Effectiveness of a deep-water coral conservation area: Evaluation of its boundaries and changes in octocoral communities over 13 years

Bennecke, Swaantje; Meta×as, Anna

doi:10.1016/j.dsr2.2016.06.005

Cited by 20 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…Such categorical data were not included as predictors in our model for several reasons: 1) they did not fully cover the known distribution of V . pourtalesi on the Scotian Shelf, 2) random forest has shown bias towards categorical variables with a high number of levels [ 71 ], and 3) patterns in habitat heterogeneity on the Scotian Shelf occur over micro-scales [ 72 – 73 ]; therefore such data would not be useful in explaining patterns in the spatial distribution of V . pourtalesi with the resolution of our model.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predicted distribution of the glass sponge Vazella pourtalesi on the Scotian Shelf and its persistence in the face of climatic variability

et al. 2018

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Emerald Basin on the Scotian Shelf off Nova Scotia, Canada, is home to a globally unique aggregation of the glass sponge Vazella pourtalesi, first documented in the region in 1889. In 2009, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) implemented two Sponge Conservation Areas to protect these sponge grounds from bottom fishing activities. Together, the two conservation areas encompass 259 km2. In order to ascertain the degree to which the sponge grounds remain unprotected, we modelled the presence probability and predicted range distribution of V. pourtalesi on the Scotian Shelf using random forest modelling on presence-absence records. With a high degree of accuracy the random forest model predicted the highest probability of occurrence of V. pourtalesi in the inner basins on the central Scotian Shelf, with lower probabilities at the shelf break and in the Fundian and Northeast Channels. Bottom temperature was the most important determinant of its distribution in the model. Although the two DFO Sponge Conservation Areas protect some of the more significant concentrations of V. pourtalesi, much of its predicted distribution remains unprotected (over 99%). Examination of the hydrographic conditions in Emerald Basin revealed that the V. pourtalesi sponge grounds are associated with a warmer and more saline water mass compared to the surrounding shelf. Reconstruction of historical bottom temperature and salinity in Emerald Basin revealed strong multi-decadal variability, with average bottom temperatures varying by 8°C. We show that this species has persisted in the face of this climatic variability, possibly indicating how it will respond to future climate change.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predicted distribution of the glass sponge Vazella pourtalesi on the Scotian Shelf and its persistence in the face of climatic variability

et al. 2018

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“…Future human impacts need to be paired with mitigation techniques (e.g., Cuvelier et al, 2018) that preserve an offset of biodiversity that will be disturbed. This is an especially important step as ecosystem recovery is slow enough in the deep sea (Williams et al, 2010;Bennecke and Metaxas, 2017a;Baco et al, 2019) that most human impacts will be very long lasting.…”

Section: Conclusion and Management Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fine Scale Assemblage Structure of Benthic Invertebrate Megafauna on the North Pacific Seamount Mokumanamana

et al. 2019

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Changes in benthic megafaunal assemblage structure have been found across gradients of environmental variables for many deep-sea habitats, but patterns remain under-investigated on seamounts. To assess the extent of variability in benthic communities at the scale of within a single seamount, and to assess environmental drivers of assemblage changes, Mokumanamana, also known as Necker Island, a seamount in the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument with no known history of human impacts, was surveyed. Replicate 1 km transects were conducted along depth contours at 50 m depth intervals from 200-700 m on three sides of Mokumanamana using the AUV Sentry. Megafaunal abundance and substrate parameters were obtained from 26,119 total images. The dominant megafaunal taxa were sponges, corallimorpharians, cup corals, and benthic ctenophores. Sea pens and alcyonacean octocorals were also abundant. Overall, abundance and diversity of megafauna increased with depth. Beta-diversity through species substitution with depth was very high. Beta-diversity was also high between the sides and likewise defined almost exclusively by species substitution. Crossed ANOSIM by depth and side showed community structure differed on Mokumanamana for both factors. NMDS and cluster analyses of Mokumanamana show nine assemblages that were defined by depth and reflect differences between sides of the seamount. Environmental modeling with DISTLM indicates sediment, oxygen, substrate variability and roughness, POC, and surface currents are correlated with these assemblage differences. These results suggest that microhabitats on seamounts can promote unique assemblages along depth gradients as well as on different sides of a feature, and this diversity may be easily overlooked without fine-scale sampling. These findings have implications for management and conservation of seamounts as well as future ecological studies of seamounts, as seamounts are generally sampled on much coarser spatial scales.

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“…Vulnerability to these impacts is enhanced by the generally slow growth, extended longevity, and low recruitment of deep-sea species (Neves et al, 2015;Danovaro et al, 2017b). In addition, deep-sea communities exhibit slow recovery (>10-40 years) from disturbance (Huvenne et al, 2016;Bennecke and Metaxas, 2017;Baco et al, 2019;Simon-Lledó et al, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparing the Performance of a Remotely Operated Vehicle, a Drop Camera, and a Trawl in Capturing Deep-Sea Epifaunal Abundance and Diversity

Mendonça

Meta×as

2021

Front. Mar. Sci.

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Deep-sea ecosystems provide services such as food, minerals, and nutrient recycling, yet baseline data on their structure is often lacking. Our limited knowledge of vulnerable deep-sea ecosystems presents a challenge for effective monitoring and mitigation of increasing anthropogenic threats, including destructive fishing and climate change. Using data from two stations differing in total epifaunal abundance and taxonomic composition, we compared the use of imagery collected by two non-invasive tools [remotely operated vehicle (ROV) and drop camera] and data collected with a trawl system, commonly used to quantify epibenthic megafauna in the deep sea. Imagery and trawl data captured different epifaunal patterns, the former being more efficient for capturing epifauna, particularly Pennatulacean recruits. The image-based methods also caused less disturbance, had higher position accuracy, and allow for analyses of spatial structure and species associations; fine-scale distributions could not be elucidated with a trawl. Abundance was greater for some taxa, and diversity accumulated faster with increasing sample size for the drop camera than the ROV at one station. However, there are trade-offs between these tools, including continuous and discrete sampling for the ROV and drop camera, respectively, which can affect follow-up analyses. Our results can be used to inform monitoring frameworks on the use of appropriate sampling tools. We recommend further research into tool sampling biases and biometric relationships to help integrate datasets collected with different tools.

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Effectiveness of a deep-water coral conservation area: Evaluation of its boundaries and changes in octocoral communities over 13 years

Cited by 20 publications

References 52 publications

Predicted distribution of the glass sponge Vazella pourtalesi on the Scotian Shelf and its persistence in the face of climatic variability

Predicted distribution of the glass sponge Vazella pourtalesi on the Scotian Shelf and its persistence in the face of climatic variability

Fine Scale Assemblage Structure of Benthic Invertebrate Megafauna on the North Pacific Seamount Mokumanamana

Comparing the Performance of a Remotely Operated Vehicle, a Drop Camera, and a Trawl in Capturing Deep-Sea Epifaunal Abundance and Diversity

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