EarthRef.org Digital Archive (ERDA) -- The Supply of Food and Larvae to Benthic Seamount Communities

Description
Physical processes at seamounts influence the transport and retention of living and non-living particles. When fluxes of particles such as small plankton or detritus are enhanced near a seamount, the food supply to benthic organisms is increased. When particles such as larvae of benthic organisms are retained near a seamount, their recruitment into the natal populations may be increased, but their exchange with other seamount populations will be limited. Lauren Mullineaux explores how the physical processes at seamounts appear to influence food supply to the populations of suspension-feeding corals and sponges that live there in dense aggregations in this keynote presentation for the First SBN Workshop. She also reviews the evidence for retention of larvae and other particles near seamounts and considers the implications of larval retention for population connectivity and endemism of benthic species.

Project -- Meetings and Workshops -- SBN Workshops
The goal of the Seamount Biogeosciences Network (SBN) is to bring together all the diverse science disciplines involved in seamount research, to communicate about and discuss seamount science, and to explore innovative ways to network amongst the diverse communities working on seamounts.