Depth-related patterns of meiofauna on the Indian continental shelf are conserved at reduced taxonomic resolution

S. Sajan; T. V. Joydas; R. Damodaran

doi:10.1007/s10750-010-0314-8

Depth-related patterns of meiofauna on the Indian continental shelf are conserved at reduced taxonomic resolution

S. Sajan
, T. V. Joydas
, R. Damodaran

Applied Research Center for Environment and Marine Studies

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

6 Scopus citations

Abstract

Taxonomic sufficiency (TS) has been used in impact assessment studies of various pollution effects on marine benthic communities and found appropriate to identify the effects of pollution on marine communities. Cost, in terms of the expertise and time needed to identify organisms, increases with the level of taxonomic accuracy. Recently, TS has been adopted to study spatial patterns of macrobenthic community structure. In order to accept TS as a routine approach in wider benthic studies, it needs to be proved valid for various taxa and in geographically different areas. The present study investigates the value of TS in meiofaunal nematodes by analyzing an extensive data set based on samples collected from a wide geographical area covering a large depth gradient. For this study, samples were collected from every degree square of the western Indian continental shelf (7°-22°N latitudes). Our high resolution data showed that with increase in depth, nematode species richness and diversity decreased and communities showed significant variation between shallow and deeper waters. The present study tests whether lower taxonomic resolution nematode data can explain community shifts along a depth gradient in a similar way to species level data from the same data set. Meiofauna have often been neglected from benthic studies, and most attention has been given to macrofauna. This is mainly due to the difficulty in the taxonomic identification of meiofauna. The results of this study based on univariate and multivariate analyses support the use of family level data of nematodes to explain some aspects of depth variation in a similar way to species level data.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	39-47
Number of pages	9
Journal	Hydrobiologia
Volume	652
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-010-0314-8
State	Published - 2010

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Acknowledgement This work was supported by the Department of Ocean Development, New Delhi, India (Grant No. DOD/10-MLR 10/97/OD-II, 17 November 1997). We thank CMLRE, Cochin, India, for providing enough ship time for successfully completing the sampling. We sincerely acknowledge Mr. V. Raveendranath and Dr. V. N. Sanjeevan, CMLRE, DOD, Cochin, India, for all the help rendered to us. Thanks are also due to the Department of Marine Biology, Microbiology and Biochemistry, School of Marine Sciences, Cochin University of Science and Technology, India, for the facilities offered to carry out the work. TVJ thanks the Research Institute, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Saudi Arabia, for the necessary support. We highly appreciate the anonymous reviewers for their comments and suggestions to improve the quality of the manuscript. We are thankful to Tim Worsfold for his help to improve the language of this paper.

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 14 Life Below Water

Keywords

Arabian Sea
Indian continental shelf
Meiofauna
Nematodes
Taxonomic sufficiency

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Aquatic Science

Access to Document

10.1007/s10750-010-0314-8

Cite this

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title = "Depth-related patterns of meiofauna on the Indian continental shelf are conserved at reduced taxonomic resolution",

abstract = "Taxonomic sufficiency (TS) has been used in impact assessment studies of various pollution effects on marine benthic communities and found appropriate to identify the effects of pollution on marine communities. Cost, in terms of the expertise and time needed to identify organisms, increases with the level of taxonomic accuracy. Recently, TS has been adopted to study spatial patterns of macrobenthic community structure. In order to accept TS as a routine approach in wider benthic studies, it needs to be proved valid for various taxa and in geographically different areas. The present study investigates the value of TS in meiofaunal nematodes by analyzing an extensive data set based on samples collected from a wide geographical area covering a large depth gradient. For this study, samples were collected from every degree square of the western Indian continental shelf (7°-22°N latitudes). Our high resolution data showed that with increase in depth, nematode species richness and diversity decreased and communities showed significant variation between shallow and deeper waters. The present study tests whether lower taxonomic resolution nematode data can explain community shifts along a depth gradient in a similar way to species level data from the same data set. Meiofauna have often been neglected from benthic studies, and most attention has been given to macrofauna. This is mainly due to the difficulty in the taxonomic identification of meiofauna. The results of this study based on univariate and multivariate analyses support the use of family level data of nematodes to explain some aspects of depth variation in a similar way to species level data.",

keywords = "Arabian Sea, Indian continental shelf, Meiofauna, Nematodes, Taxonomic sufficiency",

author = "S. Sajan and Joydas, \{T. V.\} and R. Damodaran",

note = "Funding Information: Acknowledgement This work was supported by the Department of Ocean Development, New Delhi, India (Grant No. DOD/10-MLR 10/97/OD-II, 17 November 1997). We thank CMLRE, Cochin, India, for providing enough ship time for successfully completing the sampling. We sincerely acknowledge Mr. V. Raveendranath and Dr. V. N. Sanjeevan, CMLRE, DOD, Cochin, India, for all the help rendered to us. Thanks are also due to the Department of Marine Biology, Microbiology and Biochemistry, School of Marine Sciences, Cochin University of Science and Technology, India, for the facilities offered to carry out the work. TVJ thanks the Research Institute, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Saudi Arabia, for the necessary support. We highly appreciate the anonymous reviewers for their comments and suggestions to improve the quality of the manuscript. We are thankful to Tim Worsfold for his help to improve the language of this paper.",

