MEIOBENTHOS OF THE DEEP NORTHEAST ATLANTIC

This chapter throws the attention on the meiobenthos of the deep northeast Atlantic. The main purpose of this chapter is to summarize new results from an area lying between 15°N and 53°N and extending from the continental margin of western Europe and northwest Africa to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. It considers first the nature and scope of meiofaunal research in the northeast Atlantic and then discuss the environmental parameters, which are believed to influence meiofaunal organisms. This chapter then discusses the various types and scales of pattern observed among meiofaunal populations within the study area, progressing from the large-scale bathymetric and latitudinal trends and then to small-scale horizontal patterns within particular areas. Faunal densities and faunal composition are considered separately and compared with data from other regions. This chapter also deals with the distribution of meiofauna within sediment profiles and the temporal variability of populations. This chapter concludes by discussing the recent review of deep-sea meiofauna, which focused mainly on the abundance and biomass data from different oceans and on the relationship between the biomass of the meiofauna and that of other faunal components. © 1994 Academic Press Limited