Insights into the population dynamics of the deep-sea coral genus Paramuricea in the Gulf of Mexico

Doughty, Cheryl L.; Quattrini, Andrea M.; Cordes, Erik E.

doi:10.1016/j.dsr2.2013.05.023

Cited by 56 publications

(59 citation statements)

References 70 publications

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“…If a colony dies, its skeleton remains attached to the sea floor for years, slowly losing smaller branches and providing a record of its existence and death. Because these colonial animals normally live for many hundreds of years, natural death is a rare event (19). As a result, these types of corals are reliable visual biomonitors of anthropogenic impact to the deep-sea benthos.…”

Section: Corals As Biomonitors Of Anthropogenic Impact To the Deep Seamentioning

confidence: 99%

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Footprint of Deepwater Horizon blowout impact to deep-water coral communities

Fisher

Hsing

Kaiser

et al. 2014

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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123

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Significance The Deepwater Horizon blowout released more oil and gas into the deep sea than any previous spill. Soon after the well was capped, a deep-sea community 13 km southwest of the wellhead was discovered with corals that had been damaged by the spill. Here we show this was not an isolated incident; at least two other coral communities were also impacted by the spill. One was almost twice as far from the wellhead and in 50% deeper water, considerably expanding the known area of impact. In addition, two of four other newly discovered coral communities in the region were fouled with commercial fishing line, indicating a large cumulative effect of anthropogenic activities on the corals of the deep Gulf of Mexico.

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Section: Corals As Biomonitors Of Anthropogenic Impact To the Deep Seamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This site is dominated by the octocoral Paramuricea sp. B3 (19) and the scleractinian coral Madrepora cf. prolifera.…”

Section: Assessment Of Anthropogenic Impact To Coralsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Footprint of Deepwater Horizon blowout impact to deep-water coral communities

Fisher

Hsing

Kaiser

et al. 2014

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

Self Cite

123

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“…It was dominated by an undescribed species of Paramuricea (Paramuricea sp. B; Doughty et al, 2013) and also harbored abundant Madropora sp. At this site the ROV again surveyed the site, searching for corals showing visible signs of impact.…”

Section: Impact At Other Sites Removed From the Vicinity Of The Maconmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, as an indirect result of both historical and modern natural hydrocarbon seepage in the Gulf, there are numerous exposed carbonate hardgrounds that are often colonized by megafauna, including colonial cold-water corals (Fisher et al, 2007). Gorgonian corals are often abundant on these hardgrounds below the photic zone, and five putative species of gorgonians in the genus Paramuricea were recently identified by Doughty et al (2013) in the Gulf of Mexico below 250 m depth. The Paramuricea spp.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evidence of lasting impact of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on a deep Gulf of Mexico coral community

Hsing

Larcom

et al. 2013

Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene

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A coral community 11 km southwest of the site of the Deepwater Horizon blowout at 1,370 m water depth was discovered 3.5 months after the well was capped on 3 November 2010. Gorgonian corals at the site were partially covered by a brown flocculent material (floc) that contained hydrocarbons fingerprinted to the oil spill. Here we quantify the visible changes to the corals at this site during five visits over 17 months by digitizing images of individual branches of each colony and categorizing their condition. Most of the floc visible in November 2010 was absent from the corals by the third visit in March 2011, and there was a decrease in the median proportions of the colonies showing obvious signs of impact after the first visit. During our second visit in 2010, about six weeks after the first, we documented the onset of hydroid colonization (a sign of coral deterioration) on impacted coral branches that increased over the remainder of the study. Hydroid colonization of impacted portions of coral colonies by the last visit in March 2012 correlated positively with the proportion of the colony covered by floc during the first two visits in late 2010. Similarly, apparent recovery of impacted portions of the coral by March 2012 correlated negatively with the proportion of the coral covered with floc in late 2010. A notable feature of the impact was its patchy nature, both within and among colonies, suggesting that the impacting agent was not homogeneously dispersed during initial contact with the corals. While the median level of obvious visible impact decreased over time, the onset of hydroid colonization and the probability of impacts that were not visually obvious suggest that future visits may reveal additional deterioration in the condition of these normally long-lived corals.

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“…B3 and hosted at least 1 species of Ophiocreas in addition to A. clavigerum. Corals and their associates were identified in previous studies based on morphology and molecular barcoding (White et al 2012a, Doughty et al 2014). Experts were consulted for the identification of the ophiuroid species at AT357.…”

Section: Study Sites and Image Acquisitionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mutualistic symbiosis with ophiuroids limited the impact of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on deep-sea octocorals

Girard

Fisher³

2016

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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Deep-water corals form structurally complex biological habitats in the deep-sea that are generally associated with a diverse fauna. Yet, little is known about the effect of symbionts on coral resilience to natural or anthropogenic impacts. This study focused on the influence of the ophiuroid symbiont Asteroschema clavigerum on the resilience of its octocoral host Paramuricea biscaya after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Corals were imaged between 2011 and 2014 at 4 sites, 3 of which were impacted by the spill. Each colony was digitized to quantify the impact on corals. We developed a method to define an area under the influence of ophiuroids for each coral colony. The level of total visible impact, as well as recovery, was then compared within and outside this area. For the majority of colonies, recovery from visible impact and hydroid colonization was negatively correlated with distance from the ophiuroid. Total visible impact was lower within the area influenced by ophiuroids, and branches within this area were more likely to recover. These results indicate that P. biscaya benefits from its association with A. clavigerum, likely through the physical action of ophiuroids removing material depositing on polyps, and perhaps inhibiting the settlement of hydroids. Although the beneficial role of the ophiuroids was demonstrated on corals affected by an oil spill, we suggest that these benefits would also extend to corals in environments exposed to natural sedimentation events, perhaps allowing the corals to live in environments where sedimentation would otherwise limit their survival.

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Insights into the population dynamics of the deep-sea coral genus Paramuricea in the Gulf of Mexico

Cited by 56 publications

References 70 publications

Footprint of Deepwater Horizon blowout impact to deep-water coral communities

Footprint of Deepwater Horizon blowout impact to deep-water coral communities

Evidence of lasting impact of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on a deep Gulf of Mexico coral community

Mutualistic symbiosis with ophiuroids limited the impact of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on deep-sea octocorals

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