A Data-Informed Approach for Identifying Move-on Encounter Thresholds for Vulnerable Marine Ecosystem Indicator Taxa

Geange, Shane W.; Rowden, Ashley A.; Nicol, Simon; Bock, Tiffany; Cryer, Martin

doi:10.3389/fmars.2020.00155

Cited by 12 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…To address these issues, several regional fishery management organizations have implemented move-on rules, which require fishing vessels to move a minimum distance when a particular catch level of a VME indicator species is encountered (Parker et al, 2009;Penney et al, 2009;Auster et al, 2011;Geange et al, 2020). While the FAO Guidelines call for prior assessment of areas likely to contain VMEs, there are no common approaches for defining threshold metrics for what constitutes evidence for encountering a VME (Auster et al, 2011).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Coral Reefs of the High Seas: Hidden Biodiversity Hotspots in Need of Protection

et al. 2020

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Coral reefs are widely regarded as one of the top science and conservation priorities globally, as previous research has demonstrated that these ecosystems harbor an extraordinary biodiversity, myriad ecosystem services, and are highly vulnerable to human stressors. However, most of this knowledge is derived from studies on nearshore and shallow-water reefs, with coral reef ecosystems remaining virtually unstudied in marine areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ), commonly known as the high seas. We reviewed information on the spatial distribution of reef-building corals throughout their depth range, and compiled a total of 537,782 records, including 116 unique records from ABNJ at depths between 218-5,647 m. The majority of reef-building coral records in ABNJ were in association with geomorphological features that have steep topographies. These habitats, which include escarpments, seamounts, and submarine ridges accounted for >74% of the records in international waters. Such geomorphological features, particularly those that occur within close proximity to the sea surface, should be prioritized for future scientific exploration. The majority of the reef-building coral records in ABNJ (>77%) were recorded in unprotected waters, and this study discusses the challenges and opportunities for protecting marine biodiversity in ABNJ. Finally, this study offers a definition of high seas coral reefs, and provides a framework to better understand and conserve these fragile ecosystems.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Coral Reefs of the High Seas: Hidden Biodiversity Hotspots in Need of Protection

et al. 2020

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“…CCAMLR conservation measure CM 22-07 (CCAMLR, 2013). However, the relevance of these operational encounter thresholds has been questioned (Auster et al, 2011;Ardron et al, 2014;Watling and Auster, 2017;Geange et al, 2020) because they (i) have undergone limited scientific validation and, (ii) are not taxon FIGURE 2 | VME definition used in distribution modelling. VMEs can be modelled either considering them as an assemblage either dominated by a single taxon (top), or co-dominated by multiple taxa (bottom).…”

Section: Lack Of Quantitative Standards Of What Constitutes a Vmementioning

confidence: 99%

Vulnerable, but Still Poorly Known, Marine Ecosystems: How to Make Distribution Models More Relevant and Impactful for Conservation and Management of VMEs?

et al. 2022

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Human activity puts our oceans under multiple stresses, whose impacts are already significantly affecting biodiversity and physicochemical properties. Consequently, there is an increased international focus on the conservation and sustainable use of oceans, including the protection of fragile benthic biodiversity hotspots in the deep sea, identified as vulnerable marine ecosystems (VMEs). International VME risk assessment and conservation efforts are hampered because we largely do not know where VMEs are located. VME distribution modelling has increasingly been recommended to extend our knowledge beyond sparse observations. Nevertheless, the adoption of VME distribution models in spatial management planning and conservation remains limited. This work critically reviews VME distribution modelling studies, and recommends promising avenues to make VME models more relevant and impactful for policy and management decision making. First, there is an important interplay between the type of VME data used to build models and how the generated maps can be used in making management decisions, which is often ignored by model-builders. Overall, there is a need for more precise VME data for production of reliable models. We provide specific guidelines for seven common applications of VME distribution modelling to improve the matching between the modelling and the user need. Second, the current criteria to identify VME often rely on subjective thresholds, which limits the transparency, transferability and effective applicability of distribution models in protection measures. We encourage scientists towards founding their models on: (i) specific and quantitative definitions of what constitute a VME, (ii) site conservation value assessment in relation to VME multi-taxon spatial predictions, and (iii) explicitly mapping vulnerability. Along with the recent increase in both deep-sea biological and environmental data quality and quantity, these modelling recommendations can lead towards more cohesive summaries of VME’s spatial distributions and their relative vulnerability, which should facilitate a more effective protection of these ecosystems, as has been mandated by numerous international agreements.

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“…CCAMLR conservation measure CM 22-07 (CCAMLR, 2013). However, the relevance of these operational encounter thresholds has been questioned (Ardron et al, 2014;Auster et al, 2011;Geange et al, 2020;Watling & Auster, 2017) because they (i) have undergone limited scientific validation and, (ii) are not taxon specific, and therefore do not take into account the differential catchability of taxa and their differential vulnerability, distribution or life history characteristics. In…”

Section: Lack Of Quantitative Standards Of What Constitutes a Vmementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Establishing quantitative-based criteria of what constitutes a VME is needed to impede subjectivity in VME identification. To reach a consensual definition of an ecosystem vulnerability, the establishment of cut-off values, data driven and scientifically validated, is needed (Geange et al, 2020;Kenchington et al, 2014;. To this end, (A.…”

Section: Vmesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vulnerable, but still poorly known, marine ecosystems: how to make distribution models more relevant and impactful for conservation and management of VMEs?

Gros¹,

Jansen²,

Dunstan³

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Human activity puts our oceans under multiple stresses, whose impacts are already significantly affecting biodiversity and physicochemical properties. Consequently, there is an increased international focus on the conservation and sustainable use of oceans, including the protection of fragile benthic biodiversity hotspots in the deep sea, identified as vulnerable marine ecosystems (VMEs). International VME risk assessment and conservation efforts are hampered because we largely do not know where VMEs are located. VME distribution modelling has increasingly been recommended to extend our knowledge beyond sparse observations. Nevertheless, the adoption of VME distribution models in spatial management planning and conservation remains limited. This work critically reviews VME distribution modelling studies, and recommends promising avenues to make VME models more relevant and impactful for policy and management decision making. First, there is an important interplay between the type of VME data used to build models and how the generated maps can be used in making management decisions, which is often ignored by model-builders. We encourage scientists towards founding their models on: (i) specific and quantitative definitions of what constitute a VME, (ii) site conservation value assessment in relation to VME multi-taxon spatial predictions, and (iii) explicitly mapping vulnerability. Along with the recent increase in both deep-sea biological and environmental data quality and quantity, these modelling recommendations can lead towards more cohesive summaries of VME’s spatial distributions and their relative vulnerability, which should facilitate a more effective protection of these ecosystems, as has been mandated by numerous international agreements.

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A Data-Informed Approach for Identifying Move-on Encounter Thresholds for Vulnerable Marine Ecosystem Indicator Taxa

Cited by 12 publications

References 20 publications

Coral Reefs of the High Seas: Hidden Biodiversity Hotspots in Need of Protection

Coral Reefs of the High Seas: Hidden Biodiversity Hotspots in Need of Protection

Vulnerable, but Still Poorly Known, Marine Ecosystems: How to Make Distribution Models More Relevant and Impactful for Conservation and Management of VMEs?

Vulnerable, but still poorly known, marine ecosystems: how to make distribution models more relevant and impactful for conservation and management of VMEs?

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