Cold‐water coral assemblages on vertical walls from the Northeast Atlantic
Cold‐water coral assemblages on vertical walls from the Northeast Atlantic
Aim In this study, we assess patterns of cold‐water coral assemblages observed on deep‐sea vertical walls. Similar to their shallow‐water counterparts, vertical and overhanging walls in the deep sea can host highly diverse communities, but because of their geometry, these habitats are generally overlooked and remain poorly known. These vertical habitats are however of particular interest, because they can protect vulnerable coral ecosystems from trawling activities. As such, it is important to understand their ecology and assess their global importance. Location Vertical walls on complex geomorphic features, in particular walls of the Rockall Bank Slope Failure Escarpment, Whittard and Explorer Canyons, Northeast Atlantic. Methods Video analysis of remotely operated vehicle transects carried out at five sites is used to investigate differences in species composition and diversity across walls and to compare those to nearby cold‐water coral sites on flat terrain. A high‐resolution photogrammetric reconstruction is further employed to examine whether wall complexity plays a role in promoting niche differentiation at very fine spatial scales. Results The investigated walls showed differences in species assemblage both across walls and in comparison to flat sites, with the fine‐scale heterogeneity engendered by walls allowing niche differentiation between closely related taxa. Main Conclusions Vertical walls represent an important cold‐water coral habitat with differences in species composition across walls within a region, illustrating their role in driving diversity patterns. Based on publicly available bathymetric datasets and a catalogue of broad‐scale terrain features, globally over 8,000 features are likely to have vertical walls and cold‐water corals, which highlight the need to consider deep‐sea vertical habitats in current conservation efforts.
cold-water corals, deep sea, distribution, diversity, niche differentiation, spatial patterns, vertical walls
284-298
Robert, Katleen
a2e2547d-d9f6-4945-8f09-204079ce6c08
Jones, Daniel O. B.
44fc07b3-5fb7-4bf5-9cec-78c78022613a
Georgiopoulou, Aggeliki
1cc90c8c-49e7-4be1-9117-851793dcfe57
Huvenne, Veerle A. I.
f22be3e2-708c-491b-b985-a438470fa053
1 March 2020
Robert, Katleen
a2e2547d-d9f6-4945-8f09-204079ce6c08
Jones, Daniel O. B.
44fc07b3-5fb7-4bf5-9cec-78c78022613a
Georgiopoulou, Aggeliki
1cc90c8c-49e7-4be1-9117-851793dcfe57
Huvenne, Veerle A. I.
f22be3e2-708c-491b-b985-a438470fa053
Robert, Katleen, Jones, Daniel O. B., Georgiopoulou, Aggeliki and Huvenne, Veerle A. I.
(2020)
Cold‐water coral assemblages on vertical walls from the Northeast Atlantic.
Diversity and Distributions, 26 (3), .
(doi:10.1111/ddi.13011).
Abstract
Aim In this study, we assess patterns of cold‐water coral assemblages observed on deep‐sea vertical walls. Similar to their shallow‐water counterparts, vertical and overhanging walls in the deep sea can host highly diverse communities, but because of their geometry, these habitats are generally overlooked and remain poorly known. These vertical habitats are however of particular interest, because they can protect vulnerable coral ecosystems from trawling activities. As such, it is important to understand their ecology and assess their global importance. Location Vertical walls on complex geomorphic features, in particular walls of the Rockall Bank Slope Failure Escarpment, Whittard and Explorer Canyons, Northeast Atlantic. Methods Video analysis of remotely operated vehicle transects carried out at five sites is used to investigate differences in species composition and diversity across walls and to compare those to nearby cold‐water coral sites on flat terrain. A high‐resolution photogrammetric reconstruction is further employed to examine whether wall complexity plays a role in promoting niche differentiation at very fine spatial scales. Results The investigated walls showed differences in species assemblage both across walls and in comparison to flat sites, with the fine‐scale heterogeneity engendered by walls allowing niche differentiation between closely related taxa. Main Conclusions Vertical walls represent an important cold‐water coral habitat with differences in species composition across walls within a region, illustrating their role in driving diversity patterns. Based on publicly available bathymetric datasets and a catalogue of broad‐scale terrain features, globally over 8,000 features are likely to have vertical walls and cold‐water corals, which highlight the need to consider deep‐sea vertical habitats in current conservation efforts.
Text
Robert_et_al-2020-Diversity_and_Distributions
- Version of Record
More information
Accepted/In Press date: 5 November 2019
e-pub ahead of print date: 13 December 2019
Published date: 1 March 2020
Additional Information:
Funding Information:
We would like to thank the crew and scientific parties of cruise JC‐36, JC‐125 and CE14011 as well as the engineers and technicians of Isis and the Holland I ROVs. JC‐36 was funded through the Natural Environment Research Council and HERMIONE (EU FP7 project, grant agreement 226354). The CE14011 SORBEH expedition was supported by the Irish Marine Institute through the Marine Research Sub‐Programme of the Irish Government, while JC‐125 was supported by CODEMAP, an ERC starting grant #258482 to principal investigator VAI Huvenne, and MAREMAP (Natural Environment Research Council). K Robert was a postdoctoral research assistant supported through CODEMAP, and more recently supported by a Canada Research Chair. D Jones was supported by funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the MERCES (Marine Ecosystem Restoration in Changing European Seas) project, grant agreement No 689518, as well as CODEMAP. Funding was also provided from the UK Natural Environment Research Council through National Capability funding to NOC as part of the Climate Linked Atlantic Section Science (CLASS) programme, grant number NE/R015953/1.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 The Authors. Diversity and Distributions Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd
Keywords:
cold-water corals, deep sea, distribution, diversity, niche differentiation, spatial patterns, vertical walls
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 437953
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/437953
ISSN: 1366-9516
PURE UUID: bd00c0d1-574d-4d2a-8a45-b32890e1e0de
Catalogue record
Date deposited: 24 Feb 2020 17:31
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 02:59
Export record
Altmetrics
Contributors
Author:
Katleen Robert
Author:
Daniel O. B. Jones
Author:
Aggeliki Georgiopoulou
Author:
Veerle A. I. Huvenne
Download statistics
Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.
View more statistics