4.5 Article

Causal analysis of the temperature impact on deep-sea biodiversity

Journal

BIOLOGY LETTERS
Volume 17, Issue 7, Pages -

Publisher

ROYAL SOC
DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2020.0666

Keywords

climate; deep-sea; biodiversity

Funding

  1. JST-CREST [JPMJCR13A2]
  2. Environment Research and Technology Development Fund [JPMEERF20204004]
  3. Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China [HKU 17311316]
  4. Seed Funding Programme for Basic Research of the University of Hong Kong [201711159057]
  5. Faculty of Science RAE Improvement Fund of the University of Hong Kong
  6. Hakubi Project at Kyoto University

Ask authors/readers for more resources

The factors influencing deep-sea biodiversity include seafloor POC flux and temperature, with temperature being found to influence species richness over long time scales. Future climate change may affect deep-sea ecosystems through changes in deep-water circulation rather than surface productivity.
The deep sea comprises more than 90% of the ocean; therefore, understanding the controlling factors of biodiversity in the deep sea is of great importance for predicting future changes in the functioning of the ocean system. Consensus has recently been increasing on two plausible factors that have often been discussed as the drivers of deep-sea species richness in the contexts of the species-energy and physiological tolerance hypotheses: (i) seafloor particulate organic carbon (POC) derived from primary production in the euphotic zone and (ii) temperature. Nonetheless, factors that drive deep-sea biodiversity are still actively debated potentially owing to a mirage of correlations (sign and magnitude are generally time dependent), which are often found in nonlinear, complex ecological systems, making the characterization of causalities difficult. Here, we tested the causal influences of POC flux and temperature on species richness using long-term palaeoecological datasets derived from sediment core samples and convergent cross mapping, a numerical method for characterizing causal relationships in complex systems. The results showed that temperature, but not POC flux, influenced species richness over 10(3)-10(4)-year time scales. The temperature-richness relationship in the deep sea suggests that human-induced future climate change may, under some conditions, affect deep-sea ecosystems through deep-water circulation changes rather than surface productivity changes.

Authors

I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.

Reviews

Primary Rating

4.5
Not enough ratings

Secondary Ratings

Novelty
-
Significance
-
Scientific rigor
-
Rate this paper

Recommended

No Data Available
No Data Available