No abstract

Video and image data are regularly used in the field of benthic ecology to document biodiversity. However, their use is subject to a number of challenges, principally the identification of taxa within the images without associated physical specimens. The challenge of applying traditional taxonomic keys to the identification of fauna from images has led to the development of personal, group, or institution level reference image catalogues of operational taxonomic units (OTUs) or morphospecies. Lack of standardisation among these reference catalogues has led to problems with observer bias and the inability to combine datasets across studies. In addition, lack of a common reference standard is stifling efforts in the application of artificial intelligence to taxon identification. Using the North Atlantic deep sea as a case study, we propose a database structure to facilitate standardisation of morphospecies image catalogues between research groups and support future use in multiple front-end applications. We also propose a framework for coordination of international efforts to develop reference guides for the identification of marine species from images. The proposed structure maps to the Darwin Core standard to allow integration with existing databases. We suggest a management framework where high-level taxonomic groups are curated by a regional team, consisting of both end users and taxonomic experts. We identify a mechanism by which overall quality of data within a common reference guide could be raised over the next decade. Finally, we discuss the role of a common reference standard in advancing marine ecology and supporting sustainable use of this ecosystem.

Vulnerable marine ecosystems (VMEs) are at risk from the impacts of deep-sea trawling.Identifying the presence of VMEs in high seas fisheries management areas has to date relied mainly on presence records, or on habitat suitability models of VME indicator taxa (e.g., the stony coral species Solenosmilia variabilis Duncan, 1873) as proxies for the occurrence of VMEs (e.g., cold-water coral reefs). However, the presence or predicted presence of indicator taxa does not necessarily equate to the occurrence of a VME. There have been very few attempts to determine density thresholds of VME indicator taxa that relate to a "significant concentration" which supports a "high diversity" of associated taxa, as per the current criterion for identifying structurally complex VMEs (FAO, 2009). Without knowing such thresholds, identifications of VMEs will continue to be subjective, impeding efforts to design effective spatial management measures for VMEs. To address this issue, we used seafloor video and still image data from the Louisville Seamount Chain off New Zealand to model relationships between the densities of live Solenosmilia variabilis coral heads, as well as percent cover of live and dead coral matrix, and the number of other epifauna taxa present. Analyses were conducted at three spatial scales; 50 and 25 m 2 for video, and 2 m 2 for stills. Model curves exhibited initial steep positive responses reaching thresholds for the number of live coral heads at 0.11 m −2 (50 m 2 ), 0.14 m −2 (25 m 2 ), and 0.85 m −2 (2 m 2 ). Both live and dead coral cover were positively correlated with the number of associated taxa up to about 30% cover, for all spatial scales (24.5-28%). We discuss the results in the context of past and future efforts to develop criteria for identifying VMEs.

A significant proportion of Southern Ocean seafloor biodiversity is thought to be associated with fragile, slow growing, long-lived, and habitat-forming taxa. Minimizing adverse impact to these so-called vulnerable marine ecosystems (VMEs) is a conservation priority that is often managed by relying on fisheries bycatch data, combined with threshold-based conservation rules in which all “indicator” taxa are considered equal. However, VME indicator taxa have different vulnerabilities to fishing disturbance and more consideration needs to be given to how these taxa may combine to form components of ecosystems with high conservation value. Here, we propose a multi-criteria approach to VME identification that explicitly considers multiple taxa identified from imagery as VME indicator morpho-taxa. Each VME indicator morpho-taxon is weighted differently, based on its vulnerability to fishing. Using the “Antarctic Seafloor Annotated Imagery Database”, where 53 VME indicator morpho-taxa were manually annotated generating >40000 annotations, we computed an index of cumulative abundance and overall richness and assigned it to spatial grid cells. Our analysis quantifies the assemblage-level vulnerability to fishing, and allows assemblages to be characterized, e.g. as highly diverse or highly abundant. The implementation of this quantitative method is intended to enhance VME identification and contextualize the bycatch events.

