The relationship between the standing stock of deep-sea macrobenthos and surface production in the western North Atlantic

The relationship between surface production and benthic standing stock is fundamental to understanding biogeography in the deep sea. While much has been learned about the complex oceanographic processes involved in energy transfer to the benthos on local scales, the correspondence of overhead production to benthic community structure on regional scales remains poorly characterized. We compiled a database on the biomass and abundance of deep-sea macrobenthos in the western North Atlantic collected from 1961 to 1985. Using SeaWiFS satellite color imagery, we calculated POC from surface chlorophyll a concentrations (from 1997 to 2001), and estimated POC flux to the seafloor by using the empirically derived Pace et al. [1987. Primary production, new production and vertical flux in the eastern Pacific Ocean. Nature 325, 803–804] algorithm. The standing stock and surface production data are not concurrent, but their basic geographic trends at these very large spatial scales appear to be relatively stable over the time scales of measurement. Estimated POC flux at depth accounts for 62–67% of the variance ( P < 0.0001 ) in benthic standing stock, suggesting that macroecological studies of the relationship between satellite-derived surface production and deep-sea community structure may be possible.