ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION: 



SUMMARY AND SYNTHESIS 



BIOLOGICAL COMMUNITIES OF NORTH ATLANTIC SUBMARINE CANYONS 



Dr. Barbara Hecker, Chairperson 



Lament Doherty Geological Observatory 



Palisades, NY 



Barbara Hecker assumed the chair for the discussion of biological 

 communities in submarine canyons. In somewhat the same format as Butman, she 

 presented a series of statements for discussion, amendment, and consensus. 



■ Do biological characteristics of canyon populations differ from those 

 of the outer continental shelf/upper slope in the following ways? 



Meqafauna Infauna 



(all (Lydonia 



canyons) only) 



1. Higher Biomass Y Y 



2. Higher Density Y Y 



3. Faunally mediated contaminant 

 concentration via filter 



feeding strategies (inferred)* Y Y 



4. Nurseries for commercial species Y 



5. Higher concentration of 



commercial species Y 



^See also reviewer comment in Appendix A. 



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