TY - JOUR
T1 - Deep-water macroid beds of the Ryukyu Islands, Japan
T2 - Encrusting acervulinids as ecosystem engineers
AU - Bassi, Davide
AU - Iryu, Yasufumi
AU - Humblet, Marc
AU - Matsuda, Hiroki
AU - Machiyama, Hideaki
AU - Sasaki, Keiichi
AU - Matsuda, Shinya
AU - Arai, Kohsaku
AU - Inoue, Takahiko
N1 - Funding Information:
This endeavor was funded in part under Grants in Aid for Scientific Research, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (18340163 and 21340152 to YI). This study was performed as preparatory research for offshore drilling of the COREF (coral-reef front) Project (Iryu et al., 2006). All necessary permits for sampling and observational field studies have been obtained by the authors from the competent authorities. Local research funds (FAR2014– 2016, FIR2016 at the University of Ferrara to DB) are also acknowledged. The authors are grateful to the editor and the two reviewers for helpful and constructive comments. The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.
Funding Information:
This endeavor was funded in part under Grants in Aid for Scientific Research, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (18340163 and 21340152 to YI). This study was performed as preparatory research for offshore drilling of the COREF (coral-reef front) Project (Iryu et al., 2006). All necessary permits for sampling and observational field studies have been obtained by the authors from the competent authorities. Local research funds (FAR2014-2016, FIR2016 at the University of Ferrara to DB) are also acknowledged. The authors are grateful to the editor and the two reviewers for helpful and constructive comments. The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.
Publisher Copyright:
© Coastal Education and Research Foundation, Inc. 2019.
PY - 2019/3
Y1 - 2019/3
N2 - Encrusting acervulinid foraminifera can produce centimeter-sized, free-living coated grains named macroids. Macroid beds are an interesting feature of subtidal environments and have been recognized as important carbonate producers, habitat-forming structures, and paleoenvironmental indicators. Macroids provide a hard, three-dimensional substrate serving as microhabitat for a wide range of diverse organisms. As yet, the most extensive known occurrence of macroid beds in the western Pacific Ocean is found on the insular shelf of Kikai-jima, a coral reef-related island in the central Ryukyu Islands. The surveyed beds occur at water depth of 61-105 m arrayed on a ca. 6-km2 area. Despite their importance for the benthic communities of the Ryukyu Islands, only in the last decade have sampling efforts led to a more comprehensive understanding of the beds' distribution, their structure and associated communities, and the data concerning the influence of environmental factors on macroid beds and their ecological dynamics. In this study, the available information on the biodiversity associated with the recently described Ryukyu macroid beds are reviewed. This review is intended to inform and influence future research and policy planning on this largely unexplored, highly diverse marine ecosystem.
AB - Encrusting acervulinid foraminifera can produce centimeter-sized, free-living coated grains named macroids. Macroid beds are an interesting feature of subtidal environments and have been recognized as important carbonate producers, habitat-forming structures, and paleoenvironmental indicators. Macroids provide a hard, three-dimensional substrate serving as microhabitat for a wide range of diverse organisms. As yet, the most extensive known occurrence of macroid beds in the western Pacific Ocean is found on the insular shelf of Kikai-jima, a coral reef-related island in the central Ryukyu Islands. The surveyed beds occur at water depth of 61-105 m arrayed on a ca. 6-km2 area. Despite their importance for the benthic communities of the Ryukyu Islands, only in the last decade have sampling efforts led to a more comprehensive understanding of the beds' distribution, their structure and associated communities, and the data concerning the influence of environmental factors on macroid beds and their ecological dynamics. In this study, the available information on the biodiversity associated with the recently described Ryukyu macroid beds are reviewed. This review is intended to inform and influence future research and policy planning on this largely unexplored, highly diverse marine ecosystem.
KW - Encrusting foraminifera
KW - benthic communities
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85062872220&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85062872220&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.2112/JCOASTRES-D-18-00049.1
DO - 10.2112/JCOASTRES-D-18-00049.1
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85062872220
SN - 0749-0208
VL - 35
SP - 467
EP - 479
JO - Journal of Coastal Research
JF - Journal of Coastal Research
IS - 2
ER -
