regulating biodiversity. To achieve this, CeDAMar will collect reliable data on the large-scale distribution of one of the largest and most inaccessible environments
on our planet.
THE DEEP UNKNOWN
The deep sea harbors vast numbers of
species, most of which are still
unknown. Global estimates of marine
species vary between 500,000 and 10
million. Since there is no inventory of
the fauna of even a single ocean basin,
extrapolation of total species numbers
of the global abyssal fauna is impossible
or at best very speculative. The
program will focus on benthic, epibenthic
and hyperbenthic organisms
because of their high species-richness.
The study of the deep sea offers a
number of advantages. Environmental
factors appear to be more homogenous
in the deep sea than in many other
environments and are easier to measure
due to the relative uniformity of
large areas. Anthropogenic effects are
reduced, and communities are for the
most part found in their natural state.
Geological information on kinds and
age of the sediments in the deep sea is
available from past and ongoing projects.
SCIENTIFIC OBJECTIVES
CeDAMar will develop standardized
protocols for surveying marine organisms
in abyssal marine sediments,
including reliable collecting devices in
order to avoid damage to fragile deepsea
animals. The standard protocols
will enable results from different ocean
basins will be comparable today as
well as in the future. CeDAMar will
also contribute to the development and
testing of new, more efficient collecting
techniques.
Samples will be collected along
approximately 1000 km long transects.
To exclude small-scale variations
which could influence biodiversity
estimations, larger areas will be
sampled with an epibenthic sledge and
repeated box corer (or new devices
with the same function) and multicorer
hauls. Underwater cameras will document
the morphology of the ocean bed,
the effects of bioturbation and the
abundance of microfauna. The collected
material will be analyzed with modern
systematic methods.
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| The ventral side of a starfish, Asteroide, collected in the Southern Ocean with its gut full of sediment which shines through the body wall, giving it its bluish color. Photo by Brigitte Hilbig. |
CeDAMar will describe in detail the
species found during its expeditions
and write keys in order to ensure reliable
identification of specimens collected
during subsequent expeditions or
other teams. It is intended to describe the change in species composition
along transects and to compare different
ocean regions to learn more about
the composition of local communities,
large-scale distribution of a single
species, the influence of sediment
parameters and primary production
on the diversity of benthic communities.
Species data will also be related to
the history and age of the basins, present
and hypothesized past bottom currents,
and paleoclimatic data.
Taxonomists will study the distribution
of their groups to explain the geographic
and phylogenetic origin of
deep-sea species. A synthesis of all
data will help to better understand the
history of deep-sea fauna, its present
diversity and dependence on environmental
parameters, such as the effects
of currents, seamounts, trenches, geographic
isolation and other ecological
factors. Centers of high biodiversity
will be identified, which will be useful
for planning both commercial and conservation
efforts. Finally, CeDAMar's
estimation of the number of species
living in the deep sea will contribute to
the estimation of global species diversity.
SCIENTIFIC OBJECTIVES
Climatic change will reach the deep sea
considerably later than other marine
environments, but the effects of bottom
temperature and the productivity of the
surface waters on the environmentally
sensitive fauna that live there are
expected to be dramatic. CeDAMar will
provide a foundation of knowledge
about faunal composition, seasonal variations,
and the influence of productivity
in the deep sea on which any future
study of the effects of global warming or
human interference will have to rely.
The task of CeDAMar will require an
enormous scientific effort that can only
be successful if all available specialists
join forces in a single coordinated
endeavor.
Visit the Census of Diversity of Abyssal Marine Life web site
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