Abstract
SEASONAL productivity in shallow waters elicits a seasonal pat-tern of activity in the benthic community1. This implies a very rapid response to fluctuations in the food supply to the benthos. Although there is a seasonal component to oxygen consumption on the deep-sea floor2 and a rapid response of epibenthic foraminifera3 and other microorganisms to influx of phytodetritus4, the timescale of the response of organisms that inhabit the sediment itself has not been established. Here I present evidence that the response by a deep-sea benthic community to a pulse of natural organic matter occurs within days. In terms of activity and biomass, this rapid response was evident to a sediment depth of 9 cm.
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Graf, G. Benthic-pelagic coupling in a deep-sea benthic community. Nature 341, 437–439 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1038/341437a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/341437a0
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