%0 Journal Article %J rends in Ecology & Evolution %D 2001 %T Deep-sea ecosystem response to climate changes: the eastern Mediterranean case study %A R. Danovaro %A A.Tselepides %A M. Fabiano %A A. Pusceddu %A A. Dell'Anno %K changement climatique %K climate %K climate change %K deep sea ecosystem %K deep water %K deep-sea %K eastern Mediterranean %K eau profonde %K ecosystem %K écosystème profond %K fauna %K Mediterranean sea %K Méditerranée orientale %K Mer Méditerranée %K ocean %V 16 %X

Climate change is significantly modifying ecosystem functioning on a global scale, but little is known about the response of deep-sea ecosystems to such change. In the past decade, extensive climate change has modified the physico-chemical characteristics of deep waters in the eastern Mediterranean. Climate change has caused an immediate accumulation of organic matter on the deep-sea floor, altered the carbon and nitrogen cycles and has had negative effects on deep-sea bacteria and benthic fauna. Evidence from a miniature ocean model provides new ways of interpreting signals from the deep sea and indicates that, contrary to what might have been expected, deep-sea ecosystems do respond quickly to climate change.