Aquatic Sciences Meeting, Albuquerque 2001

PC19 Benthic Processes and Ecology

Date: Thursday, February 15, 2001

Location: Southwest Hall

Ammons, A, W, Dept of Biology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA, archman@mail.bio.tamu.edu

Boland, G, S, Minerals Management Service, New Orleans, LA, USA,

Hubbard, G, F, Dept of Oceanography, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA, fhubbard@ocean.tamu.edu

Rowe, G, T, Dept of Oceanography, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA, growe@ocean.tamu.edu

THE ROLE OF SMALL SCALE HABITAT HETEROGENEITY ON MACROBENTHIC DIVERSITY IN THE DEEP NORTHERN GULF OF MEXICO

Many areas of the seafloor are pockmarked with numerous mounds, burrows, and other structural features created through bioturbation by megafauna such as crabs, echinoids, and fishes. On the small scale, these features may create sufficient spatial heterogeneity to account for much of the high diversity found in the macrobenthos. Using photographic data from past studies in the deep northern Gulf of Mexico, various small-scale features are identified. Grades of spatial heterogeneity are assigned, and macrobenthic boxcores taken in these areas are ranked according to variation in abundance and diversity within and between study sites.

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Aquatic Sciences Meeting, Albuquerque 2001

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