Structure-Forming Corals and Sponges and Their Use as Fish Habitat in Bering Sea Submarine Canyons
Continental margins are dynamic, heterogeneous settings that can include canyons, seamounts, and banks. Two of the largest canyons in the world, Zhemchug and Pribilof, cut into the edge of the continental shelf in the southeastern Bering Sea. Here currents and upwelling interact to produce a highly...
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ftpubmed:oai:pubmedcentral.nih.gov:3309998 2023-05-15T15:43:35+02:00 Structure-Forming Corals and Sponges and Their Use as Fish Habitat in Bering Sea Submarine Canyons Miller, Robert J. Hocevar, John Stone, Robert P. Fedorov, Dmitry V. 2012-03-21 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3309998 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22470486 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0033885 en eng Public Library of Science http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3309998 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22470486 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0033885 This is an open-access article, free of all copyright, and may be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, built upon, or otherwise used by anyone for any lawful purpose. The work is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication. PDM CC0 Research Article Text 2012 ftpubmed https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0033885 2013-09-04T04:33:59Z Continental margins are dynamic, heterogeneous settings that can include canyons, seamounts, and banks. Two of the largest canyons in the world, Zhemchug and Pribilof, cut into the edge of the continental shelf in the southeastern Bering Sea. Here currents and upwelling interact to produce a highly productive area, termed the Green Belt, that supports an abundance of fishes and squids as well as birds and marine mammals. We show that in some areas the floor of these canyons harbors high densities of gorgonian and pennatulacean corals and sponges, likely due to enhanced surface productivity, benthic currents and seafloor topography. Rockfishes, including the commercially important Pacific ocean perch, Sebastes alutus, were associated with corals and sponges as well as with isolated boulders. Sculpins, poachers and pleuronectid flounders were also associated with corals in Pribilof Canyon, where corals were most abundant. Fishes likely use corals and sponges as sources of vertical relief, which may harbor prey as well as provide shelter from predators. Boulders may be equivalent habitat in this regard, but are sparse in the canyons, strongly suggesting that biogenic structure is important fish habitat. Evidence of disturbance to the benthos from fishing activities was observed in these remote canyons. Bottom trawling and other benthic fishing gear has been shown to damage corals and sponges that may be very slow to recover from such disturbance. Regulation of these destructive practices is key to conservation of benthic habitats in these canyons and the ecosystem services they provide. Text Bering Sea PubMed Central (PMC) Bering Sea Pacific Pribilof Canyon ENVELOPE(-170.000,-170.000,55.583,55.583) PLoS ONE 7 3 e33885 |
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English |
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Research Article |
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Research Article Miller, Robert J. Hocevar, John Stone, Robert P. Fedorov, Dmitry V. Structure-Forming Corals and Sponges and Their Use as Fish Habitat in Bering Sea Submarine Canyons |
topic_facet |
Research Article |
description |
Continental margins are dynamic, heterogeneous settings that can include canyons, seamounts, and banks. Two of the largest canyons in the world, Zhemchug and Pribilof, cut into the edge of the continental shelf in the southeastern Bering Sea. Here currents and upwelling interact to produce a highly productive area, termed the Green Belt, that supports an abundance of fishes and squids as well as birds and marine mammals. We show that in some areas the floor of these canyons harbors high densities of gorgonian and pennatulacean corals and sponges, likely due to enhanced surface productivity, benthic currents and seafloor topography. Rockfishes, including the commercially important Pacific ocean perch, Sebastes alutus, were associated with corals and sponges as well as with isolated boulders. Sculpins, poachers and pleuronectid flounders were also associated with corals in Pribilof Canyon, where corals were most abundant. Fishes likely use corals and sponges as sources of vertical relief, which may harbor prey as well as provide shelter from predators. Boulders may be equivalent habitat in this regard, but are sparse in the canyons, strongly suggesting that biogenic structure is important fish habitat. Evidence of disturbance to the benthos from fishing activities was observed in these remote canyons. Bottom trawling and other benthic fishing gear has been shown to damage corals and sponges that may be very slow to recover from such disturbance. Regulation of these destructive practices is key to conservation of benthic habitats in these canyons and the ecosystem services they provide. |
format |
Text |
author |
Miller, Robert J. Hocevar, John Stone, Robert P. Fedorov, Dmitry V. |
author_facet |
Miller, Robert J. Hocevar, John Stone, Robert P. Fedorov, Dmitry V. |
author_sort |
Miller, Robert J. |
title |
Structure-Forming Corals and Sponges and Their Use as Fish Habitat in Bering Sea Submarine Canyons |
title_short |
Structure-Forming Corals and Sponges and Their Use as Fish Habitat in Bering Sea Submarine Canyons |
title_full |
Structure-Forming Corals and Sponges and Their Use as Fish Habitat in Bering Sea Submarine Canyons |
title_fullStr |
Structure-Forming Corals and Sponges and Their Use as Fish Habitat in Bering Sea Submarine Canyons |
title_full_unstemmed |
Structure-Forming Corals and Sponges and Their Use as Fish Habitat in Bering Sea Submarine Canyons |
title_sort |
structure-forming corals and sponges and their use as fish habitat in bering sea submarine canyons |
publisher |
Public Library of Science |
publishDate |
2012 |
url |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3309998 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22470486 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0033885 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-170.000,-170.000,55.583,55.583) |
geographic |
Bering Sea Pacific Pribilof Canyon |
geographic_facet |
Bering Sea Pacific Pribilof Canyon |
genre |
Bering Sea |
genre_facet |
Bering Sea |
op_relation |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3309998 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22470486 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0033885 |
op_rights |
This is an open-access article, free of all copyright, and may be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, built upon, or otherwise used by anyone for any lawful purpose. The work is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication. |
op_rightsnorm |
PDM CC0 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0033885 |
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PLoS ONE |
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7 |
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3 |
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e33885 |
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