Mediterranean seascape suitability for Lophelia pertusa: Living on the edge

Matos, Fábio L.; Ravara, Ascensão

doi:10.1016/j.dsr.2021.103496

Cited by 11 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 90 publications

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“…Therefore, we assume canyons, like coral mounds, can be a place of development for thriving coral colonies. This is in line with a recent study in which submarine canyons have been identified as highly suitable areas for D. pertusum using ecological niche modeling ( Matos et al, 2021).…”

Section: Surface Coverage and Colony Densities Of Both Colonial Coral...supporting

confidence: 92%

3D-Representations for studying deep-sea coral habitats in the Lacaze-Duthiers Canyon, from geological settings to individual specimens

Dugornay

Bernardie

Guérin

et al. 2022

Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers

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Section: Surface Coverage and Colony Densities Of Both Colonial Coral...supporting

confidence: 92%

3D-Representations for studying deep-sea coral habitats in the Lacaze-Duthiers Canyon, from geological settings to individual specimens

Dugornay

Bernardie

Guérin

et al. 2022

Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers

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“…Its importance may have been masked by the correlation between the two, however (Figure S1.1). In the Mediterranean, where temperatures are also high, pH does appear to be a critical driver L. pertusa reef persistence (Matos et al, 2021).…”

Section: Climate-driven Distribution Changesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Distribution and predicted climatic refugia for a reef‐building cold‐water coral on the southeast US margin

Gasbarro

Sowers

Margolin

et al. 2022

Global Change Biology

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Climate change is reorganizing the planet's biodiversity, necessitating proactive management of species and habitats based on spatiotemporal predictions of distributions across climate scenarios. In marine settings, climatic changes will predominantly manifest via warming, ocean acidification, deoxygenation, and changes in hydrodynamics. Lophelia pertusa, the main reef‐forming coral present throughout the deep Atlantic Ocean (>200 m), is particularly sensitive to such stressors with stark reductions in suitable habitat predicted to accrue by 2100 in a business‐as‐usual scenario. However, with new occurrence data for this species along with higher‐resolution bathymetry and climate data, it may be possible to locate further climatic refugia. Here, we synthesize new and published biogeographic, geomorphological, and climatic data to build ensemble, multi‐scale habitat suitability models for L. pertusa on the continental margin of the southeast United States (SEUS). We then project these models in two timepoints (2050, 2100) and four climate change scenarios to characterize the occurrence probability of this critical cold‐water coral (CWC) habitat now and in the future. Our models reveal the extent of reef habitat in the SEUS and corroborate it as the largest currently known essentially continuous CWC reef province on earth, and also predict abundance of L. pertusa to identify key areas, including those outside areas currently protected from bottom‐contact fishing. Drastic reductions in L. pertusa climatic suitability index emerged primarily after 2050 and were concentrated at the shallower end (<~550 m) of the regional distribution under the Gulf Stream main axis. Our results thus suggest a depth‐driven climate refuge effect where deeper, cooler reef sites experience lesser declines. The strength of this effect increases with climate scenario severity. Taken together, our study has implications for the regional and global management of this species, portending changes in the biodiversity reliant on CWC habitats and the critical ecosystem services they provide.

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“…In the central Mediterranean Sea, temperatures measured in live coral habitats during oceanographic campaigns range between 13.4 and 13.9°C (Freiwald et al, 2009). These temperatures are close to the ecological limit of D. pertusum (Brooke et al, 2013;Matos et al, 2021) while the optimal temperatures for this species were estimated to be around 6.2-6.7°C (Davies et al, 2008). These behavioural observations support the hypothesis that the temperature used during the experiments (13°C) was likely more suitable for M. oculata and D. cornigera (Naumann et al, 2014;Gori et al, 2015) than for D. pertusum.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 74%

Food Preferences of Mediterranean Cold-Water Corals in Captivity

Ros

Dell’Anno²,

Fanelli³

et al. 2022

Front. Mar. Sci.

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Cold-water coral (CWC) systems are hotspots of biodiversity that need protection from the increasing human impacts and global climate change. The restoration of degraded cold-water coral reefs may be conducted through transplantation of nubbins. To do so, we need to set up the optimal conditions for CWCs livelihood in an aquarium setting. Here we investigated the food selection of three cold-water coral species inhabiting the NE Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea to identify the optimal feeding conditions to rear corals, by means of stable isotope analysis (δ15N and δ13C) and of prey-capture rates. Colonies of Desmophyllum pertusum, Madrepora oculata and Dendrophyllia cornigera were collected in the Mediterranean Sea and nourished in mesocosms with a) nauplii of Artemia salina, b) the green algae Tetraselmis subcordiformis, c) two rotifer species (Brachionus plicatilisand B. rotundiformis) and d) mysids of the species Mysis relicta. Prey-capture rates coupled with isotope analysis revealed that M. relictawas the preferred food source even if it was provided as a frozen item, followed by the live-items A. salina and Brachionus spp. Isotopic analyses allowed to determine that Particulate Organic Matter (POM) appears to contribe to a large portion of the isotopic composition of the coral tissue and also suggested that M. oculata has the most opportunistic behaviour among the three target coral species. This study confirms that it is possible to optimize CWCs livelihood in aquaria choosing the right food sources during their maintenance, also in preparation to their transplant in degraded habitats during future projects of active restoration.

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Mediterranean seascape suitability for Lophelia pertusa: Living on the edge

Cited by 11 publications

References 90 publications

3D-Representations for studying deep-sea coral habitats in the Lacaze-Duthiers Canyon, from geological settings to individual specimens

3D-Representations for studying deep-sea coral habitats in the Lacaze-Duthiers Canyon, from geological settings to individual specimens

Distribution and predicted climatic refugia for a reef‐building cold‐water coral on the southeast US margin

Food Preferences of Mediterranean Cold-Water Corals in Captivity

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