Abstract. There is a growing need to understand the ability of bathyal assemblages to recover from disturbance and oxygen stress, as human activities and expanding oxygen minimum zones increasingly affect deep continental margins. The effects of a pronounced oxygen minimum zone (OMZ) on slope benthic community structure have been studied in both the Western and Eastern Arabian Sea; however, little is known about the dynamics or resilience of these benthic populations. To examine the influence of oxygen and phytodetritus on short-term settlement patterns we conducted colonization experiments along two cross-OMZ transects on the West Indian continental margin. Four colonization trays were deployed at each depth for 4 days at 542 and 802 m (16°58′ N) and for 9 days at 817 m and 1147 m (17°31′ N). Oxygen concentrations ranged from 0.9 μM (0.02 mL L−1) at 542 m to 22 μM (0.5 mL L−1) at 1147 m. All trays contained local defaunated sediments; half of the trays at each depth also contained 13C/15N-labeled phytodetritus mixed into the sediments. Sediment cores were collected between 535 m and 1140 m for analysis of background (source) macrofaunal (> 300 μm) densities and composition. Background densities ranged from 0 ind. m−2 (at 535–542 m) to 7400 ind. m−2, with maximum values on both transects at 700–800 m. Macrofaunal colonizer densities ranged from 0 ind. m−2 at 542 m, where oxygen was lowest, to average values of 142 ind. m−2 at 800 m, and 3074 ind. m−2 at 1147 m, where oxygen concentration was highest. These were equal to 4.3% and 151% of the ambient background community at 800 m and 1147 m, respectively. Community structure of settlers showed no response to the presence of phytodetritus. Increasing depth and oxygen concentration, however, significantly influenced the community composition and abundance of colonizing macrofauna. Polychaetes constituted 92.4% of the total colonizers, followed by crustaceans (4.2%), mollusks (2.5%), and echinoderms (0.8%). The majority of colonizers were found at 1147m; 88.5% of these were Capitella sp., although they were rare in the background community. Colonists at 800 and 1147 m also included ampharetid, spionid, syllid, lumbrinerid, cirratulid, cossurid and sabellid polychaetes. Consumption of δ13C/ δ15N-labeled phytodetritus was observed for macrofaunal foraminifera (too large to be colonizers) at the 542 and 802/817 m sites, and by metazoan macrofauna mainly at the deepest, better oxygenated site. Calcareous foraminifera (Uvigerina, Hoeglundina sp.), capitellid polychaetes and cumaceans were among the major consumers. These preliminary experiments suggest that bottom-water oxygen concentrations may strongly influence ecosystem services on continental margins, as reflected in rates of colonization by benthos and colonizer processing of carbon following disturbance.
Small sinking particles control anammox rates in the Peruvian oxygen minimum zone
