About three million shipwrecks are worldwide, affecting life in these deep-sea beds more than was thought. Most of these man-made ships are composed of wood, where evidence shows that microbes thrive and are breeding, as noted in a study. These artificial structures seem to impact the marine environment that would not happen if they weren't there.
Shipwrecks as Underwater Habitats
According to researchers, such man-made structures have a massive effect on the delicate ecosystems at the ocean's bottom, to such a degree that hasn't earlier been understood, reported Science Alert.
Deep-sea microbes that reside on submerged shipwrecks are at the bottom of the food chain. Changes to them could have repercussions for other marine life and, eventually, everything living on land noted in the study.
Molecular microbial ecologist Leila Hamdan, of the University of Southern Mississippi, wrote in Frontiers, Microbial communities are important to be aware of and understand because they provide early and clear evidence of how human activities change life in deep-sea beds.
Hamdan and colleagues selected two shipwreck spots in the Gulf of Mexico to do research. They positioned pine and oak blocks all around wreck sites for four months, from right next to the shipwrecks to up to 200 meters (656 feet) away.
These wooden blocks were recovered near man-made shipwrecks and measured for bacteria, archaea, and fungi.
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What Is the Best Wood for Microbial Biodiversity?
The type of wood also mattered, with oak being better for microbial biodiversity than pine. This type of wood also made a difference, with oak more favorable to microbial biodiversity than pine.
Natural hard habitats, like trees that fall into rivers and the oceans, have already been known to have an impact on the biodiversity of the water they fall into, noted Journals PLOS.
Hamdan remarked these biofilms are what permit hard habitats to become more biodiversity islands in the finish.
The existence of the wrecks accelerated microbial abundance in the aquatic environment and happened to change the composition and distribution patterns of the biofilm communities holding microbes at both sites.
Water depth and nearness to other nutrient sources, like the Mississippi River delta, both impacted microbial life as anticipated.
More studies should be done to look into the biodiversity at a much farther range of all sites, and these results are proof that shipwrecks are factors in underwater biodiversity.
Other human-made structures, including oil rigs, could impact deep-sea microbiomes, and more research is justified to find specific details.
Hamdan added that the human effect on the seabed is increasing through multiple economic uses, but scientific discovery is not keeping pace with how this shapes the biology and chemistry of natural undersea landscapes.
Man-made shipwrecks affect life in deep-sea beds, as seen in the study, but more needs to be done with other human structures.
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