Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Skip to content

Food-web dynamics and isotopic niches in deep-sea communities residing in a submarine canyon and on the adjacent open slopes

Metadata Updated: September 15, 2025

Examination of food webs and trophic niches provide insight into organisms’ functional ecology, yet few studies have examined the trophodynamics within submarine canyons, where the interaction of morphology and oceanography influences food deposition. Stable isotope analysis and Bayesian ellipses documented deep-sea food web structure and trophic niches in Baltimore Canyon and the adjacent open slopes in the U.S. Mid-Atlantic Region. Results revealed isotopically diverse feeding groups, comprising approximately 5 trophic levels. Regression analysis indicated that consumer isotope data are structured by site (canyon vs. slope), feeding group, and depth. Benthic feeders were enriched in 13C and 15N relative to suspension feeders, consistent with consuming older, more refractory organic matter. In contrast, canyon suspension feeders had the largest and more distinct isotopic niche, indicating they consume an isotopically discrete food source, possibly fresher organic material. The wider isotopic niche observed for canyon consumers indicated the presence of feeding specialists and generalists. High dispersion in δ13C values for canyon consumers suggested that the isotopic composition of particulate organic matter changes, which is linked to the depositional dynamics, resulting in discrete zones of organic matter accumulation or resuspension. This heterogeneity results in higher trophic diversity in canyons. Hence, given their abundance in the world’s oceans, submarine canyons represent important havens for trophic diversity.

Access & Use Information

Public: This dataset is intended for public access and use. License: No license information was provided. If this work was prepared by an officer or employee of the United States government as part of that person's official duties it is considered a U.S. Government Work.

Downloads & Resources

Dates

Metadata Created Date September 12, 2025
Metadata Updated Date September 15, 2025

Metadata Source

Harvested from DOI USGS DCAT-US

Additional Metadata

Resource Type Dataset
Metadata Created Date September 12, 2025
Metadata Updated Date September 15, 2025
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey
Maintainer
Identifier http://datainventory.doi.gov/id/dataset/usgs-586e73f8e4b0f5ce109fcc11
Data Last Modified 2020-08-30T00:00:00Z
Category geospatial
Public Access Level public
Bureau Code 010:12
Metadata Context https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.jsonld
Metadata Catalog ID https://ddi.doi.gov/usgs-data.json
Schema Version https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
Catalog Describedby https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.json
Harvest Object Id 713dad16-c39a-4e87-bbc4-71c95ccdee36
Harvest Source Id 2b80d118-ab3a-48ba-bd93-996bbacefac2
Harvest Source Title DOI USGS DCAT-US
Metadata Type geospatial
Old Spatial -73.946, 37.981, -73.248, 38.248
Source Datajson Identifier True
Source Hash c662d34a2e4d4e6f798d8b9d1811ed4c8da2a860f0867c1e911914227904b2fc
Source Schema Version 1.1
Spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": -73.946, 37.981, -73.946, 38.248, -73.248, 38.248, -73.248, 37.981, -73.946, 37.981}

Didn't find what you're looking for? Suggest a dataset here.