Cold‐water coral assemblages on vertical walls from the Northeast Atlantic
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 gener...
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crwiley:10.1111/ddi.13011 2024-10-13T14:09:39+00:00 Cold‐water coral assemblages on vertical walls from the Northeast Atlantic Robert, Katleen Jones, Daniel O. B. Georgiopoulou, Aggeliki Huvenne, Veerle A. I. Burns, K. C. Natural Environment Research Council European Research Council 2019 http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ddi.13011 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fddi.13011 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/ddi.13011 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1111/ddi.13011 en eng Wiley http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Diversity and Distributions volume 26, issue 3, page 284-298 ISSN 1366-9516 1472-4642 journal-article 2019 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1111/ddi.13011 2024-09-17T04:49:51Z 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. Article in Journal/Newspaper Northeast Atlantic Wiley Online Library Rockall Bank ENVELOPE(-16.519,-16.519,55.821,55.821) Diversity and Distributions 26 3 284 298 |
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Open Polar |
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Wiley Online Library |
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crwiley |
language |
English |
description |
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. |
author2 |
Burns, K. C. Natural Environment Research Council European Research Council |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Robert, Katleen Jones, Daniel O. B. Georgiopoulou, Aggeliki Huvenne, Veerle A. I. |
spellingShingle |
Robert, Katleen Jones, Daniel O. B. Georgiopoulou, Aggeliki Huvenne, Veerle A. I. Cold‐water coral assemblages on vertical walls from the Northeast Atlantic |
author_facet |
Robert, Katleen Jones, Daniel O. B. Georgiopoulou, Aggeliki Huvenne, Veerle A. I. |
author_sort |
Robert, Katleen |
title |
Cold‐water coral assemblages on vertical walls from the Northeast Atlantic |
title_short |
Cold‐water coral assemblages on vertical walls from the Northeast Atlantic |
title_full |
Cold‐water coral assemblages on vertical walls from the Northeast Atlantic |
title_fullStr |
Cold‐water coral assemblages on vertical walls from the Northeast Atlantic |
title_full_unstemmed |
Cold‐water coral assemblages on vertical walls from the Northeast Atlantic |
title_sort |
cold‐water coral assemblages on vertical walls from the northeast atlantic |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ddi.13011 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fddi.13011 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/ddi.13011 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1111/ddi.13011 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-16.519,-16.519,55.821,55.821) |
geographic |
Rockall Bank |
geographic_facet |
Rockall Bank |
genre |
Northeast Atlantic |
genre_facet |
Northeast Atlantic |
op_source |
Diversity and Distributions volume 26, issue 3, page 284-298 ISSN 1366-9516 1472-4642 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1111/ddi.13011 |
container_title |
Diversity and Distributions |
container_volume |
26 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
284 |
op_container_end_page |
298 |
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1812816697384501248 |