Influence of deep-water corals and sponges gardens on infaunal community composition and ecosystem functioning in the Eastern Canadian Arctic

Samples were collected at two sites in the Eastern Canadian Arctic (Figure 1) aboard the scientific icebreaker CCGS Amundsen. The sampling positions at biogenic and non-biogenic habitats were defined during ROV video surveys at the two sites (Figure 2a-d). Positions were carefully selected to avoid overlap between the two types of habitats (i.e., when most of the camera’s field of view was dominated by a single habitat over the course of approximatively 5 meters). At each site, we deployed two box cores (0.5 × 0.5 m) per habitat (i.e., inside the biogenic structures and in the bare sediment; Figure 2e) approximately 200 m apart in FB site and 500 m apart in BB site. From each box core, we collected three sediment cores (i.d = 9.8 cm, H = 30 cm) for a total of six cores per habitat and 12 cores per site. Sediment cores sampled in biogenic structures habitats were visually exempted from biogenic structures. Bottom (10 m above the seafloor) temperature, salinity and oxygen saturation at each site were recorded with a conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) probe. Sediment cores were incubated in the dark at a temperature-controlled room (2-4°C) until a maximum of 20% of available oxygen was consumed. Sediment samples for chlorophyll a, phaeopigments and sediment properties were also collected from each box core. sediment cores were sieved through a 500 µm mesh sieve to collect infauna. Organisms were fixed with 4% formaldehyde solution. They were sorted under a dissecting microscope in the laboratory and identified to the lowest possible taxonomic level.