Benthic microbial biogeographic trends in the North Sea are shaped by an interplay of environmental drivers and bottom trawling effort.

ABSTRACT: Microbial composition and diversity in marine sediments are shaped by environmental, biological, and anthropogenic processes operating at different scales. However, our understanding of benthic microbial biogeography remains limited. Here, we used 16S rDNA amplicon sequencing to characterize benthic microbiota in the North Sea from the top centimeter of 339 sediment samples. We utilized spatially explicit statistical models, to disentangle the effects of the different predictors, including bottom trawling intensity, a prevalent industrial fishing practice which heavily impacts benthic ecosystems. Fitted models demonstrate how the geographic interplay of different environmental and anthropogenic drivers shapes the diversity, structure and potential metabolism of benthic microbial communitie

SUBMITTER: Bonthond G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10724143 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature