A recent study has pulled back the curtain on the hidden world beneath the waves of the Black Sea, offering a detailed look at its benthic ecosystem – the life that thrives on the seafloor. Researchers have compiled a massive dataset, covering the years 1995 to 2017, to understand how this underwater community has changed.
The study dove deep, analyzing data from 237 different sampling locations. They examined 127 different types of creatures and 27 key characteristics, or traits, that reveal how these organisms respond to their environment and contribute to the overall health of the ecosystem. These traits include everything from how long they live to how they help mix the seabed and create habitats for other creatures.
The research sheds light on how factors like a decrease in pollution and rising water temperatures are impacting the bottom-dwelling community. The findings provide crucial insights into the Black Sea's delicate balance and how environmental changes are affecting the life within it. The study was conducted by an international team of scientists led by Sophie Chevalier (Institute of Marine Research, France), and published in the journal *Marine Ecology Progress*.