Abyssal traces and megafauna: comparison of productivity, diversity and density in the Arctic and Antarctic

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Abstract
The megafauna and associated behavioral traces of two deep-sea benthic environments, the central Arctic and Antarctic, with a surface primary productivity differential of 104 were compared to assess the role of food availability in foraging strategy and community structure. Bottom photographs, analyzed for megafauna and trace density and diversity at comparable depths in the Arctic Canada Basin and the Antarctic Bellingshausen Basin, indicated that trace frequency was inversely proportional to organism density but that trace diversity directly reflected organism diversity. Those traces identified in the fossil record to represent efficient foraging strategies, i.e., the Nereites facies, were conspicuously absent at all depths in the Arctic and present at all depths in the Antarctic, in contradiction of the paradigm of increasing behavioral complexity and sediment exploitation as food availability decreases. Presence or absence of surface-grazing organisms seems to exert a greater influence on trace diversity than depth or nutrient supply. Trace density, however, may reflect episodic sedimentation events which intermittently influence the deep-sea trophic regime.