The role of benthic foraminifera in deep-sea food webs and carbon cycling
Gooday, A.J.; Levin, L.A.; Linke, P.; Heeger, T. (1992). The role of benthic foraminifera in deep-sea food webs and carbon cycling, in: Rowe, G.T. et al. (Ed.) Deep-sea food chains and the global carbon cycle. pp. 63-91 In: Rowe, G.T.; Pariente, V. (Ed.) (1992). Deep-sea food chains and the global carbon cycle. Kluwer Academic Publishers: The Netherlands. , more |
| Keywords | Aquatic organisms > Heterotrophic organisms > Detritus feeders
Cycles > Chemical cycles > Geochemical cycle > Biogeochemical cycle > Nutrient cycles > Carbon cycle
Deep sea
Food webs
Foraminifera
Population characteristics > Biomass
Primary production
Sediments
Trophic levels
Foraminifera [WoRMS]
Marine/Coastal |
| Authors | | Top | - Gooday, A.J., more
- Levin, L.A.
- Linke, P.
- Heeger, T.
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| Abstract | Benthic foraminifers are a major element in deep-sea sediment and hard-substrate communities, sometimes accounting for 50% or more of eukaryotic biomass. They feed at a low trophic level, consuming mainly planktonic and other detritus and bacteria. Some species have metabolic adaptations enabling them to respond quickly to pulsed detrital inputs with rapid rates of reproduction and growth. These foraminifers probably assist microorganisms in the breakdown of fresh detrital material, while others are deposit feeders which convert more refractory organic substances into biomass. DOM uptake may be important, although no data exist as yet to substantiate this. Foraminifers are consumed by a wide variety of organisms, including selective and non-selective deposit feeders and specialised predators, and probably represent an important link between lower and higher levels of deep-sea food webs. A variety of non-trophic interactions between metazoans and foraminifers, for example, the provision of physical substrates, may facilitate access to enhanced food supplies. Thus, foraminifera play a largely unquantified but potentially significant role in deep-sea carbon cycling |
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