43
2 Deep-sea Environment
abundance in the deeper layers of the sediment column. Bacteria, omnipresent in
all environments, form an essential component of deep-sea biological communities
where they represent the largest share of the biomass, and play a vital role by recycling organic matter on the seabed. The structural traits of these sediment communities vary spatially with environmental parameters such as depth, latitude and all
Fig. 2.1 Holothuroidea Psychropotes longicauda on nodule-covered floor of the Pacific
Fig. 2.2 Polychaete annelid
worms, dominant group of
sediment macrofauna
2 Deep-sea Environment
abundance in the deeper layers of the sediment column. Bacteria, omnipresent in
all environments, form an essential component of deep-sea biological communities
where they represent the largest share of the biomass, and play a vital role by recycling organic matter on the seabed. The structural traits of these sediment communities vary spatially with environmental parameters such as depth, latitude and all
Fig. 2.1 Holothuroidea Psychropotes longicauda on nodule-covered floor of the Pacific
Fig. 2.2 Polychaete annelid
worms, dominant group of
sediment macrofauna