Patterns of colonisation in an implanted mammal carcass in the deep-Atlantic ocean
Autor(a) principal: | |
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Data de Publicação: | 2014 |
Tipo de documento: | Dissertação |
Idioma: | eng |
Título da fonte: | Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) |
Texto Completo: | http://hdl.handle.net/10773/14018 |
Resumo: | Whale carcasses reaching the bottom of the ocean, known as “whale falls”, represent massive organic inputs that provide habitat islands for complex communities of specialised fauna. However, studies about these habitats are mostly restricted to the Pacific Ocean. To investigate the importance of whale falls in the deep-Atlantic Ocean, five mammal carcasses were deployed within the CARCACE project at 1000 m depth in the Setubal canyon (NE Atlantic, west Portuguese margin). In order to describe the fauna associated with the carcasses, investigate the trophic ecology of the metazoan assemblages and analyse the functional morphology of the encountered specialists, bones resulting from the degradation of the carcasses were collected 18 and 28 months after the deployment using a ROV. In this context, the colonisation patterns of two dominant taxa of invertebrates found in the colonising assemblages, the mytilid mussel “Idas” simpsoni and Dorvilleidae polychaetes were studied. Regarding “I.” simpsoni the specific goals of this work were to investigate its settlement patterns and to understand its nutritional strategy. The analyses of the populations' size structure showed a continuous settlement and a limitation in growth and adult survival. These limitations are probably due to insufficient energy supplied by the cow bone to maintain chemosynthesis, which is in agreement with the isotopic signatures that indicated a higher contribution of filter feeding than chemosynthesis to their nutrition. Concerning the dorvilleid assemblages, the analyses of species composition disclosed temporal variations associated with distinct food sources at different degradation stages of the bones, as different species presented different isotopic signatures. Moreover, species distribution in different microhabitats did not show any relation with the substrate texture, hardness and presence of conspicuous filamentous bacteria on the surface. The morphology of the jaw apparatus of the different dorvilleid species was also analysed in order to investigate the relationship between this structure and trophic ecology. Dorvilleid jaw apparatuses are generally used in taxonomic and phylogenetic studies, but this is the first study on the functional anatomy of these structures. Species with similar jaw characteristics exhibited similar isotopic signatures, suggesting a possible role of the jaw morphology in the specialisation on different resources. However, further studies, using more species from different habitats, are needed to establish this relationship. Overall, these results give significant insights about the ecology of the studied species and into the colonisation patterns of deep-sea mammal carcasses in the Atlantic Ocean. |
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Patterns of colonisation in an implanted mammal carcass in the deep-Atlantic oceanBiologia marinhaInteracções tróficas - Oceano AtlânticoNutrição animalEcossistemas marinhos - Oceano AtlânticoWhale carcasses reaching the bottom of the ocean, known as “whale falls”, represent massive organic inputs that provide habitat islands for complex communities of specialised fauna. However, studies about these habitats are mostly restricted to the Pacific Ocean. To investigate the importance of whale falls in the deep-Atlantic Ocean, five mammal carcasses were deployed within the CARCACE project at 1000 m depth in the Setubal canyon (NE Atlantic, west Portuguese margin). In order to describe the fauna associated with the carcasses, investigate the trophic ecology of the metazoan assemblages and analyse the functional morphology of the encountered specialists, bones resulting from the degradation of the carcasses were collected 18 and 28 months after the deployment using a ROV. In this context, the colonisation patterns of two dominant taxa of invertebrates found in the colonising assemblages, the mytilid mussel “Idas” simpsoni and Dorvilleidae polychaetes were studied. Regarding “I.” simpsoni the specific goals of this work were to investigate its settlement patterns and to understand its nutritional strategy. The analyses of the populations' size structure showed a continuous settlement and a limitation in growth and adult survival. These limitations are probably due to insufficient energy supplied by the cow bone to maintain chemosynthesis, which is in agreement with the isotopic signatures that indicated a higher contribution of filter feeding than chemosynthesis to their nutrition. Concerning the dorvilleid assemblages, the analyses of species composition disclosed temporal variations associated with distinct food sources at different degradation stages of the bones, as different species presented different isotopic signatures. Moreover, species distribution in different microhabitats did not show any relation with the substrate texture, hardness and presence of conspicuous filamentous bacteria