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

Metadata Updated: July 6, 2024

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.

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Dates

Metadata Created Date May 31, 2023
Metadata Updated Date July 6, 2024

Metadata Source

Harvested from DOI EDI

Additional Metadata

Resource Type Dataset
Metadata Created Date May 31, 2023
Metadata Updated Date July 6, 2024
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey
Maintainer
@Id http://datainventory.doi.gov/id/dataset/e0d9b60f2cf21240dc816a1921267710
Identifier USGS:586e73f8e4b0f5ce109fcc11
Data Last Modified 20200830
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://datainventory.doi.gov/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 8aeb22fa-5b25-4cb3-be1d-875f8dbdfd98
Harvest Source Id 52bfcc16-6e15-478f-809a-b1bc76f1aeda
Harvest Source Title DOI EDI
Metadata Type geospatial
Old Spatial -73.946,37.981,-73.248,38.248
Publisher Hierarchy White House > U.S. Department of the Interior > U.S. Geological Survey
Source Datajson Identifier True
Source Hash c0d020f386a44eb8ffe2e4457ea26bdfe0467eb4ec46ec90d637bbb58cd04bf8
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}

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