75Video and image data are regularly used in the field of benthic ecology to document 76 biodiversity. However, their use is subject to a number of challenges, principally the 77 identification of taxa within the images without associated physical specimens. The 78 challenge of applying traditional taxonomic keys to the identification of fauna from 79 images has led to the development of personal, group, or institution level reference 80 image catalogues of operational taxonomic units (OTUs) or morphospecies. Lack of 81 standardisation among these reference catalogues has led to problems with 82 observer bias and the inability to combine datasets across studies. In addition, lack 83 of a common reference standard is stifling efforts in the application of artificial 84 intelligence to taxon identification. Using the North Atlantic deep sea as a case 85 study, we propose a database structure to facilitate standardisation of 86 morphospecies image catalogues between research groups and support future use 87 in multiple front-end applications. We also propose a framework for coordination of 88 international efforts to develop reference guides for the identification of marine 89 species from images. The proposed structure follows the Darwin Core standard to 90 allow integration with existing databases. We suggest a management framework 91 where high-level taxonomic groups are curated by a regional team, consisting of 92 both end users and taxonomic experts. We identify a mechanism by which overall 93 quality of data within a common reference guide could be raised over the next 94 decade. Finally, we discuss the role of a common reference standard in advancing 95 marine ecology and supporting sustainable use of this ecosystem. 96 6 97 100 the sunlit Mediterranean seabed, for the first clear images to be produced [2]. 101 Following this, the use of underwater photography became widespread in shallow 102 seas, opening up this environment to a wider public (e.g. [3]). The first deep-sea 103 photograph was taken from the porthole of a bathysphere in the early 1930s [4] and 104 shortly after, the first self-contained deep-sea photographic systems were developed 105in the 1940s at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution [5,6]. Whilst there were 106 many good deep-sea photographs available between this time and the early 1970s 107 [7,8], few biologists studied them, as often no corresponding samples of animals 108 were taken, making identification difficult [9]. The notable exceptions to this [9,10, 11, 109 12, 13, 14] paved the way for photography to become established as an important 110 tool for the study of deep-water environments [15, 16, 17, 18, 19]. Today, with the 111 routine use of seafloor cameras, towed camera platforms, remotely operated and 112 autonomous underwater vehicles (ROVs and AUVs), photographic assessment of 113 marine fauna and faunal assemblages is a vital tool for research used by both 114 scientists and industry [20, 21, 22]. 115 Imaging is an important non-destructive tool for studying ...

Ecosystem-based conservation that includes carbon sinks, alongside a linked carbon credit system, as part of a nature-based solution to combating climate change, could help reduce greenhouse gas levels and therefore the impact of their emissions. Blue carbon habitats and pathways can also facilitate biodiversity retention, aiding sustainable fisheries and island economies. However, robust blue carbon research is often limited at the scale of regional governance and management, lacking both incentives and facilitation of policy-integration. The remote and highly biodiverse coastal ecosystems and surrounding continental shelf can be used to better inform long-term ecosystem-based management in the vast South Atlantic Ocean and sub-Antarctic, to synergistically protect both unique biodiversity and inform on the magnitude of nature-based benefits they provide. Understanding key ecosystem information such as their location, extent, and condition of habitat types, will be critical in understanding carbon pathways to sequestration, threats to this, and vulnerability. This paper considers the current status of blue carbon data and information available, and what is still required before blue carbon can be used as a conservation management tool integrated in national Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) initiatives. Our research indicates that the data and information gathered has enabled baselines for a number of different blue carbon ecosystems, and indicated potential threats and vulnerability that need to be managed. However, significant knowledge gaps remain across habitats, such as salt marsh, mudflats and the mesophotic zones, which hinders meaningful progress on the ground where it is needed most.

No abstract

Vertical walls of submarine canyons represent features of high conservation value that can provide natural areas of protection for vulnerable marine ecosystems under increasing anthropogenic pressure from deep-sea trawling. Wall assemblages are spatially heterogeneous, attributed to the high environmental heterogeneity over short spatial scales that is a typical feature of canyons. Effective management and conservation of these assemblages requires a deeper understanding of the processes that affect faunal distribution patterns. Canyons are recognised as sites of intensified hydrodynamic regimes, with focused internal tides enhancing near-bed currents, turbulent mixing and nepheloid layer production, which influence faunal distribution patterns. Faunal patterns also respond to broad-scale hydrodynamics and gradients in water mass properties (e.g. temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen concentration). Oscillating internal tidal currents can advect such gradients, both vertically and horizontally along a canyon's walls. Here we take an interdisciplinary approach using biological, hydrodynamic and bathymetry-derived datasets to undertake a high-resolution analysis of a subset of wall assemblages within Whittard Canyon, North-East Atlantic. We investigate if, and to what extent, patterns in diversity and epibenthic assemblages on deep-sea canyon walls can be explained by spatial and temporal variability induced by internal tides. Vertical displacement of water mass properties by the internal tide was calculated from autonomous ocean glider and shipboard CTD observations. Spatial patterns in faunal assemblage structure were determined by cluster analysis and non-metric Multi-Dimensional Scaling plots. Canonical Redundancy Analysis and Generalised Linear Models were then used to explore relationships between faunal diversity and assemblage structure and a variety of environmental variables. Our results support the hypothesis that internal tides influence spatial heterogeneity in wall faunal diversity and assemblages by generating both spatial and temporal gradients in hydrodynamic properties and consequently likely food supply.