Global Biodiversity in Cold-Water Coral Reef Ecosystems

Henry, Lea‐Anne; Roberts, J. Murray

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-17001-5_6-1

Cited by 22 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 47 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Seabed terrain and substrate variation provide a variety of suitable habitats for benthic communities in submarine canyons (Schlacher et al, 2007;McClain and Barry, 2010;De Mol et al, 2011;Cunha et al, 2011;Paterson et al, 2011;Vetter et al, 2010;Davies et al, 2014;Fanelli et al, 2018) with submarine canyons recognized as areas of significant ecological importance. They are considered 'hotspots' for biodiversity (De Leo et al, 2010;Vetter et al, 2010;Cunha et al, 2011;Martín et al, 2011;Puig et al, 2013Puig et al, , 2014 and are able to support coldwater coral ecosystems (Orejas et al, 2009;Huvenne et al, 2011;Morris et al, 2013;Khripounoff et al, 2014;van den Beld et al, 2017;Aymà et al, 2019;Puig and Gili, 2019), with which can be associated more than 1,300 species (Roberts et al, 2006;Henry and Roberts, 2015). In particular, Lophelia pertusa (syn.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Are Non-reef Habitats as Important to Benthic Diversity and Composition as Coral Reef and Rubble Habitats in Submarine Canyons? Analysis of Controls on Benthic Megafauna Distribution in the Porcupine Bank Canyon, NE Atlantic

Appah

Harris

et al. 2020

Front. Mar. Sci.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Submarine canyons support high biomass communities as they act as conduits where sediments, nutrients, and organic matter from continental shelves, or those that are carried along by slope currents, are transported into the abyssal zone. The Porcupine Bank Canyon (PBC), located on the Irish continental margin and isolated from terrigenous inputs, reveals a complex terrain and substrate variation that affect the distribution of benthic fauna. Here, ROV-based benthic video, conductivity-temperaturedepth (CTD), current velocity profiles, suspended particulate organic matter (POM) and bathymetric data were assessed to determine the controls on the distribution of benthic megafauna throughout the canyon. Multivariate analysis of the benthic community reveals significant differences in community structure among habitats and site locations throughout the canyon. Furthermore, these results show that non-reef habitats exhibit more variation in the composition of benthic taxa than coral reef and rubble habitats, with the following species contributing most to the structural differentiation between habitats: Leiopathes glaberrima (12.46%), Hexadella dedritifera (10.37%), Cidaris cidaris (9.31%), Aphrocallistes beatrix (9.33%), Araeosoma fenestratum (9.11%), Stichopathes cf. abyssicola (7.39%), Anthomastus grandiflorus (4.66%), and Benthogone rosea (3.84%). In addition, greater diversity, taxa evenness and high abundance of motile fauna were observed in non-reef habitat and the canyon flank. Seabed terrain features (depth, slope) are the most important environmental drivers that affect benthic taxa distribution while site locations and habitat type are the categorical variables that influence taxa distribution in the PBC. The highest mean current speed was observed on the canyon flank where the highest Shannon's diversity was recorded while mean current speed ranged from 18.2-31.3 cm s −1. As the PBC is cut off from direct terrigenous input, this research contributes to understanding cold-water coral habitat responses to natural

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Are Non-reef Habitats as Important to Benthic Diversity and Composition as Coral Reef and Rubble Habitats in Submarine Canyons? Analysis of Controls on Benthic Megafauna Distribution in the Porcupine Bank Canyon, NE Atlantic

Appah

Harris

et al. 2020

Front. Mar. Sci.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…While at a basin scale CWC appear as sponge hotspots, there are still knowledge gaps regarding the main drivers for CWC sponges' diversity (van Soest and De Voogd, 2015) as well as their ecology Rix et al, 2016;Kazanidis et al, 2018) and their role as biological structures (Buhl-Mortensen et al, 2010;. In this sense, it is known that depth is strongly linked with changes in the composition of sponge assemblages (Santín et al, 2018b(Santín et al, , 2019, including CWC associated sponges (Longo et al, 2005;van Soest and De Voogd, 2015), yet it is suspected it might just be a proxy of other abiotic factors in play, such as temperature or food availability (van Soest and De Voogd, 2015).…”

Section: Sponge Diversity On Mediterranean Cwc Provincesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this regard, CWC-associated sponges in the North Atlantic might be amongst the globe's most well-characterized, with studies focusing partially or fully on their biodiversity, distribution and spatial and trophic ecology having been undertaken during the past decades (e.g., Henry and Roberts, 2007;van Soest et al, 2007;Roberts et al, 2009a;van Soest and Beglinger, 2009;. Amongst others, these studies have highlighted the vast diversity of CWC-associated Porifera (van Soest and De Voogd, 2015), which is often underrepresented (Henry and Roberts, 2016), and started unveiling their ecological importance for the reefs, with sponges enhancing the reef 's biodiversity , and being key actors in the biogeochemical cycles (Rix et al, 2016(Rix et al, , 2017Bart et al, 2021) and eroding processes (Beuck and Freiwald, 2005;Beuck et al, 2007Beuck et al, , 2010 within CWC reefs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mediterranean Coral Provinces as a Sponge Diversity Reservoir: Is There a Mediterranean Cold-Water Coral Sponge Fauna?

