Characteristics of meiofauna in extreme marine ecosystems: a review

Marine Biodiversity, Nov 2017

Extreme marine environments cover more than 50% of the Earth’s surface and offer many opportunities for investigating the biological responses and adaptations of organisms to stressful life conditions. Extreme marine environments are sometimes associated with ephemeral and unstable ecosystems, but can host abundant, often endemic and well-adapted meiofaunal species. In this review, we present an integrated view of the biodiversity, ecology and physiological responses of marine meiofauna inhabiting several extreme marine environments (mangroves, submarine caves, Polar ecosystems, hypersaline areas, hypoxic/anoxic environments, hydrothermal vents, cold seeps, carcasses/sunken woods, deep-sea canyons, deep hypersaline anoxic basins [DHABs] and hadal zones). Foraminiferans, nematodes and copepods are abundant in almost all of these habitats and are dominant in deep-sea ecosystems. The presence and dominance of some other taxa that are normally less common may be typical of certain extreme conditions. Kinorhynchs are particularly well adapted to cold seeps and other environments that experience drastic changes in salinity, rotifers are well represented in polar ecosystems and loriciferans seem to be the only metazoan able to survive multiple stressors in DHABs. As well as natural processes, human activities may generate stressful conditions, including deoxygenation, acidification and rises in temperature. The behaviour and physiology of different meiofaunal taxa, such as some foraminiferans, nematode and copepod species, can provide vital information on how organisms may respond to these challenges and can provide a warning signal of anthropogenic impacts. From an evolutionary perspective, the discovery of new meiofauna taxa from extreme environments very often sheds light on phylogenetic relationships, while understanding how meiofaunal organisms are able to survive or even flourish in these conditions can explain evolutionary pathways. Finally, there are multiple potential economic benefits to be gained from ecological, biological, physiological and evolutionary studies of meiofauna in extreme environments. Despite all the advantages offered by meiofauna studies from extreme environments, there is still an urgent need to foster meiofauna research in terms of composition, ecology, biology and physiology focusing on extreme environments.

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Characteristics of meiofauna in extreme marine ecosystems: a review

