Beeckman, T.; Caemelbeke, K. (Ed.) (1998). Populations: Natural and manipulated, symposium organized by the Royal Society of Natural Sciences Dodonaea, University of Gent, 29 October 1997. Biologisch Jaarboek (Dodonaea), 65. Koninklijk Natuurwetenschappelijk Genootschap Dodonaea: Gent. 257 pp., more
The meiobenthos community in this extreme habitat associated with tectonical activity, was dominated by nematodes. Nematode densities were slightly lower in hydrothermal vents compared to the control areas. The inactive vent sites had a rather scarce fauna. All nematode genera from the hydrothermal stations were already described. Although hydro-thermal vents harbour a specialized endemic macrofauna, the nematode communities resemble more to those of the control stations than to those investigated at other sulfide-rich environments (f.i. hydrothermal vents, cold-seeps and organically enriched sediments). A shift in size towards larger animals can be found in the nematode communities of hydrothermal sediments compared to those of the deep-sea stations. The biodiversity was lower in the hydrothermal stations compared to the control stations. The vent sites can be regarded as biogeographic. Therefore migration of nematodes between such isolated sites is difficult, islands, where the ephimerical, hydrothermal activity is restricted in time and space keeping in mind their small size and the absence of planctonic juvenile stages.
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