year = "2010",

doi = "10.1007/s10750-010-0314-8",

language = "English",

volume = "652",

pages = "39--47",

journal = "Hydrobiologia",

issn = "0018-8158",

publisher = "Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH",

number = "1",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - Depth-related patterns of meiofauna on the Indian continental shelf are conserved at reduced taxonomic resolution

AU - Sajan, S.

AU - Joydas, T. V.

AU - Damodaran, R.

N1 - Funding Information: Acknowledgement This work was supported by the Department of Ocean Development, New Delhi, India (Grant No. DOD/10-MLR 10/97/OD-II, 17 November 1997). We thank CMLRE, Cochin, India, for providing enough ship time for successfully completing the sampling. We sincerely acknowledge Mr. V. Raveendranath and Dr. V. N. Sanjeevan, CMLRE, DOD, Cochin, India, for all the help rendered to us. Thanks are also due to the Department of Marine Biology, Microbiology and Biochemistry, School of Marine Sciences, Cochin University of Science and Technology, India, for the facilities offered to carry out the work. TVJ thanks the Research Institute, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Saudi Arabia, for the necessary support. We highly appreciate the anonymous reviewers for their comments and suggestions to improve the quality of the manuscript. We are thankful to Tim Worsfold for his help to improve the language of this paper.

PY - 2010

Y1 - 2010

N2 - Taxonomic sufficiency (TS) has been used in impact assessment studies of various pollution effects on marine benthic communities and found appropriate to identify the effects of pollution on marine communities. Cost, in terms of the expertise and time needed to identify organisms, increases with the level of taxonomic accuracy. Recently, TS has been adopted to study spatial patterns of macrobenthic community structure. In order to accept TS as a routine approach in wider benthic studies, it needs to be proved valid for various taxa and in geographically different areas. The present study investigates the value of TS in meiofaunal nematodes by analyzing an extensive data set based on samples collected from a wide geographical area covering a large depth gradient. For this study, samples were collected from every degree square of the western Indian continental shelf (7°-22°N latitudes). Our high resolution data showed that with increase in depth, nematode species richness and diversity decreased and communities showed significant variation between shallow and deeper waters. The present study tests whether lower taxonomic resolution nematode data can explain community shifts along a depth gradient in a similar way to species level data from the same data set. Meiofauna have often been neglected from benthic studies, and most attention has been given to macrofauna. This is mainly due to the difficulty in the taxonomic identification of meiofauna. The results of this study based on univariate and multivariate analyses support the use of family level data of nematodes to explain some aspects of depth variation in a similar way to species level data.

AB - Taxonomic sufficiency (TS) has been used in impact assessment studies of various pollution effects on marine benthic communities and found appropriate to identify the effects of pollution on marine communities. Cost, in terms of the expertise and time needed to identify organisms, increases with the level of taxonomic accuracy. Recently, TS has been adopted to study spatial patterns of macrobenthic community structure. In order to accept TS as a routine approach in wider benthic studies, it needs to be proved valid for various taxa and in geographically different areas. The present study investigates the value of TS in meiofaunal nematodes by analyzing an extensive data set based on samples collected from a wide geographical area covering a large depth gradient. For this study, samples were collected from every degree square of the western Indian continental shelf (7°-22°N latitudes). Our high resolution data showed that with increase in depth, nematode species richness and diversity decreased and communities showed significant variation between shallow and deeper waters. The present study tests whether lower taxonomic resolution nematode data can explain community shifts along a depth gradient in a similar way to species level data from the same data set. Meiofauna have often been neglected from benthic studies, and most attention has been given to macrofauna. This is mainly due to the difficulty in the taxonomic identification of meiofauna. The results of this study based on univariate and multivariate analyses support the use of family level data of nematodes to explain some aspects of depth variation in a similar way to species level data.

KW - Arabian Sea

KW - Indian continental shelf

KW - Meiofauna

KW - Nematodes

KW - Taxonomic sufficiency

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/77954689608

U2 - 10.1007/s10750-010-0314-8

DO - 10.1007/s10750-010-0314-8

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:77954689608

SN - 0018-8158

VL - 652

SP - 39

EP - 47

JO - Hydrobiologia

JF - Hydrobiologia

IS - 1

ER -

Depth-related patterns of meiofauna on the Indian continental shelf are conserved at reduced taxonomic resolution

Abstract

Bibliographical note

UN SDGs

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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Cite this