Figure 1.
Bathymetric map of the study area.
Map of the Mediterranean Sea, with bathymetry and showing the location of sampling sites. WM: Western Mediterranean (southern Balearic), CM: Central Mediterranean (western Ionian), EM: Eastern Mediterranean (south of Crete).
Figure 2.
Isotopic biplots for the deep Mediterranean Sea.
Mean δ13C and δ15N values for megafauna and plankton components in the 3 basins of the Mediterranean Sea at 3 different depths. Isotopic ellipses for each site are drawn separately for fishes (green) and crustaceans (brown) of benthic megafauna. Colour codes for points: yellow – microplankton, red – mesozooplankton, green – mesopelagic macroplankton, grey – demersal megafauna.
Table 1.
Isotopic parameters for pelagic and benthic compartments.
Figure 3.
Surface modulation of deep trophic dynamics.
Scatterplots showing the correlation between surface microplankton biomass (A) and surface productivity (B, estimated by fluorescence) against benthic trophic parameters: community niche width (TA, filled circles) and food sources diversity (dCR, open circles).