Distribution of Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems at the South Sandwich Islands: Results From the Blue Belt Discovery Expedition 99 Deep-Water Camera Surveys
The South Sandwich Islands (SSI) are a chain of volcanic islands located to the east of the Scotia Sea, approximately 700 km south-east of South Georgia. To date, knowledge of the SSI benthic environment remains limited. In this context, the Blue Belt Programme conducted a scientific survey in the S...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:a3330ca97e30424390a428f42fc69994 2023-05-15T18:16:01+02:00 Distribution of Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems at the South Sandwich Islands: Results From the Blue Belt Discovery Expedition 99 Deep-Water Camera Surveys Anna-Leena Downie Rui P. Vieira Oliver T. Hogg Chris Darby 2021-06-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.662285 https://doaj.org/article/a3330ca97e30424390a428f42fc69994 EN eng Frontiers Media S.A. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2021.662285/full https://doaj.org/toc/2296-7745 2296-7745 doi:10.3389/fmars.2021.662285 https://doaj.org/article/a3330ca97e30424390a428f42fc69994 Frontiers in Marine Science, Vol 8 (2021) benthic ecology marine conservation vulnerable marine ecosystems (VME) marine spatial planning Southern Ocean Science Q General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 article 2021 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.662285 2022-12-31T14:52:22Z The South Sandwich Islands (SSI) are a chain of volcanic islands located to the east of the Scotia Sea, approximately 700 km south-east of South Georgia. To date, knowledge of the SSI benthic environment remains limited. In this context, the Blue Belt Programme conducted a scientific survey in the SSI Marine Protected Area (MPA) during February/March 2019 to examine the biodiversity and distribution of benthic communities and their potential vulnerability to licensed longline research fisheries. Here we report results from analysis of multibeam echosounder (MBES) data and drop camera imagery data collected in selected locations around the SSI. A total of eight vulnerable marine ecosystem (VME) indicator morphotaxa were mapped along the slopes of the SSI, showing a substantial variation in taxon composition and frequency of occurrence, both along bathymetric and latitudinal gradients. Our results suggest that VME indicator taxa are mostly restricted to waters shallower than 700 m. As such, based on our present understanding of the region’s benthic environment the MPA, as currently established, offers effective protection for the majority of the VME indicator taxa. Article in Journal/Newspaper Scotia Sea South Sandwich Islands Southern Ocean Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Sandwich Islands Scotia Sea South Georgia ENVELOPE(-33.000,-33.000,-56.000,-56.000) South Sandwich Islands Southern Ocean Frontiers in Marine Science 8 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
benthic ecology marine conservation vulnerable marine ecosystems (VME) marine spatial planning Southern Ocean Science Q General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 |
spellingShingle |
benthic ecology marine conservation vulnerable marine ecosystems (VME) marine spatial planning Southern Ocean Science Q General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 Anna-Leena Downie Rui P. Vieira Oliver T. Hogg Chris Darby Distribution of Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems at the South Sandwich Islands: Results From the Blue Belt Discovery Expedition 99 Deep-Water Camera Surveys |
topic_facet |
benthic ecology marine conservation vulnerable marine ecosystems (VME) marine spatial planning Southern Ocean Science Q General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 |
description |
The South Sandwich Islands (SSI) are a chain of volcanic islands located to the east of the Scotia Sea, approximately 700 km south-east of South Georgia. To date, knowledge of the SSI benthic environment remains limited. In this context, the Blue Belt Programme conducted a scientific survey in the SSI Marine Protected Area (MPA) during February/March 2019 to examine the biodiversity and distribution of benthic communities and their potential vulnerability to licensed longline research fisheries. Here we report results from analysis of multibeam echosounder (MBES) data and drop camera imagery data collected in selected locations around the SSI. A total of eight vulnerable marine ecosystem (VME) indicator morphotaxa were mapped along the slopes of the SSI, showing a substantial variation in taxon composition and frequency of occurrence, both along bathymetric and latitudinal gradients. Our results suggest that VME indicator taxa are mostly restricted to waters shallower than 700 m. As such, based on our present understanding of the region’s benthic environment the MPA, as currently established, offers effective protection for the majority of the VME indicator taxa. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Anna-Leena Downie Rui P. Vieira Oliver T. Hogg Chris Darby |
author_facet |
Anna-Leena Downie Rui P. Vieira Oliver T. Hogg Chris Darby |
author_sort |
Anna-Leena Downie |
title |
Distribution of Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems at the South Sandwich Islands: Results From the Blue Belt Discovery Expedition 99 Deep-Water Camera Surveys |
title_short |
Distribution of Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems at the South Sandwich Islands: Results From the Blue Belt Discovery Expedition 99 Deep-Water Camera Surveys |
title_full |
Distribution of Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems at the South Sandwich Islands: Results From the Blue Belt Discovery Expedition 99 Deep-Water Camera Surveys |
title_fullStr |
Distribution of Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems at the South Sandwich Islands: Results From the Blue Belt Discovery Expedition 99 Deep-Water Camera Surveys |
title_full_unstemmed |
Distribution of Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems at the South Sandwich Islands: Results From the Blue Belt Discovery Expedition 99 Deep-Water Camera Surveys |
title_sort |
distribution of vulnerable marine ecosystems at the south sandwich islands: results from the blue belt discovery expedition 99 deep-water camera surveys |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.662285 https://doaj.org/article/a3330ca97e30424390a428f42fc69994 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-33.000,-33.000,-56.000,-56.000) |
geographic |
Sandwich Islands Scotia Sea South Georgia South Sandwich Islands Southern Ocean |
geographic_facet |
Sandwich Islands Scotia Sea South Georgia South Sandwich Islands Southern Ocean |
genre |
Scotia Sea South Sandwich Islands Southern Ocean |
genre_facet |
Scotia Sea South Sandwich Islands Southern Ocean |
op_source |
Frontiers in Marine Science, Vol 8 (2021) |
op_relation |
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2021.662285/full https://doaj.org/toc/2296-7745 2296-7745 doi:10.3389/fmars.2021.662285 https://doaj.org/article/a3330ca97e30424390a428f42fc69994 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.662285 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Marine Science |
container_volume |
8 |
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1766189419666079744 |