| Megafaunal diversity in the deep sea shows a parabolic pattern with depth. It can be affected by factors such as low oxygen concentration, which suppresses diversity, or the presence of submarine canyons, which enhances it. Barkley Canyon, located off the west coast of British Columbia, Canada, is a submarine canyon that extends from the continental margin (200 m) into the deep ocean (2,000 m). This canyon receives drift kelp from shoreline kelp forests and contains an oxygen minimum zone (OMZ) at 500 to 1,500 m depth. Our study investigated the abundance and diversity of epibenthic megafauna over a range of depths (200–2,000 m) and oxygen concentrations (0.5–5.0 ml/L) within Barkley Canyon, as well as changes in abundance near detrital kelp. Video was... |
