Abstract
Marine benthic meiofauna (microscopic metazoans between 45 and 1000 µm in size) reside in one of the largest habitat on Earth, forming one of its most diverse metazoan communities, while playing important role in ecosystem processes. Yet, the scale and patterns of their diversity remain largely unknown to science, as it is estimated that only 1% of meiofaunal species are identified. This is due mainly to the extended time needed to study meiofaunal diversity and the common taxonomic ambiguity of these fauna. A new powerful molecular method to investigate metazoan diversity has recently been developed at Bangor University, UK. This method uses advances in second-generation sequencing technology to perform large-scale analysis of meiofaunal taxon richness through the analysis of homologous genetic markers, reducing significantly the time and work necessary for analysis of meiofaunal diversity, therefore allowing for the investigation of ecological questions previously unfeasible due to practical limitations. In soft-sediment ecosystems ecological interactions with the larger macrofauna can shape the community structure of the smaller meiofauna. In the Baltic Sea such interactions have recently been altered by the invasion of three polychaete species. The impact of the activity of these invasive polychaetes on meiofauna is currently unknown. I propose to apply this new powerful molecular method to investigate the impacts of these polyhaetes on meiofaunal diversity.
Sweden