International Journal of Molecular Ecology and Conservation, 2025, Vol.15, No.4, 163-174 http://ecoevopublisher.com/index.php/ijmec 1 63 Research Insight Open Access Ecological Succession and Community Dynamics at Whale Fall Sites Manman Li Hainan Institute of Biotechnology, Haikou, 570206, Hainan, China Corresponding email: manman.li@hitar.org International Journal of Molecular Ecology and Conservation, 2025, Vol.15, No.4 doi: 10.5376/ijmec.2025.15.0017 Received: 16 May, 2025 Accepted: 24 Jun., 2025 Published: 18 Jul., 2025 Copyright © 2025 Li, This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Preferred citation for this article: Li M.M., 2025, Ecological succession and community dynamics at whale fall sites, International Journal of Molecular Ecology and Conservation, 15(4): 163-174 (doi: 10.5376/ijmec.2025.15.0017) Abstract This study reviews the research progress in whale fall ecology in recent years, focusing on the definition and discovery history of whale falls, the division of ecological succession stages, the dynamic driving mechanism of communities, and the connection between whale falls and other deep-sea ecosystems (cold seep, hydrothermal). It also compares the similarities and differences among whale fall communities in different sea areas and whale species. Research shows that whale falls, as unique "nutrient islands" in the deep sea, have nurtured rich and specialized biological communities, and their succession process reflects complex interspecific interactions and energy flow mechanisms. The decomposition process of whale carcasses releases a huge amount of organic matter, triggering continuous ecological succession stages, including the scavenging stage, the eutrophic opportunism stage, the sulfide-driven stage, and the oligotrophic "reef" stage. The species composition and functional dynamics vary in each stage. Whale fall ecosystems play a significant role in maintaining deep-sea biodiversity, promoting the cycle of energy and matter, and connecting scattered chemical energy ecological hotspots. In-depth research on the dynamics of whale fall communities not only helps to understand the evolution and adaptation strategies of deep-sea life, but also facilitates the assessment of the role of whale falls in the carbon cycle and deep-sea ecological functions, providing a scientific basis for the conservation of deep-sea biodiversity and resource management. Keywords Whale fall; Deep-sea ecosystem; Ecological succession; Biodiversity; Chemosynthetic habitat 1 Introduction whale fall refers to the isolated ecosystem formed when large cetaceans die and sink to the bottom of the sea. The deep-sea environment is characterized by a scarcity of energy and food, and has long been referred to as the "Marine desert". However, when a huge whale carcass falls into the deep sea, it is like an oasis emerging in the desert, suddenly providing rich nutrient supply and habitat for deep-sea creatures (Yin et al., 2023). The large amount of organic matter carried by whale falls can be decomposed and utilized for decades to hundreds of years, and is hailed as the "gift" of deep-sea life (Silva et al., 2021; Li et al., 2022). Research shows that a 30-ton whale carcass contains approximately 1.2×10 3 kilograms of organic carbon, equivalent to the amount of carbon received by a 100-square-meter deep-sea bed over 1,000 years. Such concentrated organic matter input has broken the normal oligotrophic state in the deep sea, significantly increased local biomass and biological activity, and made whales an important hotspot for deep-sea biodiversity (Martin et al., 2021). For instance, at least 43 species, totaling approximately 12,490 biological individuals, were recorded on a whale fall on the seabed of the North Pacific Ocean, far exceeding the biological abundance of the surrounding background environment (Li et al., 2022). Whale falls not only provide a food source, but also the sulfides released from the decomposition of lipid in their bones can support chemoautotrophic biomes, similar to chemoautotrophic ecosystems such as cold seep and black chimney (Silva et al., 2021; Pearson et al., 2023). Meanwhile, whale falls may act as "stepping stones" to promote the diffusion of deep-sea sulfide-dependent organisms among dispersed geochemical habitats (Pereira et al., 2020; Silva et al., 2021). Due to the contingency and spatial limitations of whale fall formation, there have been relatively few related studies in the past (Li et al., 2022). However, in recent years, with the development of deep-sea technology and the rise of interdisciplinary research, whale fall ecology has received increasing attention (Yin et al., 2023).
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