CSIRO Wealth from Oceans Flagship Program, GPO Box 1538, Hobart, Tasmania, 7001, Australia.
Sci Rep. 2011;1:119. doi: 10.1038/srep00119. Epub 2011 Oct 18.
We describe a previously unknown assemblage of seamount-associated megabenthos that has by far the highest peak biomass reported in the deep-sea outside of vent communities. The assemblage was found at depths of 2-2.5 km on rocky geomorphic features off the southeast coast of Australia, in an area near the Sub-Antarctic Zone characterised by high rates of surface productivity and carbon export to the deep-ocean. These conditions, and the taxa in the assemblage, are widely distributed around the Southern mid-latitudes, suggesting the high-biomass assemblage is also likely to be widespread. The role of this assemblage in regional ecosystem and carbon dynamics and its sensitivities to anthropogenic impacts are unknown. The discovery highlights the lack of information on deep-sea biota worldwide and the potential for unanticipated impacts of deep-sea exploitation.
我们描述了一个以前未知的深海生物群，这个深海生物群的峰值生物量是迄今为止在深海中除了喷口群落之外报道的最高的。这个生物群是在澳大利亚东南海岸的岩石地貌特征上发现的，深度在 2-2.5 公里之间，位于亚热带区域附近，该区域的表面生产力和碳向深海输出率都很高。这些条件以及生物群中的分类群在南纬中纬度地区广泛分布，这表明高生物量生物群也可能广泛存在。该生物群在区域生态系统和碳动态中的作用及其对人为影响的敏感性尚不清楚。这一发现突显了全世界深海生物群信息的缺乏，以及深海开发可能带来意想不到的影响。
