Pristine populations of habitat-forming gorgonian species on the Antarctic continental shelf

Ambroso, Stefano; Salazar, Janire; Zapata-Guardiola, Rebeca; Federwisch, Luisa; Richter, Claudio; Gili, Josep María; Teixidó, Núria

doi:10.1038/s41598-017-12427-y

Cited by 13 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 90 publications

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“…While these methods are excellent for species identification of sessile and slow-moving benthic organisms, they are not as efficient at capturing more mobile species, are destructive, and cannot describe species behaviours and interactions present in the ecosystem. Advances in technology (e.g., photographic and video imagery, SCUBA, remotely operated vehicles, autonomous underwater vehicles) have increased the rate of new species discoveries for the WAP, as well as helping to develop a better understanding of ecosystem patterns and processes in the region [ 2 , 25 – 29 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial patterns of continental shelf faunal community structure along the Western Antarctic Peninsula

et al. 2020

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Knowledge of continental shelf faunal biodiversity of Antarctica is patchy and as such, the ecology of this unique ecosystem is not fully understood. To this end, we deployed baited cameras at 20 locations along~500 km of the Western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) at depths from 90 to 797 m. We identified 111 unique taxa, with mud bottom accounting for 90% of the dominant (� 50% cover) habitat sampled. Amphipoda comprised 41% of the total maximum number of individuals per camera deployment (MaxN) and occurred on 75% of deployments. Excluding this taxon, the highest MaxN occurred around King George/25 de Mayo Island and was driven primarily by the abundance of krill (Euphausiidae), which accounted for 36% of total average MaxN among deployments around this island. In comparison, krill comprised 22% of total average MaxN at Deception Island and only 10% along the peninsula. Taxa richness, diversity, and evenness all increased with depth and depth explained 18.2% of the variation in community structure among locations, which may be explained by decreasing ice scour with depth. We identified a number of Vulnerable Marine Ecosystem taxa, including habitat-forming species of cold-water corals and sponge fields. Channichthyidae was the most common fish family, occurring on 80% of all deployments. The Antarctic jonasfish (Notolepis coatsorum) was the most frequently encountered fish taxa, occurring on 70% of all deployments and comprising 25% of total MaxN among all deployments. Nototheniidae was the most numerically abundant fish family, accounting for 36% of

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial patterns of continental shelf faunal community structure along the Western Antarctic Peninsula

et al. 2020

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“…Gorgonians are one of the most conspicuous organisms in tropical, temperate and polar marine animal forests 14–16 , and they are considered to be “eco-engineers” due to their ability to modify the surrounding habitat 17 . Except for mixotrophic species, gorgonians are passive suspension feeders that rely completely on ambient flow and particle abundances in the water masses for feeding 18 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The importance of coastal gorgonians in the blue carbon budget

Coppari

Zanella

Rossi

2019

Sci Rep

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Terrestrial (trees, shrubs) and marine (seaweeds and seagrasses) organisms act as carbon (C) sinks, but the role of benthic suspension feeders in this regard has been largely neglected so far. Gorgonians are one of the most conspicuous inhabitants of marine animal forests (mainly composed of sessile filter feeders); their seston capture rates influence benthic-pelagic coupling processes and they act as C sinks immobilizing carbon in their long-living structures. Three gorgonian species (Paramuricea clavata, Eunicella singularis and Leptogorgia sarmentosa) were studied coupling data of population size structure, biomass and spatial distribution in a NW Mediterranean area (Cap de Creus, Spain) with feeding, respiration and growth rates. In the study area, we calculated that P. clavata sequestered 0.73 ± 0.71 g C m−2 year−1, E. singularis 0.73 ± 0.89 g C m−2 year−1 and L. sarmentosa 0.03 ± 0.02 g C m−2 year−1. To our knowledge, this is the first attempt to calculate the importance as C sinks of gorgonian species that we consider as a starting point to estimate the importance of marine animal forests in C sequestration, and to ensure appropriate management and protection especially in areas and at depths where they are concentrated.

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“…Moreover, cold-water corals are recognized as an important component of deep-water ecosystems world-wide for their role as ecosystem engineers providing habitat for many other organisms (Rogers et al, , 2008Miller et al, 2012), and recognition of their vulnerability has put them on the international conservation agenda (Roberts and Cairns, 2014). Corals are diverse (Rogers et al, 2008;Ambroso et al, 2017), extremely slow growing (Roark et al, 2005;Rogers et al, , 2008Peck and Brockington, 2013;Martinez-Dios et al, 2016) and vulnerable to fishing gear (Rogers et al, 2008;Maynou and Cartes, 2012), and communities can be tens of 1,000s of years old. Recovery times of populations, therefore, are estimated to be in the 100s or 1,000s of years (Rogers et al, 2008) and that is especially true for the many brooding species (Ambroso et al, 2017) found in the Southern Ocean.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Combined Abundance of All Vulnerable Marine Ecosystem Indicator Taxa Inadequate as Sole Determiner of Vulnerability, Antarctic Peninsula

Lockhart

Hocevar²

2021

Front. Mar. Sci.

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In order to achieve conservation objectives and preserve the biodiversity of the Southern Ocean, a variety of ecosystems must be protected. This holds especially true for the benthic communities of this region that are characteristically mosaic in their spatial distributions. As such, disparate communities cannot be comprehensively assessed by a single blanket methodology. Herein, evidence appropriate to the diverse characteristics of the communities encountered during a submarine expedition demonstrates the particular vulnerability of four sites that exemplify VMEs as defined by the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) and the UN’s Fisheries and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Three sites are identified as VMEs based on highly significant abundances of indicator taxa. A fourth is identified based on a high density of cold-water coral taxa, many of which were not observed in abundance at the sites that were triggered as vulnerable by a significantly high abundance of all indicator taxa. The VME at this latter site was richly diverse in coral taxa, many of which are considered particularly vulnerable to climate change, as well as critical for their potential for genuine blue carbon sequestration. As of November, 2018, all four sites are now registered with CCAMLR as VMEs and thus, are afforded protection from all bottom fishing activities. However, if consideration isn’t given to the composition and/or diversity of VME indicator taxa present, in addition to overall abundance/density, some of the most vulnerable communities are left at risk. A blanket threshold for all VME taxa adhered to in fisheries management of the Southern Ocean, and other high seas areas, is grossly insufficient. Without taking a more precautionary approach to identifying and protecting VMEs, CCAMLR will not be able to meet its conservation objectives and may even be putting Antarctic fisheries at risk.

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Pristine populations of habitat-forming gorgonian species on the Antarctic continental shelf

Cited by 13 publications

References 90 publications

Spatial patterns of continental shelf faunal community structure along the Western Antarctic Peninsula

Spatial patterns of continental shelf faunal community structure along the Western Antarctic Peninsula

The importance of coastal gorgonians in the blue carbon budget

Combined Abundance of All Vulnerable Marine Ecosystem Indicator Taxa Inadequate as Sole Determiner of Vulnerability, Antarctic Peninsula

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