title: Global patterns and predictions of seafloor biomass using random forests.
abstract: A comprehensive seafloor biomass and abundance database has been constructed from 24 oceanographic institutions worldwide within the Census of Marine Life (CoML) field projects. The machine-learning algorithm, Random Forests, was employed to model and predict seafloor standing stocks from surface primary production, water-column integrated and export particulate organic matter (POM), seafloor relief, and bottom water properties. The predictive models explain 63% to 88% of stock variance among the major size groups. Individual and composite maps of predicted global seafloor biomass and abundance are generated for bacteria, meiofauna, macrofauna, and megafauna (invertebrates and fishes). Patterns of benthic standing stocks were positive functions of surface primary production and delivery of the particulate organic carbon (POC) flux to the seafloor. At a regional scale, the census maps illustrate that integrated biomass is highest at the poles, on continental margins associated with coastal upwelling and with broad zones associated with equatorial divergence. Lowest values are consistently encountered on the central abyssal plains of major ocean basins The shift of biomass dominance groups with depth is shown to be affected by the decrease in average body size rather than abundance, presumably due to decrease in quantity and quality of food supply. This biomass census and associated maps are vital components of mechanistic deep-sea food web models and global carbon cycling, and as such provide fundamental information that can be incorporated into evidence-based management.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oceanography, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, United States of America. weic@tamug.edu
authors.forename: Chih-Lin
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.forename: Gilbert T
authors.initials: GT
authors.lastname: Rowe
authors.forename: Elva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Escobar-Briones
authors.forename: Antje
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Boetius
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Soltwedel
authors.forename: M Julian
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Caley
authors.forename: Yousria
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Soliman
authors.forename: Falk
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Huettmann
authors.forename: Fangyuan
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Qu
authors.forename: Zishan
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: C Roland
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Pitcher
authors.forename: Richard L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Haedrich
authors.forename: Mary K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Wicksten
authors.forename: Michael A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Rex
authors.forename: Jeffrey G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Baguley
authors.forename: Jyotsna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sharma
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Danovaro
authors.forename: Ian R
authors.initials: IR
authors.lastname: MacDonald
authors.forename: Clifton C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Nunnally
authors.forename: Jody W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Deming
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Montagna
authors.forename: Mélanie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lévesque
authors.forename: Jan Marcin
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Weslawski
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wlodarska-Kowalczuk
authors.forename: Baban S
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Ingole
authors.forename: Brian J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Bett
authors.forename: David S M
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Billett
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yool
authors.forename: Bodil A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Bluhm
authors.forename: Katrin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Iken
authors.forename: Bhavani E
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Narayanaswamy
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D000818:Animals; D001185:Artificial Intelligence; D044822:Biodiversity; D018533:Biomass; D002244:Carbon / Q000737:chemistry; D019295:Computational Biology / Q000379:methods; D017753:Ecosystem; D008386:Marine Biology / Q000379:methods*; D008954:Models, Biological; D009792:Oceans and Seas; D012044:Regression Analysis
chemical_list: D002244:Carbon