on the surface. The morphology of the jaw apparatus of the different dorvilleid species was also analysed in order to investigate the relationship between this structure and trophic ecology. Dorvilleid jaw apparatuses are generally used in taxonomic and phylogenetic studies, but this is the first study on the functional anatomy of these structures. Species with similar jaw characteristics exhibited similar isotopic signatures, suggesting a possible role of the jaw morphology in the specialisation on different resources. However, further studies, using more species from different habitats, are needed to establish this relationship. Overall, these results give significant insights about the ecology of the studied species and into the colonisation patterns of deep-sea mammal carcasses in the Atlantic Ocean.As carcaças de baleia que chegam ao fundo do oceano representam grandes quantidades de matéria orgânica que servem de base a comunidades complexas de fauna especializada. No entanto, a informação disponível sobre este tipo de habitats está praticamente limitada ao oceano Pacífico. Com o intuito de investigar a importância das carcaças de baleia no oceano Atlântico profundo foram fundeadas, no âmbito do projeto CARCACE, cinco carcaças de mamíferos a 1000 m de profundidade no canhão de Setúbal (costa Portuguesa, NE Atlântico). Com o objetivo de descrever a fauna associada às carcaças, investigar a sua ecologia trófica e analisar a morfologia funcional das espécies encontradas, os ossos resultantes da degradação das carcaças foram recuperados utilizando um ROV 18 e 28 meses após o fundeamento. Neste contexto, foi feito o estudo de dois grupos dominantes de invertebrados recolhidos da superfície dos ossos, os mexilhões “Idas” simpsoni e poliquetas da família Dorvilleidae. Os objetivos específicos deste trabalho relativamente a “Idas” simpsoni, prenderam-se com o estudo dos padrões de assentamento da espécie e também com a compreensão da sua estratégia nutricional. A análise do tamanho dos indivíduos das populações demonstrou um assentamento contínuo, bem como restrições no crescimento e sobrevivência dos adultos. Estas limitações devem-se, possivelmente, ao facto de os ossos de vaca não disponibilizarem energia suficiente para a realização de quimiossíntese, o que é corroborado pelas análises isotópicas que sugeriram uma maior contribuição da filtração na estratégia nutricional de “Idas” simpsoni. Relativamente à análise da composição das espécies de dorvileídeos esta revelou variações temporais associadas a diferentes fontes de alimentação, o que está de acordo com os resultados da análise dos isótopos estáveis das diferentes espécies, que demonstraram assinaturas isotópicas distintas associadas a cada espécie. Para além disso, a distribuição dos dorvileídeos por diferentes microhabitats não demonstrou qualquer relação com a textura, dureza e a presença de bactérias filamentosas na superfície do substrato. A morfologia do aparelho bocal das diferentes espécies de dorvileídeos foi também analisada com o intuito de investigar a relação entre esta estrutura e ecologia trófica das espécies. O aparelho bocal dos dorvileídeos é, geralmente, utilizado em estudos taxonómicos e filogenéticos, mas o presente estudo constitui a primeira abordagem à anatomia funcional destas estruturas. Espécies com aparelhos bocais semelhantes exibiram assinaturas isotópicas semelhantes, sugerindo uma possível influência da morfologia desta estrutura na especialização de cada espécie em diferentes recursos. No entanto, para estabelecer uma relação direta entre estes dois fatores, será necessário fazer um estudo mais aprofundado, utilizando outras espécies provenientes de outros habitats. No geral, os resultados obtidos neste trabalho, revelam características importantes da ecologia das espécies estudadas, bem como dos padrões de colonização de carcaças de mamíferos no Oceano Atlântico profundo.Universidade de Aveiro2015-05-07T16:24:12Z2014-01-01T00:00:00Z2014info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersioninfo:eu-repo/semantics/masterThesisapplication/pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/10773/14018TID:201577240engGuedes, Inês Ferreirainfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessreponame:Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)instname:Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informaçãoinstacron:RCAAP2024-02-22T11:25:35Zoai:ria.ua.pt:10773/14018Portal AgregadorONGhttps://www.rcaap.pt/oai/openaireopendoar:71602024-03-20T02:49:42.155248Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) - Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informaçãofalse |
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv |
Patterns of colonisation in an implanted mammal carcass in the deep-Atlantic ocean |
title |
Patterns of colonisation in an implanted mammal carcass in the deep-Atlantic ocean |
spellingShingle |
Patterns of colonisation in an implanted mammal carcass in the deep-Atlantic ocean Guedes, Inês Ferreira Biologia marinha Interacções tróficas - Oceano Atlântico Nutrição animal Ecossistemas marinhos - Oceano Atlântico |
title_short |
Patterns of colonisation in an implanted mammal carcass in the deep-Atlantic ocean |
title_full |
