Journal articles on the topic 'Marine habitat'
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1
Vasconcelos, Rita P., David B. Eggleston, Olivier Le Pape, and Ingrid Tulp. "Patterns and processes of habitat-specific demographic variability in exploited marine species." ICES Journal of Marine Science 71, no. 3 (September 7, 2013): 638–47. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fst136.
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Abstract Population dynamics are governed by four demographic rates: births, deaths, immigration, and emigration. Variation in these rates and processes underlying such variation can be used to prioritize habitat conservation and restoration as well as to parameterize models that predict habitat-specific effects on population dynamics. The current understanding of patterns of habitat-specific demographic variability in exploited marine species, as well as processes underlying these patterns, was reviewed. We describe patterns of (i) habitat-specific density, followed by ontogenetic changes in habitat use, such as (ii) immigration (i.e. use as a settlement habitat) and (iii) emigration (i.e. use as a habitat for secondary dispersal to and from), and demographic rates such as (iv) growth, and (v) mortality. Despite the importance of coastal habitats for fish and invertebrate species and the vulnerability of these habitats to human impacts, there was ambiguous evidence on their role in driving of population dynamics. Roughly 63% of the studies were descriptive, 21% experimental, and 11% used a combination of descriptive and experimental approaches, whereas 5% used meta-analyses. Habitat-specific density was the most common pattern quantified, followed by growth and mortality, with relatively few examples of studies of habitat-specific larval settlement. There were many examples of the influence of coastal habitats on survival, growth, and movement, especially at young stages, and there was an emerging focus on the effects of habitat degradation on demographic rates. There needs to be an increased effort on quantifying habitat-specific demographic rates and integrating these to better predict the effects of coastal habitats on the dynamics of exploited marine populations.
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Abaza, Valeria, Camelia Dumitrache, and Adrian Filimon. "The Status of the Sedimentary Benthic Broad Habitats and their Associated Communities in the Romanian Marine Area in 2020." Cercetări Marine - Recherches Marines 51, no. 1 (January 12, 2021): 64–79. http://dx.doi.org/10.55268/cm.2021.51.64.
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"The management of marine areas are guided by environmental policies, such as European Union’s Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD), Water Framework Directive (WFD) and Habitats Directive, all requiring periodic assessment and reporting. In 2020, the macrozoobenthos was monitored on the entire Black Sea Romanian shelf at depths ranging between 10 and 100 m. Out of the 43 sampling points of the marine monitoring network, 56 samples were collected in 22 selected stations distributed among broad sedimentary habitat types in Romanian waters in three marine reporting units (variable salinity waters, coastal waters and marine waters). Six types of sedimentary habitats were identified in the above-mentioned marine reporting units according to Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) clearly specifies that assessment must take into consideration benthic broad habitat types, including their associated biological communities. To assess the ecological status according to the MSFD of macrozoobenthos from the Romanian shore, M-AMBI*(n) index was used. Following the assessment, the ecological status of the macrozoobenthic communities was determined as good in all three marine reporting units. The data collected in 2020 will contribute to the six-year assessment of the benthic broad habitats and establishment of thresholds for different sub-types. Key-Words: Black Sea, macrozoobenthos, benthic habitat types, M-AMBI *(n) index, environmental status "
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Amani, Meisam, Candace Macdonald, Abbas Salehi, Sahel Mahdavi, and Mardi Gullage. "Marine Habitat Mapping Using Bathymetric LiDAR Data: A Case Study from Bonne Bay, Newfoundland." Water 14, no. 23 (November 23, 2022): 3809. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/w14233809.
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Marine habitats provide various benefits to the environment and humans. In this regard, an accurate marine habitat map is an important component of effective marine management. Newfoundland’s coastal area is covered by different marine habitats, which should be correctly mapped using advanced technologies, such as remote sensing methods. In this study, bathymetric Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) data were applied to accurately discriminate different habitat types in Bonne Bay, Newfoundland. To this end, the LiDAR intensity image was employed along with an object-based Random Forest (RF) algorithm. Two types of habitat classifications were produced: a two-class map (i.e., Vegetation and Non-Vegetation) and a five-class map (i.e., Eelgrass, Macroalgae, Rockweed, Fine Sediment, and Gravel/Cobble). It was observed that the accuracies of the produced habitat maps were reasonable considering the existing challenges, such as the error of the LiDAR data and lacking enough in situ samples for some of the classes such as macroalgae. The overall classification accuracies for the two-class and five-class maps were 87% and 80%, respectively, indicating the high capability of the developed machine learning model for future marine habitat mapping studies. The results also showed that Eelgrass, Fine Sediment, Gravel/Cobble, Macroalgae, and Rockweed cover 22.4% (3.66 km2), 51.4% (8.39 km2), 13.5% (2.21 km2), 6.9% (1.12 km2), and 5.8% (0.95 km2) of the study area, respectively.
