Journal
ESTUARINE COASTAL AND SHELF SCIENCE
Volume 148, Issue -, Pages 70-84Publisher
ACADEMIC PRESS LTD- ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.ecss.2014.05.034
Keywords
upwelling; eutrophication; cold-waters corals; neritic to bathyal gradient; tropical heterozoan assemblages; continental shelf; foraminifera autoecology
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Funding
- German Research Foundation (DFG) [We 2492/3, We 2492/5, We 2492/14, POS 346, MSM 16-3]
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With the growing pressure of eutrophication in tropical regions, the Mauritian shelf provides a natural situation to understand the variability in mesotrophic assemblages. Site-specific dynamics occur throughout the 1200 m depth gradient. The shallow assemblages divide into three types of warm-water mesotrophic foraminiferal assemblages, which is not only a consequence of high primary productivity restricting light to the benthos but due to low pore water oxygenation, shelf geomorphology, and sediment partitioning. In the intermediate depth (approx. 500 m), the increase in foraminiferal diversity is due to the cold-water coral habitat providing a greater range of micro niches. Planktonic species characterise the lower bathyal zone, which emphasizes the reduced benthic carbonate production at depth. Although, due to the strong hydrodynamics within the Golf, planktonic species occur in notable abundances through out the whole depth gradient. Overall, this study can easily be compared to other tropical marine settings investigating the long-term effects of tropical eutrophication and the biogeographic distribution of carbonate producing organisms. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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