Productivity issues in deep-sea
environmental management
David Billett, Brian Bett, Stephanie Henson
Libby Ross, Henry Ruhl, Craig Smith
and Ken Smith
University of Hawaii
at Manoa
Monterey Bay Aquarium
Research Institute
www.noc.ac.uk
Bathymetry of the CCZ
Source: General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans (GEBCO)
EqPac
Red dots and lines are
stations / transects where
deep POC flux and abyssal
ecosystem structure and
function variables have been
measured concurrently.
C.R. Smith et al. (2008) Abyssal food limitation,
ecosystem structure and climate change.
Trends in Ecology and Evolution 23, 518-528
Map Ocean Primary
Productivity 1997-1998,
Rutgers, The State
University of New Jersey,
Institute of Marine and
Coastal Sciences.
30
10,000 g C m-2
Bact + Meio + Macro
+ Mega Prediction
Wei et al. (2010) PLoS One
Photo credit: National Geography
WEI et al. 2010
= Total Seafloor Living Biomass
Radio beacon
flashing light
and flag
Buoyancy
NOC
“Bathysnap”
free-fall
time-lapse
photography
system
Camera
Current meter
Acoustic release
Compass
Flash gun
Ballast weight
Bett (2003) Time-lapse photography in the deep sea. J. Underw. Tech. 25, 121-127.
Porcupine
Abyssal
Plain
(4850m)
Lampitt (1985)
Deep-Sea Res I 32
Madeira
Abyssal
Plain
(4850m)
Rice, Thurston &
Bett (1994)
Deep-Sea Res I 41
Six
months in
the life of
the
seafloor
…. in one
minute
March to
September
Seasonal variability
in food supply
6 cm thick layer of
“phytodetritus”
Sediment surface
EqPac
Red dots and lines are
stations / transects where
deep POC flux and abyssal
ecosystem structure and
function variables have been
measured concurrently.
C.R. Smith et al. (2008) Abyssal food limitation,
ecosystem structure and climate change.
Trends in Ecology and Evolution 23, 518-528
Map Ocean Primary
Productivity 1997-1998,
Rutgers, The State
University of New Jersey,
Institute of Marine and
Coastal Sciences.
Sediment traps
Flux of OM to the PAP seafloor
Lampitt et al. (2010) Deep-Sea Res. II 57, 1346-1361
Amperima rosea – deposit feeding holothurian
Billett et al. (2010) Deep-Sea Res. II 57, 1406-1417
EqPac
Red dots and lines are
stations / transects where
deep POC flux and abyssal
ecosystem structure and
function variables have been
measured concurrently.
C.R. Smith et al. (2008) Abyssal food limitation,
ecosystem structure and climate change.
Trends in Ecology and Evolution 23, 518-528
Map Ocean Primary
Productivity 1997-1998,
Rutgers, The State
University of New Jersey,
Institute of Marine and
Coastal Sciences.
Mean primary production
mgC/m2/day
Mean primary production (1998-2007) estimated from
satellite derived chlorophyll and sea surface temperature
Seasonal variability
in primary production
Seasonal variability calculated as standard deviation
within climatological year / mean of climatological year
Inter-annual variability
in primary production
Interannual variability calculated as the standard
deviation in annual means 1998-2007