Benthic biodiversity in the South Orkney Islands Southern Shelf Marine Protected Area

• Published in: Biodiversity
• Main Authors: Brasier, M., Grant, S., Trathan, P., Allcock, L., Ashford, O., Blagbrough, H., Brandt, A., Danis, B., Downey, R., Eléaume, Marc, Enderlein, P., Ghiglione, C., Hogg, O., Linse, K., Mackenzie, M., Moreau, C., Robinson, L., Rodriguez, Elizandro, Spiridonov, V., Tate, A., Taylor, M., Waller, C., Wiklund, H., Griffiths, H.
• Other Authors: Institut de Systématique, Evolution, Biodiversité (ISYEB ), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-École pratique des hautes études (EPHE), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université des Antilles (UA)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2018
• Subjects: Southern Ocean; Antarctica; benthos; protected area; vulnerable marine ecosystems; [SDE]Environmental Sciences; [SDV]Life Sciences [q-bio]; Antarctic; Austral; South Orkney Islands; Antarc*; British Antarctic Survey
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-03090294; https://doi.org/10.1080/14888386.2018.1468821

International audience The South Orkney Islands Southern Shelf (SOISS) Marine Protected Area (MPA) was the first MPA anywhere in the world to be designated entirely within the High Seas and is managed under the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR). As part of efforts to undertake research and monitoring in and around the MPA, an international expedition ('SO-AntEco') was undertaken in the austral summer of 2016, on board the British Antarctic Survey research ship RRS James Clark Ross. The focus of the expedition was to contribute towards a better understanding of selected benthic habitats around the South Orkney Islands, and the biodiversity within those habitats, in relation to the geomorphic zones both inside and outside the SOISS MPA. This addresses a key objective set out by the draft SOISS MPA Research and Monitoring Plan (SC-CAMLR, 2014). The benthic assemblages of the SOISS MPA region were found to be strongly correlated with the texture of the seafloor, where hard substrates hosted a greater number of individuals, taxa and biomass with a dominance of filter feeding Vulnerable Marine Ecosystem (VME) taxa, and soft sediments were dominated mostly by deposit feeders. Substantial differences in the abundance of VME taxa were found between two sampling gears used (shallow underwater camera system and Agassiz trawl). We conclude that camera systems may be more suitable for VME assessments than the Agassiz trawl, but in addition where possible, additional trawling is advisable for collecting all faunal types and for higher taxonomic resolution. The designation of VME locations or MPAs based purely on geomorphic classification is not advisable, due to small scale variation in substrate and other local physical influences; however, the utility of such classifications may be improved with the inclusion of additional environmental factors e.g. substrate type.