Southern Ocean deep-sea biodiversity—From patterns to processes

The Southern Ocean is characterized by a narrow and deep shelf, an almost isothermal water column and a large area of deep sea surrounding Antarctica. However, knowledge of the deep-sea faunal composition, particularly in the Southern Ocean, is still scarce in comparison with shelf and upper slope environment. For that reason a deep-sea project was devoted to investigate this little-known area of the Southern Ocean. ANDEEP (ANtarctic benthic DEEP-sea biodiversity: colonisation history and recent community patterns) took place in 2002–2005 and provided first insights into the biodiversity and biogeography of Southern Ocean benthic animals from meio- to megafauna. The results with the very general patterns are outlined here. Based on the knowledge on biodiversity patterns gained through ANDEEP, a follow-up project, ANDEEP-SYSTCO (SYSTem COupling), was established in the international polar year in order to investigate the processes driving the biodiversity pattern observed. This expedition took place in 2007/2008 and only preliminary data can be presented at this stage given that the material was available for only a couple of months since the return of R.V. Polarstern. Some key results identified after the SYSTCO expedition are presented.