Characteristics of meiofauna in extreme marine ecosystems: a review Daniela Zeppilli 0 1 2 3 4 6 7 9 10 11 Daniel Leduc 0 1 2 3 4 6 7 9 10 11 Christophe Fontanier 0 1 2 3 4 6 7 9 10 11 Diego Fontaneto 0 1 2 3 4 6 7 9 10 11 Sandra Fuchs 0 1 2 3 4 6 7 9 10 11 Andrew J. Gooday 0 1 2 3 4 6 7 9 10 11 Aurélie Goineau 0 1 2 3 4 6 7 9 10 11 Jeroen Ingels 0 1 2 3 4 6 7 9 10 11 Viatcheslav N. Ivanenko 0 1 2 3 4 6 7 9 10 11 Reinhardt Møbjerg Kristensen 0 1 2 3 4 6 7 9 10 11 Ricardo Cardoso Neves 0 1 2 3 4 6 7 9 10 11 Nuria Sanchez 0 1 2 3 4 6 7 9 10 11 Roberto Sandulli 0 1 2 3 4 6 7 9 10 11 Jozée Sarrazin 0 1 2 3 4 6 7 9 10 11 Martin V. Sørensen 0 1 2 3 4 6 7 9 10 11 Aurélie Tasiemski 0 1 2 3 4 6 7 9 10 11 Ann Vanreusel 0 1 2 3 4 6 7 9 10 11 Marine Autret 0 1 2 3 4 6 7 9 10 11 Louis Bourdonnay 0 1 2 3 4 6 7 9 10 11 Marion Claireaux 0 1 2 3 4 6 7 9 10 11 Valérie Coquillé 0 1 2 3 4 6 7 9 10 11 Lisa De Wever 0 1 2 3 4 6 7 9 10 11 Durand Rachel 0 1 2 3 4 6 7 9 10 11 James Marchant 0 1 2 3 4 6 7 9 10 11 Lola Toomey 0 1 2 3 4 6 7 9 10 11 David Fernandes 0 1 2 3 4 6 7 8 9 10 11 0 National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research , Private Bag 14-901, Wellington 6021 , New Zealand 1 IFREMER, Centre Brest, REM/EEP/LEP, ZI de la pointe du diable , CS10070, 29280 Plouzané , France 2 Daniela Zeppilli 3 Department of Biology, Marine Biology Section, Ghent University , Krijgslaan 281, S8, 9000 Ghent , Belgium 4 Di.S.T., University of Naples BParthenope 5 , Centro Direzionale Isola C4 , 80143 Napoli , Italy 6 Biozentrum, University of Basel , Klingelbergstrasse 50, 4056 Basel , Switzerland 7 Department of Invertebrate Zoology, Biological Faculty, Lomonosov Moscow State University , Moscow , Russia 8 IFREMER, Centre Brest, BLP, Institut Carnot Ifremer-EDROME, ZI de la pointe du diable , CS10070, 29280 Plouzané , France 9 Florida State University Coastal and Marine Laboratory , 3618 Coastal Highway 98, St. Teresa, FL 32327 , USA 10 National Oceanography Centre, University of Southampton Waterfront Campus , European Way, Southampton S014 3ZH , UK 11 National Research Council, Institute of Ecosystem Study , Largo Tonolli 50, 28922 Verbania Pallanza , Italy Extreme marine environments cover more than 50% of the Earth's surface and offer many opportunities for investigating the biological responses and adaptations of organisms to stressful life conditions. Extreme marine environments are sometimes associated with ephemeral and unstable ecosystems, but can host abundant, often endemic and welladapted meiofaunal species. In this review, we present an integrated view of the biodiversity, ecology and physiological responses of marine meiofauna inhabiting several extreme marine environments (mangroves, submarine caves, Polar ecosystems, hypersaline areas, hypoxic/anoxic environments, hydrothermal vents, cold seeps, carcasses/sunken woods, deep-sea canyons, deep hypersaline anoxic basins [DHABs] and hadal zones). Foraminiferans, nematodes and copepods are abundant in almost all of these habitats and are dominant in deep-sea ecosystems. The presence and dominance of some other taxa that are normally less common may be typical of certain extreme conditions. Kinorhynchs are particularly well adapted to cold seeps and other environments that experience drastic changes in salinity, rotifers are well represented in polar ecosystems and loriciferans seem to be the only metazoan able to survive multiple stressors in DHABs. As well as natural processes, human activities may generate stressful conditions, including deoxygenation, acidification and rises in - IFREMER, Centre Brest, REM/GM/LES, ZI de la pointe du diable, CS10070, 29280 Plouzané, France Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, 2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark 11 CNRS, UMR 8198 - Evo-Eco-Paleo, SPICI Group, Université de Lille, 59000 Lille, France 13 Institut Universitaire Européen de la Mer, Laboratoire des Sciences de l’Environnement Marin (UMR6539 CNRS/IRD/UBO), Université de Brest, rue Dumont d’Urville, 29280 Plouzané, France temperature. The behaviour and physiology of different meiofaunal taxa, such as some foraminiferans, nematode and copepod species, can provide vital information on how organisms may respond to these challenges and can provide a warning signal of anthropogenic impacts. From an evolutionary perspective, the discovery of new meiofauna taxa from extreme environments very often sheds light on phylogenetic relationships, while understanding how meiofaunal organisms are able to survive or even flourish in these conditions can explain evolutionary pathways. Finally, there are multiple potential economic benefits to be gained from ecological, biological, physiological and evolutionary studies of meiofauna in extreme environments. Despite all the advantages offered by meiofauna studies from extreme environments, there is still an urgent need to foster meiofauna research in terms of composition, ecology, biology and physiology foc (...truncated)


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Daniela Zeppilli, Daniel Leduc, Christophe Fontanier, Diego Fontaneto, Sandra Fuchs, Andrew J. Gooday, Aurélie Goineau, Jeroen Ingels, Viatcheslav N. Ivanenko, Reinhardt Møbjerg Kristensen, Ricardo Cardoso Neves, Nuria Sanchez, Roberto Sandulli, Jozée Sarrazin, Martin V. Sørensen, Aurélie Tasiemski, Ann Vanreusel, Marine Autret, Louis Bourdonnay, Marion Claireaux, Valérie Coquillé, Lisa De Wever, Durand Rachel, James Marchant, Lola Toomey, David Fernandes. Characteristics of meiofauna in extreme marine ecosystems: a review, Marine Biodiversity, 2017, pp. 1-37, DOI: 10.1007/s12526-017-0815-z