Brannock Pamela M, Wang Lei, Ortmann Alice C, Waits Damien S, Halanych Kenneth M
Department of Biological Sciences, Auburn University, 101 Rouse Life Science Building, Auburn, AL, 36849, USA.
Department of Marine Sciences, University of South Alabama, 307 University Blvd, Mobile, AL, 36688, USA; Dauphin Island Sea Lab, 101B Bienville Blvd, Dauphin Island, AL, 36528, USA.
Mar Environ Res. 2016 Aug;119:166-75. doi: 10.1016/j.marenvres.2016.05.011. Epub 2016 May 10.
Meiobenthic (meiofauna and micro-eukaryotes) organisms are important contributors to ecosystem functioning in aquatic environments through their roles in nutrient transport, sediment stability, and food web interactions. Despite their ecological importance, information pertaining to variation of these communities at various spatial and temporal scales is not widely known. Many studies in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) have focused either on deep sea or continental shelf areas, while little attention has been paid to bays and coastal regions. Herein, we take a holistic approach by using high-throughput sequencing approaches to examine spatial variation in meiobenthic communities within Alabama bays and the coastal northern GOM region. Sediment samples were collected along three transects (Mississippi Sound: MS, FOCAL: FT, and Orange Beach: OB) from September 2010 to April 2012 and community composition was determined by metabarcoding the V9 hypervariable region of the nuclear18S rRNA gene. Results showed that Stramenopiles (diatoms), annelids, arthropods (copepods), and nematodes were the dominate groups within samples, while there was presence of other phyla throughout the dataset. Location played a larger role than time sampled in community composition. However, samples were collected over a short temporal scale. Samples clustered in reference to transect, with the most eastern transect (OB) having a distinct community composition in comparison to the other two transects (MS and FT). Communities also differed in reference to region (Bay versus Shelf). Bulk density and percent inorganic carbon were the only measured environmental factors that were correlated with community composition.
小型底栖生物（小型动物和微型真核生物）通过在营养物质运输、沉积物稳定性和食物网相互作用中的作用，对水生环境中的生态系统功能起着重要作用。尽管它们具有生态重要性，但关于这些群落在不同空间和时间尺度上的变化信息并不广为人知。墨西哥湾（GOM）的许多研究要么集中在深海或大陆架区域，而对海湾和沿海地区的关注很少。在此，我们采用整体方法，利用高通量测序方法来研究阿拉巴马湾和墨西哥湾北部沿海地区小型底栖生物群落的空间变化。从2010年9月到2012年4月，沿着三条样带（密西西比海峡：MS、聚焦区：FT和奥兰治海滩：OB）采集沉积物样本，并通过对核18S rRNA基因的V9高变区进行元条形码分析来确定群落组成。结果表明，硅藻纲（硅藻）、环节动物、节肢动物（桡足类）和线虫是样本中的主要类群，而在整个数据集中还存在其他门类。在群落组成中，位置比采样时间起更大的作用。然而，样本是在较短的时间尺度上采集的。样本按样带聚类，最东部的样带（OB）与其他两条样带（MS和FT）相比具有独特的群落组成。群落也因区域（海湾与陆架）而有所不同。 bulk密度和无机碳百分比是与群落组成相关的仅有的测量环境因素。 （注：“Bulk density”这里可能是“堆积密度”之类的专业术语，原文拼写可能有误，暂按原样翻译）
