The increasing demand for metals is pushing forward the progress of deep-sea mining industry. The abyss between the Clarion and Clipperton Fracture Zones (CCFZ), a region holding a higher concentration of minerals than land deposits, is the most targeted area for the exploration of polymetallic nodules worldwide, which may likely disturb the seafloor across large areas and over many years. Effects from nodule extraction cause acute biodiversity loss of organisms inhabiting sediments and polymetallic nodules. Attention to deep-sea ecosystems and their services has to be considered before mining starts but the lack of basic scientific knowledge on the methodologies for the ecological surveys of fauna in the context of deep-sea mining impacts is still scarce. We review the methodology to sample, process and investigate metazoan infauna both inhabiting sediments and nodules dwelling on these polymetallic-nodule areas. We suggest effective procedures for sampling designs, devices and methods involving gear types, sediment processing, morphological and genetic identification including metabarcoding and proteomic fingerprinting, the assessment of biomass, functional traits, fatty acids, and stable isotope studies within the CCFZ based on both first-hand experiences and literature. We recommend multi- and boxcorers for the quantitative assessments of meio- and macrofauna, respectively. The assessment of biodiversity at species level should be focused and/or the combination of morphological with metabarcoding or proteomic fingerprinting techniques. We highlight that biomass, functional traits, and trophic markers may provide critical insights for biodiversity assessments and how statistical modeling facilitates predicting patterns spatially across point-source data and is essential for conservation management.

中文翻译：

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可靠评估深海多金属结核开采对深海动物群的潜在生态影响

对金属日益增长的需求正在推动深海采矿业的进步。克拉里昂和克利珀顿断裂带 (CCFZ) 之间的深渊是一个矿产比陆地矿床更集中的地区，是全球多金属结核勘探的最有针对性的地区，这可能会扰乱大面积和许多地区的海底。年。结核提取的影响导致栖息在沉积物中的生物和多金属结核的生物多样性急剧丧失。在开始采矿之前必须考虑对深海生态系统及其服务的关注，但在深海采矿影响的背景下，仍然缺乏关于动物群生态调查方法的基本科学知识。我们审查抽样方法，处理和调查栖息在这些多金属结核区的沉积物和结核的后生动物群。我们建议有效的采样设计、设备和方法涉及齿轮类型、沉积物处理、形态学和遗传识别，包括元条形码和蛋白质组指纹识别、生物量评估、功能性状、脂肪酸和 CCFZ 内的稳定同位素研究- 手经验和文学。我们建议分别对小型动物和大型动物进行定量评估的 multi- 和 boxcorers。物种水平的生物多样性评估应侧重于和/或形态学与元条形码或蛋白质组指纹技术的结合。我们强调生物量、功能性状、