After 150 years of exploration, we now know the deep sea represents the largest complex of cosystems on our planet which embrace the greatest number of animal species and biomass of the living world. However, there is still a great deal more information that is needed to improve our knowledge of deep‐sea faunal dynamics which demands more and better targeted sampling. In this chapter we outline the main biological characteristics of deep‐sea organisms, describing aspects of animal life forms, behaviours and adaptations to the deep sea that could affect sampling techniques and survey design. Aspects of spatial and temporal distribution patterns of diversity and abundance are also described for both benthic and pelagic fauna, and examples given of various related sampling issues. The deep sea hosts a huge variety of animal types and faunal communities, with highly variable characteristics. Consideration of these characteristics provides a useful biological context for the sampling techniques that are covered in subsequent chapters of this book.

Deep-Sea Fauna

Stefano Schiaparelli;
2016-01-01

Abstract

After 150 years of exploration, we now know the deep sea represents the largest complex of cosystems on our planet which embrace the greatest number of animal species and biomass of the living world. However, there is still a great deal more information that is needed to improve our knowledge of deep‐sea faunal dynamics which demands more and better targeted sampling. In this chapter we outline the main biological characteristics of deep‐sea organisms, describing aspects of animal life forms, behaviours and adaptations to the deep sea that could affect sampling techniques and survey design. Aspects of spatial and temporal distribution patterns of diversity and abundance are also described for both benthic and pelagic fauna, and examples given of various related sampling issues. The deep sea hosts a huge variety of animal types and faunal communities, with highly variable characteristics. Consideration of these characteristics provides a useful biological context for the sampling techniques that are covered in subsequent chapters of this book.
File in questo prodotto:
File Dimensione Formato  
Schiaparelli et al_2016_Deep Sea Sampling_Ch2_Wiley book.pdf

accesso chiuso

Tipologia: Documento in versione editoriale
Dimensione 458.39 kB
Formato Adobe PDF
458.39 kB Adobe PDF   Visualizza/Apri   Richiedi una copia

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11567/897091
Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? ND
  • Scopus 2
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? ND
social impact