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Cold-water coral reefs (CWC) are known to be biodiversity hotspots, however, the sponge assemblages found to dwell within these habitats haven not been studied in depth to date in the Mediterranean Sea. The present article provides the first insight on the associated sponge fauna of the recently discovered CWC communities on the Catalan Margin and, to a lesser extent, the Cabliers Coral Mound Province, while also reviewing the current knowledge of the sponge fauna dwelling in all the Mediterranean CWC provinces. In regards to the studied areas, some rare species are cited for the first time in the Mediterranean or redescribed, while two of them, Hamacantha (Hamacantha) hortae sp. nov. and Spongosorites cabliersi sp. nov. are new to science. At a basin scale, Mediterranean CWC appear as poriferan biodiversity hotspots, yet current diversity values on each site rather represent a small fraction of its actual fauna. Additionally, the existence of an endemic sponge fauna exclusively dwelling on CWC is refuted. Nonetheless, the sponge fauna thriving in Mediterranean CWC appears to be unique, and different from that of other Atlantic regions. Finally, with the current knowledge, the sponge fauna from the Mediterranean CWC is grouped in three distinguishable clusters (Alboran Sea, Western and Eastern Mediterranean), which appears to be determined by the basins water circulation, specially the Levantine Intermediate Water and the Atlantic Water following a western-eastern pattern from the Strait of Gibraltar to the Adriatic Sea. Overall, sponge living in Mediterranean CWC are still poorly explored in most areas, yet they appear to be good candidates for biogeographical studies.Zoobank Registration: LSID urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:E58A3DFF-EDC5-44FC-A274-1C9508BF8D15.

show abstract

“…So far, most frameworkforming scleractinian corals have been discovered in the North Atlantic, including the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean Sea, as well as the Mediterranean Sea (Wienberg and Titschack, 2015). By forming reef-like structures, the framework-forming cold-water corals provide a refuge for a large number of organisms and, consequently, the ecosystems formed by these corals can be considered as impressive deep-sea biodiversity hotspots (e.g., Marshall, 1954;Henry and Roberts, 2015;Orejas and Jiménez, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating the Prevailing Hydrodynamics Around a Cold-Water Coral Colony Using a Physical and a Numerical Approach

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Framework-forming cold-water corals provide a refuge for numerous organisms and, consequently, the ecosystems formed by these corals can be considered as impressive deep-sea biodiversity hotspots. If suitable environmental conditions for coral growth persist over sufficiently long periods of time in equilibrium with continuous sediment input, substantial accumulations of coral mound deposits consisting of coral fragments and baffled sediments can form. Although this conceptual approach is widely accepted, little is known about the prevailing hydrodynamics in their close proximity, which potentially affect sedimentation patterns. In order to refine the current understanding about the hydrodynamic mechanisms in the direct vicinity of a model cold-water coral colony, a twofold approach of a laboratory flume experiment and a numerical model was set up. In both approaches the flow dynamics around a simplified cold-water coral colony used as current obstacle were investigated. The flow measurements of the flume provided a dataset that served as the basis for validation of the numerical model. The numerical model revealed data from the vicinity of the simplified cold-water coral, such as the pressure field, velocity field, or the turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) in high resolution. Features of the flow like the turbulent wake and streamlines were also processed to provide a more complete picture of the flow that passes the simplified cold-water coral colony. The results show that a cold-water coral colony strongly affects the flow field and eventually the sediment dynamics. The observed decrease in flow velocities around the cold water-coral hints to a decrease in the sediment carrying potential of the flowing water with consequences for sediment deposition.

show abstract

Global Biodiversity in Cold-Water Coral Reef Ecosystems

Cited by 22 publications

References 47 publications

Are Non-reef Habitats as Important to Benthic Diversity and Composition as Coral Reef and Rubble Habitats in Submarine Canyons? Analysis of Controls on Benthic Megafauna Distribution in the Porcupine Bank Canyon, NE Atlantic

Are Non-reef Habitats as Important to Benthic Diversity and Composition as Coral Reef and Rubble Habitats in Submarine Canyons? Analysis of Controls on Benthic Megafauna Distribution in the Porcupine Bank Canyon, NE Atlantic

Mediterranean Coral Provinces as a Sponge Diversity Reservoir: Is There a Mediterranean Cold-Water Coral Sponge Fauna?

Investigating the Prevailing Hydrodynamics Around a Cold-Water Coral Colony Using a Physical and a Numerical Approach

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About