2026-10-12T12:33:52Z https://api.figshare.com/v2/oai

oai:figshare.com:article/33888964 2026-09-17T12:11:15Z category_24217 category_24226 category_24358 item_type_3 month_year_09_2026

Raw data of Bonthond et al. "Bottom trawling impacts on faunal and microbial communities increase seafloor carbon loss " Guido Bonthond (24986083) Jan Beermann (8013614) Alexa Wrede (20826037) Vera Sidorenko (19263136) Peter J. Schupp (11977147) Lars Gutow (6975191) Community ecology (excl. invasive species ecology) Marine and estuarine ecology (incl. marine ichthyology) Microbial ecology Bottom Trawling structural equation models (SEMs) sediment microbiota benthic fauna Carbon sequestration <p dir="ltr">Bottom trawling threatens the long-term storage of organic carbon in marine sediments by remobilizing sedimentary organic matter (SOM). It also alters faunal and microbial communities, but the consequences of these ecological changes for carbon storage are insufficiently understood.</p><p dir="ltr">We combined faunal and microbial datasets from the North Sea and used structural equation modeling to disentangle direct effects of bottom trawling on SOM and biota mediated effects. One third of trawling-induced SOM loss was mediated by benthic faunal and microbial shifts. Microbial communities directly affected SOM, and SOM loss coincided with increased microbial aerobic respiration potential and reduced assimilation processes. Benthic fauna influenced SOM by shaping benthic microbiota. Faunal diversity and bioturbation promoted microbial shifts, that favored SOM.</p><p dir="ltr">Our results demonstrate that bottom trawling alters seafloor carbon storage in part by disrupting faunal-microbial interactions. Microbial community shifts represent a key, yet underestimated, component of the mechanisms regulating SOM, and warrant better integration into assessments of seafloor carbon storage under anthropogenic pressures.</p> 2026-09-17T12:11:15Z Dataset Dataset 10.6084/m9.figshare.33888964.v1 https://figshare.com/articles/dataset/Raw_data_of_Bonthond_et_al_Bottom_trawling_impacts_on_faunal_and_microbial_communities_increase_seafloor_carbon_loss_/33888964 CC BY 4.0