Deep-sea ecosystems represent the largest biome of the global biosphere, but knowledge of
their biodiversity is still scant. The Mediterranean basin has been proposed as a hot spot of …

Submarine canyons are major geomorphic features of continental margins around the world.
Several recent multidisciplinary projects focused on the study of canyons have considerably …

Submarine canyons are morphological incisions into continental margins that act as major
conduits of sediment from shallow-to deep-sea regions. However, the exact mechanisms …

The distribution, type and quantity of marine litter accumulated on the bathyal and abyssal
Mediterranean seafloor has been studied in the framework of the Spanish national projects …

We assessed spatio-temporal patterns of diversity in deep-sea sediment communities using
metabarcoding. We chose a recently developed eukaryotic marker based on the v7 region of …

Abstract The Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD), introduced in June 2008, was
adopted to achieve a Good Environmental Status (GES) in the EU's marine waters and to …

Commercial bottom trawling is one of the anthropogenic activities causing the biggest
impact on the seafloor due to its recurrence and global distribution. In particular, trawling has …

Submarine canyons influence oceanographic processes, sediment transport, productivity
and benthic biodiversity from the continental shelf to the slope and beyond. However, not all …

Fishing gear and techniques have evolved through the centuries, and particularly after the
Second World War, towards a mass production industry in such a scale that it has placed …

This volume compiles a number of scientific papers resulting from a sustained
multidisciplinary research effort of the deep-sea ecosystem in the Mediterranean Sea. This …