Kleinskalige Heterogenität in der arktischen Tiefsee: Einfluß kleiner Kaltwasser-Schwämme auf die Diversität benthischer Nematoden-Gemeinschaften

In connexion with the high species richness of deep-sea sediments the question arises which spatial processes influence the species composition, abundance and biomass of the communities. Which processes produce and maintain diversity in the deep sea and at what spatial scales do they operate?The background of the study is the concept that biogenic structures create at a small scale a heterogeneous environment that influences the structure of the communities and the dynamics of the populations of benthic meiofauna organisms. As an example for biogenic structures, the influence of deep-sea sponges on small-scale distribution pattern of benthic deep-sea nematodes was investigated.Overall the nematode community from the sponge samples show a higher functional divergence and thus a high degree of niche differentiation.Within the nematode community from the sponge cores a stronger interaction between the species and a higher functional diversity seems to allow a larger extend of resource utilisation.