Project presentation - Non-Belspo The temporal variation in the meiobenthos along a bathymetrical gradient (‘Hausgarten’, Arctica): impact of climate oscillations Project description As part of the multidisciplinary study at the Hausgarten site, coordinated by AWI, the impact of changes in food supply, in addition to other environmental variables, on the smallest sized bottom fauna, the meiobenthos, is studied along a bathymetric transect from Vestnesa Ridge up to Molloy Deep, over a time period of 5 years. Since this transect is running parallel to the retreating Ice Margin it is expected that this area will be impacted by changing ice conditions. Emphasis is on the two most abundant meiobenthic taxa in the Arctic deep sea, nematodes and copepods which will be identified up to species level. These taxa are not only numerous but also diverse and therefore ideal model organisms to study benthic ecosystem processes. Sampling was performed with the German ice breaker R/V Polarstern
during the expeditions Ark-XVI till Ark-XX in summer of 2000
till 2004. Sediment samples were taken with a multi corer (MUC)
to avoid disturbance of the surface sediments. Complementary resources about this scientific project www.awi-bremerhaven.de/Research/ProjectGroups/DeepSea/hausgarten.html Project team Project Coordinator: Thomas Soltwedel and Michael Klages Involved Belgian research groups: Prof. Dr. Ann Vanreusel Dr. Sandra Vanhove |
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