The Southern Ocean (SO) is the least understood environment on earth, but anthropogenic impacts related to climate change, fishing activities and tourism are already well-established in the region. Herein, we investigate biodiversity patterns in the Atlantic Sector of the SO by investigating a considerable number of samples collected from a wide depth range (89–6224 m). Three topics are addressed: (1) which taxa occur in the SO; (2) if there are distinct shelf, slope and abyssal faunas; and (3) which abiotic parameters explain the ostracod assemblages. We also tested putative ecological preferences of ostracod genera, widely used in palaeoceanographical reconstruction. For this, almost 5000 living ostracods from 51 epibenthic sledge samples were identified to 140 species. Statistically significant differences were observed among the faunas from the shelf, slope and abyssal faunas, indicating that the shelf fauna survived in refugia during the glacial periods of the Quaternary. Our analyses showed that the main variables influencing ostracod distribution is depth, followed by nitrate and phosphate. Temperature, salinity and oxygen content do not seem to be as important as previously proposed. Putative ecological preferences of ostracod genera, for example, low oxygen for Cytherella, could not be confirmed, suggesting that this topic requires further investigation.

中文翻译：

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来自大陆边缘和深渊的南大洋底栖介形动物（甲壳纲）的宏观生态学

南大洋 (SO) 是地球上了解最少的环境，但与气候变化、渔业活动和旅游业相关的人为影响已经在该地区确立。在这里，我们通过调查从广泛深度范围（89-6224 m）收集的大量样本来研究 SO 大西洋区的生物多样性模式。讨论了三个主题：（1）SO中出现了哪些分类群；(2) 是否有明显的陆架、斜坡和深海动物群；(3) 哪些非生物参数解释了介形虫的组合。我们还测试了广泛用于古海洋重建的介形虫属的假定生态偏好。为此，从 51 个表层底栖雪橇样本中，近 5000 条活介形虫被鉴定为 140 个物种。陆架、斜坡和深海动物群之间的差异有统计学意义，表明陆架动物群在第四纪冰期在避难所中存活。我们的分析表明，影响介形虫分布的主要变量是深度，其次是硝酸盐和磷酸盐。温度、盐度和氧含量似乎没有之前提出的那么重要。介形虫属的假定生态偏好，例如 Cytherella 的低氧，无法得到证实，这表明该主题需要进一步研究。温度、盐度和氧含量似乎没有之前提出的那么重要。介形虫属的假定生态偏好，例如 Cytherella 的低氧，无法得到证实，这表明该主题需要进一步研究。温度、盐度和氧含量似乎没有之前提出的那么重要。介形虫属的假定生态偏好，例如 Cytherella 的低氧，无法得到证实，这表明该主题需要进一步研究。