Comparing Seamounts and Coral Reefs with eDNA and BRUVS Reveals Oases and Refuges on Shallow Seamounts.

ABSTRACT: Seamounts are the least known ocean biome. Considered biodiversity hotspots, biomass oases, and refuges for megafauna, large gaps exist in their real diversity relative to other ecosystems like coral reefs. Using environmental DNA metabarcoding (eDNA) and baited video (BRUVS), we compared fish assemblages across five environments of different depths: coral reefs (15 m), shallow seamounts (50 m), continental slopes (150 m), intermediate seamounts (250 m), and deep seamounts (500 m). We modeled assemblages using 12 environmental variables and found depth to be the main driver of fish diversity and biomass, although other variables like human accessibility were important. Boosted Regression Trees (BRT) revealed a strong negative effect of depth on species richness, segregating coral reefs fro

SUBMITTER: Baletaud F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10669620 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature