Ocean sprawl facilitates dispersal and connectivity of protected species

Abstract

Highly connected networks generally improve resilience in complex systems. We present a novel application of this paradigm and investigated the potential for anthropogenic structures in the ocean to enhance connectivity of a protected species threatened by human pressures and climate change. Biophysical dispersal models of a protected coral species simulated potential connectivity between oil and gas installations across the North Sea but also metapopulation outcomes for naturally occurring corals downstream. Network analyses illustrated how just a single generation of virtual larvae released from these installations could create a highly connected anthropogenic system, with larvae becoming competent to settle over a range of natural deep-sea, shelf and fjord coral ecosystems including a marine protected area. These results provide the first study showing that a system of anthropogenic structures can have international conservation significance by creating ecologically connected networks and by acting as stepping stones for cross-border interconnection to natural populations.

Marine stepping‐stones: Connectivity of Mytilus edulis populations between offshore energy installations

“…This study contributes with novel results to the understanding of the marine stepping-stone theory (Adams et al, 2014;Henry et al, 2018). Although PTM results predicted that Mytilus larvae should be unable to reach locations >85 km from coastal mussel populations, Mytilus spp.…”

“…Marine stepping‐stones can be important for the distribution of native species such as Caryophyllia smithii (Coolen, Lengkeek, et al, ), Porifera sp. (van der Molen et al, ) and Desmophyllum pertusum (Henry et al, ) and most species present on offshore artificial reefs in the North Sea are indigenous for the area (Coolen et al, ; De Mesel et al, ). However, the stepping‐stone effect might also contribute to a faster distribution of nonindigenous species (Adams et al, ; IPIECA, ; Macreadie, Fowler, & Booth, ).…”

Ecological Role of an Offshore Industry Artificial Structure

“…Artificial structures in the marine environment alter ecological structure and functioning. They provide habitat for threatened species (Bell and Smith, 1999), contribute reef habitat (Fowler et al, 2018), enhance recruitment of overfished species (Love et al, 2006), increase connectivity (Henry et al, 2018), often produce considerable fish biomass (Claisse et al, 2014) and provide foraging areas for large predators (Todd et al, 2016). These factors may vary over time, relating to environmental conditions and stage of ecological succession (Fujii, 2015).…”

Upscaling positive effects of scour protection in offshore wind farms : Quick scan of the potential to upscale positive effects of scour protection on benthic macrofauna and associated fish species

“…Most studies investigating interconnectivity between offshore installations in the North Sea have been performed using larval dispersal models. To date, a limited number of studies have been published on the topic (Coolen et al, 2018a;Dannheim et al, 2018;Henry et al, 2018;Kamermans et al, 2018;van der Molen et al, 2018). Larval dispersal models use modelled water currents based on tidal currents and weather patterns from past years to hind-cast the path virtual larvae from a certain species travelled from their origin to their settlement location.…”