Spatial Structure of Macro- and Meiobenthic Communities in a Homogeneous Environment (on the Example of the Pechora Sea)

Abstract

A study was performed in 2003 during the cruise of the R/V Professor Shtokman. A single sampling grid and similar approaches to community identification and analysis were used for both size classes of the benthos. A macrobenthic community dominated by Serripes groenlandicus occupied the majority of the study area, whereas Astarte borealis dominated at the easternmost station. Nematodes played a leading role in the meiobenthic communities, where they accounted for 86–94% of the total abundance. The nematode Richtersia inaequalis dominated in almost all areas, while Cervonema papillatum and Microlaimus affinis dominated in the northernmost part of the study area. Temperature, salinity, and grain-size characteristics did not affect the distribution of macro- and meiobenthic communities. The distribution of mosaic elements of macrobenthos and meiobenthos was independent of each other in a mesoscale (30 km long and 11 km wide) study area.