Data from: Predator-guided sampling reveals biotic structure in the bathypelagic

We targeted habitat used differentially by deep-diving, air-breathing predators to empirically sample their prey’s distributions off southern California. Fine-scale measurements of the spatial variability of potential prey animals from the surface to 1200 m were obtained using conventional fisheries echosounders aboard a surface ship and uniquely integrated into a deep-diving autonomous vehicle. Significant spatial variability in the size, composition, total biomass, and spatial organization of biota was evident over all spatial scales examined and was consistent with the general distribution patterns of foraging Cuvier’s beaked whales (Ziphius cavirostris) observed in separate studies. Striking differences were found in prey characteristics between regions at depth, however, did not reflect differences observed in surface layers. These differences in deep pelagic structure horizontally and relative to surface structure, absent clear physical differences, change our long-held views of this habitat as uniform. The revelation that animals deep in the water column are so spatially heterogeneous at scales from 10 m to 50 km critically affects our understanding of the processes driving predator-prey interactions, energy transfer, biogeochemical cycling and other ecological processes in the deep sea, and the connections between the productive surface mixed layer and the deep water column.本研究以加利福尼亚南部外海为研究区域，选取需上浮呼吸的深潜捕食者的差异化利用生境为目标，通过实证采样获取其猎物的分布数据。研究采用水面科考船搭载的常规渔业回声测深仪，以及创新性集成于深潜自主水下航行器的同类设备，获取了从表层至1200米深度范围内潜在猎物的空间变异精细尺度测量数据。在所考察的所有空间尺度下，生物群落的个体大小、物种组成、总生物量及空间组织格局均呈现显著空间变异，且与独立研究中观测到的觅食期柯氏喙鲸（Ziphius cavirostris）的总体分布模式相符。然而，不同深度区域间的猎物特征虽存在显著差异，但该差异并未对应表层水体中观测到的猎物特征差异。尽管未伴随明确的物理环境差异，深海浮游生态结构在水平方向及相对于表层结构的上述差异，颠覆了我们长期以来认为该生境均质化的固有认知。水体深层生物在10米至50千米的尺度上呈现显著空间异质性，这一发现深刻重塑了我们对深海中驱动捕食者-猎物相互作用、能量传递、生物地球化学循环及其他生态过程的机制的理解，同时也更新了我们对高生产力表层混合层与深水水体之间关联的认知。