Patterns of colonisation in an implanted mammal carcass in the deep-Atlantic ocean |
title_fullStr |
Patterns of colonisation in an implanted mammal carcass in the deep-Atlantic ocean |
title_full_unstemmed |
Patterns of colonisation in an implanted mammal carcass in the deep-Atlantic ocean |
title_sort |
Patterns of colonisation in an implanted mammal carcass in the deep-Atlantic ocean |
author |
Guedes, Inês Ferreira |
author_facet |
Guedes, Inês Ferreira |
author_role |
author |
dc.contributor.author.fl_str_mv |
Guedes, Inês Ferreira |
dc.subject.por.fl_str_mv |
Biologia marinha Interacções tróficas - Oceano Atlântico Nutrição animal Ecossistemas marinhos - Oceano Atlântico |
topic |
Biologia marinha Interacções tróficas - Oceano Atlântico Nutrição animal Ecossistemas marinhos - Oceano Atlântico |
description |
Whale carcasses reaching the bottom of the ocean, known as “whale falls”, represent massive organic inputs that provide habitat islands for complex communities of specialised fauna. However, studies about these habitats are mostly restricted to the Pacific Ocean. To investigate the importance of whale falls in the deep-Atlantic Ocean, five mammal carcasses were deployed within the CARCACE project at 1000 m depth in the Setubal canyon (NE Atlantic, west Portuguese margin). In order to describe the fauna associated with the carcasses, investigate the trophic ecology of the metazoan assemblages and analyse the functional morphology of the encountered specialists, bones resulting from the degradation of the carcasses were collected 18 and 28 months after the deployment using a ROV. In this context, the colonisation patterns of two dominant taxa of invertebrates found in the colonising assemblages, the mytilid mussel “Idas” simpsoni and Dorvilleidae polychaetes were studied. Regarding “I.” simpsoni the specific goals of this work were to investigate its settlement patterns and to understand its nutritional strategy. The analyses of the populations' size structure showed a continuous settlement and a limitation in growth and adult survival. These limitations are probably due to insufficient energy supplied by the cow bone to maintain chemosynthesis, which is in agreement with the isotopic signatures that indicated a higher contribution of filter feeding than chemosynthesis to their nutrition. Concerning the dorvilleid assemblages, the analyses of species composition disclosed temporal variations associated with distinct food sources at different degradation stages of the bones, as different species presented different isotopic signatures. Moreover, species distribution in different microhabitats did not show any relation with the substrate texture, hardness and presence of conspicuous filamentous bacteria on the surface. The morphology of the jaw apparatus of the different dorvilleid species was also analysed in order to investigate the relationship between this structure and trophic ecology. Dorvilleid jaw apparatuses are generally used in taxonomic and phylogenetic studies, but this is the first study on the functional anatomy of these structures. Species with similar jaw characteristics exhibited similar isotopic signatures, suggesting a possible role of the jaw morphology in the specialisation on different resources. However, further studies, using more species from different habitats, are needed to establish this relationship. Overall, these results give significant insights about the ecology of the studied species and into the colonisation patterns of deep-sea mammal carcasses in the Atlantic Ocean. |
publishDate |
2014 |
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv |
2014-01-01T00:00:00Z 2014 2015-05-07T16:24:12Z |
dc.type.status.fl_str_mv |
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion |
dc.type.driver.fl_str_mv |
info:eu-repo/semantics/masterThesis |
format |
masterThesis |
status_str |
publishedVersion |
dc.identifier.uri.fl_str_mv |
http://hdl.handle.net/10773/14018 TID:201577240 |
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http://hdl.handle.net/10773/14018 |
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TID:201577240 |
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eng |
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eng |
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info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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openAccess |
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application/pdf |
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv |
Universidade de Aveiro |
publisher.none.fl_str_mv |
Universidade de Aveiro |
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Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informação |
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RCAAP |
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RCAAP |
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Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) |
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Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) |
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Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) - Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informação |
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