Cargando…

Benthic biogeographic patterns on the deep Brazilian margin

The Brazilian continental margin (BCM) extends from the Tropical to the Subtropical Atlantic Ocean, with much of its seafloor within deep waters, supporting rich geomorphological features and under wide productivity gradients. Deep-sea biogeographic boundaries on the BCM have been limited to studies...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Gaurisas, Daniela Y., Bernardino, Angelo F.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: PeerJ Inc. 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9979832/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36874960
http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.14585
_version_ 1784899798090907648
author Gaurisas, Daniela Y.
Bernardino, Angelo F.
author_facet Gaurisas, Daniela Y.
Bernardino, Angelo F.
author_sort Gaurisas, Daniela Y.
collection PubMed
description The Brazilian continental margin (BCM) extends from the Tropical to the Subtropical Atlantic Ocean, with much of its seafloor within deep waters, supporting rich geomorphological features and under wide productivity gradients. Deep-sea biogeographic boundaries on the BCM have been limited to studies that used water mass and salinity properties of deep-water masses, partly as a result of historical under sampling and a lack of consolidation of available biological and ecological datasets. The aim of this study was to consolidate benthic assemblage datasets and test current oceanographic biogeographical deep-sea boundaries (200–5,000 m) using available faunal distributions. We retrieved over 4,000 benthic data records from open-access databases and used cluster analysis to examine assemblage distributions against the deep-sea biogeographical classification scheme from Watling et al. (2013). Starting from the assumption that vertical and horizontal distribution patterns can vary regionally, we test other schemes incorporating latitudinal and water masses stratification within the Brazilian margin. As expected, the classification scheme based on benthic biodiversity is in overall agreement with the general boundaries proposed by Watling et al. (2013). However, our analysis allowed much refinement in the former boundaries, and here we propose the use of two biogeographic realms, two provinces and seven bathyal ecoregions (200–3,500 m), and three abyssal provinces (>3,500 m) along the BCM. The main driver for these units seems to be latitudinal gradients as well as water mass characteristics such as temperature. Our study provides a significant improvement of benthic biogeographic ranges along the Brazilian continental margin allowing a more detailed recognition of its biodiversity and ecological value, and also supports the needed spatial management for industrial activities occurring in its deep waters.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-9979832
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2023
publisher PeerJ Inc.
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-99798322023-03-03 Benthic biogeographic patterns on the deep Brazilian margin Gaurisas, Daniela Y. Bernardino, Angelo F. PeerJ Biodiversity The Brazilian continental margin (BCM) extends from the Tropical to the Subtropical Atlantic Ocean, with much of its seafloor within deep waters, supporting rich geomorphological features and under wide productivity gradients. Deep-sea biogeographic boundaries on the BCM have been limited to studies that used water mass and salinity properties of deep-water masses, partly as a result of historical under sampling and a lack of consolidation of available biological and ecological datasets. The aim of this study was to consolidate benthic assemblage datasets and test current oceanographic biogeographical deep-sea boundaries (200–5,000 m) using available faunal distributions. We retrieved over 4,000 benthic data records from open-access databases and used cluster analysis to examine assemblage distributions against the deep-sea biogeographical classification scheme from Watling et al. (2013). Starting from the assumption that vertical and horizontal distribution patterns can vary regionally, we test other schemes incorporating latitudinal and water masses stratification within the Brazilian margin. As expected, the classification scheme based on benthic biodiversity is in overall agreement with the general boundaries proposed by Watling et al. (2013). However, our analysis allowed much refinement in the former boundaries, and here we propose the use of two biogeographic realms, two provinces and seven bathyal ecoregions (200–3,500 m), and three abyssal provinces (>3,500 m) along the BCM. The main driver for these units seems to be latitudinal gradients as well as water mass characteristics such as temperature. Our study provides a significant improvement of benthic biogeographic ranges along the Brazilian continental margin allowing a more detailed recognition of its biodiversity and ecological value, and also supports the needed spatial management for industrial activities occurring in its deep waters. PeerJ Inc. 2023-02-27 /pmc/articles/PMC9979832/ /pubmed/36874960 http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.14585 Text en © 2023 Gaurisas and Bernardino https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, reproduction and adaptation in any medium and for any purpose provided that it is properly attributed. For attribution, the original author(s), title, publication source (PeerJ) and either DOI or URL of the article must be cited.
spellingShingle Biodiversity
Gaurisas, Daniela Y.
Bernardino, Angelo F.
Benthic biogeographic patterns on the deep Brazilian margin
title Benthic biogeographic patterns on the deep Brazilian margin
title_full Benthic biogeographic patterns on the deep Brazilian margin
title_fullStr Benthic biogeographic patterns on the deep Brazilian margin
title_full_unstemmed Benthic biogeographic patterns on the deep Brazilian margin
title_short Benthic biogeographic patterns on the deep Brazilian margin
title_sort benthic biogeographic patterns on the deep brazilian margin
topic Biodiversity
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9979832/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36874960
http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.14585
work_keys_str_mv AT gaurisasdanielay benthicbiogeographicpatternsonthedeepbrazilianmargin
AT bernardinoangelof benthicbiogeographicpatternsonthedeepbrazilianmargin