Disko Fan Conservation Area in the Davis Strait (Eastern Arctic) - Epibenthic Megafauna Database ...

• Main Author: Kenchington, Ellen
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna 2019
• Subjects: Benthic; CAFF; Disko Fan; Marine; Davis Strait; Oceans; Observation; CBMP; Arctic; Baffin Basin; Canada; Baffin; Circumpolar biodiversity monitoring program; Climate change; narwhal*
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.15468/vfmmmf; https://www.gbif.org/dataset/d7688dd5-9cd0-4de7-8873-e76b709ee082

In 2012 and 2013, Fisheries and Oceans Canada conducted benthic imagery surveys in the Davis Strait and Baffin Basin in two areas then closed to bottom fishing, the Hatton Basin Voluntary Closure (now the Hatton Basin Conservation Area) and the Narwhal Closure (now partially in the Disko Fan Conservation Area). The photo transects were established as long-term biodiversity monitoring sites to monitor the impact of human activity, including climate change, on the region’s benthic marine biota in accordance with the protocols of the Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Program established by the Council of Arctic Flora and Fauna. These images were analyzed in a techncial report that summarises the epibenthic megafauna found in seven image transects from the Disko Fan Conservation Area. A total of 480 taxa were found, 280 of which were identified as belonging to one of the following phyla: Annelida, Arthropoda, Brachiopoda, Bryozoa, Chordata, Cnidaria, Echinodermata, Mollusca, Nemertea, and Porifera. The ...