Influence of Introduced CO₂ on Deep-Sea Metazoan Meiofauna

An experiment was performed to determine the effect of injected CO2 on the deepsea (3200 m) meiofaunal community in the Monterey Canyon. Approximately 20 L of liquid CO2 was added to each of three cylindrical corrals (PVC rings pushed into the seabed) that were arranged in a triangular array 10 m on a side. After a 30-day period, sediment cores were collected within an area exposed to the dissolution plume emanating from the CO2 pools and from a reference site approximately 40 m away; cores were also collected from within two of the CO2 corrals. Sediment cores were sectioned into 0-5, 5-10, and 10-20 min layers. Abundances of major groups (harpacticoid copepods, nematodes, nauplii, kinorhynchs, polychaetes, and total meiofauna) were determined for each layer. CO2 exposure did not significantly influence the abundances or vertical distributions of any of the major taxa. However, other evidence suggests that abundance alone did not accurately reflect the effect of CO2 on meiofauna. We argue that slow decomposition rates of meiofaunal carcasses can mask adverse effects of CO2 and that longer experiments and/or careful examination of meiofaunal condition are needed to accurately evaluate CO2 effects on deep-sea meiofaunal communities.