Abstract Due to the predicted future demand for critical metals, abyssal plains covered with polymetallic nodules are currently being prospected for deep-seabed mining. Deep-seabed mining will lead to significant sediment disturbance over large spatial scales and for extended periods of time. The environmental impact of a small-scale sediment disturbance was studied during the ‘DISturbance and reCOLonization’ (DISCOL) experiment in the Peru Basin in 1989 when 10.8 km2 of seafloor were ploughed with a plough harrow. Here, we present a detailed description of carbon-based food-web models constructed from various datasets collected in 2015, 26 years after the experiment. Detailed observations of the benthic food web were made at three distinct sites: inside 26-year old plough tracks (IPT, subjected to direct impact from ploughing), outside the plough tracks (OPT, exposed to settling of resuspended sediment), and at reference sites (REF, no impact). The observations were used to develop highly-resolved food-web models for each site that quantified the carbon (C) fluxes between biotic (ranging from prokaryotes to various functional groups in meio-, macro-, and megafauna) and abiotic (e.g. detritus) compartments. The model outputs were used to estimate total system throughput, i.e., the sum of all C flows in the food web (the ‘ecological size’ of the system), and microbial loop functioning, i.e., the C-cycling through the prokaryotic compartment for each site. Both the estimated total system throughput and the microbial loop cycling were significantly reduced (by 16% and 35%, respectively) inside the plough tracks compared to the other two sites. Site differences in modelled faunal respiration varied among the different faunal compartments. Overall, modelled faunal respiration appeared to have recovered to, or exceeded reference values after 26-years. The model results indicate that food-web functioning, and especially the microbial loop, have not recovered from the disturbance that was inflicted on the abyssal site 26 years ago.

中文翻译：

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深渊食物网模型表明在沉积物扰动实验 26 年后动物群碳流恢复和微生物循环受损

摘要 由于预测未来对关键金属的需求，目前正在对多金属结核覆盖的深海平原进行深海海底采矿勘探。深海海底采矿将导致大空间尺度和长时间内的重大沉积物扰动。1989 年在秘鲁盆地进行的“扰动和再殖民化”(DISCOL) 实验期间，用犁耙犁了 10.8 平方公里的海底，研究了小规模沉积物扰动对环境的影响。在这里，我们详细描述了从 2015 年，即实验后 26 年收集的各种数据集构建的基于碳的食物网模型。在三个不同地点对底栖食物网进行了详细观察：在 26 年历史的犁道内（IPT，受到耕作的直接影响），在犁轨外（OPT，暴露于重悬沉积物的沉降）和参考点（REF，无影响）。观察结果用于为每个站点开发高分辨率食物网模型，量化生物（从原核生物到小型、大型和巨型动物中的各种功能组）和非生物（例如碎屑）之间的碳 (C) 通量隔间。模型输出用于估计总系统吞吐量，即食物网中所有 C 流量的总和（系统的“生态大小”）和微生物循环功能，即 C 循环通过原核隔室每个站点。与其他两个站点相比，犁轨道内的估计总系统吞吐量和微生物循环循环均显着减少（分别减少 16% 和 35%）。模拟动物呼吸的现场差异在不同的动物区室之间有所不同。总体而言，模拟的动物呼吸似乎在 26 年后恢复到或超过了参考值。模型结果表明，食物网的功能，尤其是微生物循环，尚未从 26 年前对深海遗址造成的干扰中恢复过来。