How Do Geological Structure and Biological Diversity Relate? Benthic Communities in Boulder Fields of the Southwestern Baltic Sea

Franz, Markus; Rönn, Gitta Ann von; Barboza, Francisco R.; Karez, Rolf; Reimers, Hans-Christian; Schwarzer, Klaus; Wahl, Martin

doi:10.1007/s12237-020-00877-z

Cited by 9 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 64 publications

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“…Recent studies, including the present investigation, demonstrated that stone size is a fundamental driver of SNHS epibenthic (epilithic) species assemblages [24,25]. Furthermore, besides the size of individual stones, seascape patterns, such as the striations and elliptical shapes herein identified, can be important proxies of biological communities (describing the relation between geological and biological structure, e.g., [83,84]. Therefore, at such scales, the integration of MBES and UI by RF for regression largely improves the identification of the ecology of such seascape patterns.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 52%

“…Hitherto, only a few cases have been published showing the importance of geological complexity or geodiversity in marine management, e.g., [84,85], but clearly if these coincide with hotspots of biodiversity, a new era is emerging in the mapping of SNHS. This is indeed the case for the Southern North Sea region, having a complex geological history and a diverse morphosedimentary setting.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Subtidal Natural Hard Substrate Quantitative Habitat Mapping: Interlinking Underwater Acoustics and Optical Imagery with Machine Learning

et al. 2021

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Subtidal natural hard substrates (SNHS) promote occupancy by rich benthic communities that provide irreplaceable and fundamental ecosystem functions, representing a global priority target for nature conservation and recognised in most European environmental legislation. However, scientifically validated methodologies for their quantitative spatial demarcation, including information on species occupancy and fine-scale environmental drivers (e.g., the effect of stone size on colonisation) are rare. This is, however, crucial information for sound ecological management. In this investigation, high-resolution (1 m) multibeam echosounder (MBES) depth and backscatter data and derivates, underwater imagery (UI) by video drop-frame, and grab sediment samples, all acquired within 32 km2 of seafloor in offshore Belgian waters, were integrated to produce a random forest (RF) spatial model, predicting the continuous distribution of the seafloor areal cover/m2 of the stones’ grain sizes promoting colonisation by sessile epilithic organisms. A semi-automated UI acquisition, processing, and analytical workflow was set up to quantitatively study the colonisation proportion of different grain sizes, identifying the colonisation potential to begin at stones with grain sizes Ø ≥ 2 cm. This parameter (i.e., % areal cover of stones Ø ≥ 2 cm/m2) was selected as the response variable for spatial predictive modelling. The model output is presented along with a protocol of error and uncertainty estimation. RF is confirmed as an accurate, versatile, and transferable mapping methodology, applicable to area-wide mapping of SNHS. UI is confirmed as an essential aid to acoustic seafloor classification, providing spatially representative numerical observations needed to carry out quantitative seafloor modelling of ecologically relevant parameters. This contribution sheds innovative insights into the ecologically relevant delineation of subtidal natural reef habitat, exploiting state-of-the-art underwater remote sensing and acoustic seafloor classification approaches.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 52%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Subtidal Natural Hard Substrate Quantitative Habitat Mapping: Interlinking Underwater Acoustics and Optical Imagery with Machine Learning

et al. 2021

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“…Within Placentia Bay, boulder and gravel fields occur along the offshore extent of D'Argent Bay and Burin and along the shoreline of Rushoon and St. Lawrence. These fields may provide a level of stability and topographical diversity that could increase structural availability for sessile invertebrates (MacArthur and Wilson, 1967;Liversage and Chapman, 2018;Franz et al, 2021), such as the sponges and anemones observed in Rushoon and St. Lawrence. These areas were found to be associated with a higher presence of arcto-boreal species, such as the different morphotypes of porifera and anthozoan as well as species of echinoderms and crustaceans.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial distribution of benthic flora and fauna of coastal placentia bay, an ecologically and biologically significant area of the island of newfoundland, atlantic Canada

Mackin-McLaughlin

Nemani²,

Misiuk³

et al. 2022

Front. Environ. Sci.

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Coastal habitats have the potential to be biodiversity hotspots that provide important ecosystem services, but also hotspots for human development and exploitation. Continued use of coastal ecosystem services requires establishing baselines that capture the present state of the benthos. This study employs habitat mapping to establish a baseline describing the spatial distribution of benthic organisms along the western coast of Placentia Bay, an Ecologically and Biologically Significant Area (EBSA) in Newfoundland, Canada. The influence of seafloor characteristics on the distribution of four dominant epifaunal assemblages and two macrophyte species were modelled using two machine learning techniques: the well-established Random Forest and the newer Light Gradient Boosting Machine. When investigating model performance, the inclusion of fine-scale (<1 m) substrate information from the benthic videos was found to consistently improve model accuracy. Predictive maps developed here suggest that the majority of the surveyed areas consisted of a species-rich epifaunal assemblage dominated by ophiuroids, porifera, and hydrozoans, as well as prominent coverage by Agarum clathratum and non-geniculate crustose coralline algae. These maps establish a baseline that enables future monitoring of Placentia Bay’s coastal ecosystem, helping to conserve the biodiversity and ecosystem services this area provides.

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“…Especially filter-feeding organisms are known to be sensitive against sedimentation effects since their feeding apparatus can be clogged [74,75]. Therefore, it appears likely that these disturbance-related effects were responsible for the observed differences in community structure [76].…”

Section: Benthic Community Structurementioning

confidence: 99%

Dynamics of Stone Habitats in Coastal Waters of the Southwestern Baltic Sea (Hohwacht Bay)

et al. 2021

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Cobbles and boulders on the seafloor are of high ecological value in their function as habitats for a variety of benthic species, contributing to biodiversity and productivity in marine environments. We investigate the origin, physical shape, and structure of habitat-forming cobbles and boulders and reflect on their dynamics in coastal environments of the southwestern Baltic Sea. Stone habitats are not limited to lag deposits and cannot be sufficiently described as static environments, as different dynamic processes lead to changes within the physical habitat structure and create new habitats in spatially disparate areas. Dynamic processes such as (a) ongoing exposure of cobbles and boulders from glacial till, (b) continuous overturning of cobbles, and (c) the migration of cobbles need to be considered. A distinction between allochthonous and autochthonous habitats is suggested. The genesis of sediment types indicates that stone habitats are restricted to their source (glacial till), but hydrodynamic processes induce a redistribution of individual cobbles, leading to the development of new coastal habitats. Thus, coastal stone habitats need to be regarded as dynamic and are changing on a large bandwidth of timescales. In general, wave-induced processes changing the physical structure of these habitats do not occur separately but rather act simultaneously, leading to a dynamic type of habitat.

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How Do Geological Structure and Biological Diversity Relate? Benthic Communities in Boulder Fields of the Southwestern Baltic Sea

Cited by 9 publications

References 64 publications

Subtidal Natural Hard Substrate Quantitative Habitat Mapping: Interlinking Underwater Acoustics and Optical Imagery with Machine Learning

Subtidal Natural Hard Substrate Quantitative Habitat Mapping: Interlinking Underwater Acoustics and Optical Imagery with Machine Learning

Spatial distribution of benthic flora and fauna of coastal placentia bay, an ecologically and biologically significant area of the island of newfoundland, atlantic Canada

Dynamics of Stone Habitats in Coastal Waters of the Southwestern Baltic Sea (Hohwacht Bay)

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