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Jackson, Susan E., and Carolyn J. Lundquist. "Limitations of biophysical habitats as biodiversity surrogates in the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park." Pacific Conservation Biology 22, no. 2 (2016): 159. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/pc15050.
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The Hauraki Gulf Marine Park (HGMP) is recognised for its diverse natural environment and associated biodiversity, as well as the extensive social, cultural and economic values derived therein. Here, we evaluate the current level of biodiversity protection provided by existing Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) within the HGMP. We use abiotic datasets to develop a habitat classification system to identify the suite of biophysical habitats found in the Marine Park, and their relative protection within existing MPAs (both no-take marine reserves and Cable Protection Zones). Our analysis demonstrated that half of the biophysical habitats identified in the HGMP are not currently afforded protection within MPAs, and that biophysical classifications poorly differentiate across subtidal, soft-sediment habitats using available data layers. We then evaluated representation of these environmental surrogates within a biodiversity prioritisation analysis based on distribution models for demersal fish species. Biophysical habitat surrogates showed poor representation across habitats within highest-priority areas based on prioritisations of demersal fish biodiversity. This suggests the need for further development of biophysical habitat surrogates that are more strongly correlated with biodiversity, if they are to be used to inform biodiversity protection in the HGMP.
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Mallory, Mark L., Anthony J. Gaston, Jennifer F. Provencher, Sarah N. P. Wong, Christine Anderson, Kyle H. Elliott, H. Grant Gilchrist, et al. "Identifying key marine habitat sites for seabirds and sea ducks in the Canadian Arctic." Environmental Reviews 27, no. 2 (June 2019): 215–40. http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/er-2018-0067.
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The Canadian Arctic hosts millions of marine birds annually, many of which aggregate in large numbers at well-defined sites at predictable times of the year. Marine habitats in this region will be under increasing threats from anthropogenic activities, largely facilitated by climate change and long-term trends of reduced sea ice extent and thickness. In this review, we update previous efforts to delineate the most important habitats for marine birds in Arctic Canada, using the most current population estimates for Canada, as well as recent information from shipboard surveys and telemetry studies. We identify 349 160 km2of key habitat, more than doubling earlier suggestions for key habitat extent. As of 2018, 1% of these habitats fall within the boundaries of legislated protected areas. New marine conservation areas currently being finalized in the Canadian Arctic will only increase the proportion protected to 13%.
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Radford, C. A., C. J. Sim-Smith, and A. G. Jeffs. "Can larval snapper, Pagrus auratus, smell their new home?" Marine and Freshwater Research 63, no. 10 (2012): 898. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/mf12118.
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The ability to find a suitable settlement habitat after a pelagic larval period represents a significant challenge to marine settlement-stage larvae, and the mechanisms by which they achieve this are poorly understood. There is good evidence that olfactory cues are used by some coral reef fish larvae to locate suitable settlement habitats; however, the same understanding is lacking for marine temperate fish. Here we show for the first time that the larvae of an important commercial and recreational marine temperate fish, Pagrus auratus, can use olfactory cues to orient to appropriate settlement habitat. Using pairwise choice experiments, naive hatchery reared fish were offered water collected from a range of habitats in the Kaipara Harbour, an important nursery area for P. auratus. Larvae selected to swim towards water taken from over seagrass beds, their preferred settlement habitat, than water taken from the harbour entrance, Asian date mussel habitat, artificial seawater or artificial seawater in which seagrass had been soaked. The preference by the fish for water from the seagrass habitat over artificial seawater in which seagrass had been soaked strongly suggests that chemical cues from sources other than seagrass, such as from prey or conspecifics present in the seagrass habitat, may also be involved.
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Dobbs, Kirstin, Leanne Fernandes, Suzanne Slegers, Belinda Jago, Leanne Thompson, James Hall, Jon Day, et al. "Incorporating marine turtle habitats into the marine protected area design for the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, Queensland, Australia." Pacific Conservation Biology 13, no. 4 (2007): 293. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/pc070293.
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Marine turtle habitats were considered in the design of the new zoning network for the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park as part of the Representative Areas Programme. One of the specific design guidelines developed was the incorporation of marine turtle inter-nesting and foraging habitats into the overall network of no-take areas. The guideline was refined further for individual nesting and foraging sites to incorporate all very high priority nesting sites and to incorporate 20% of each identified foraging site, respectively. Marine turtle inter-nesting habitat increased in no-take area protection from 781 km2 to 1 886 km2 (23.4% to 56.5% of all identified sites); marine turtle foraging habitat increased in no-take area protection from 3 063 km2 to 12 490 km2 (7.1% to 29.1% of all identified sites). Although the nesting and foraging principles were not achieved in total for all identified marine turtle sites, overall the level of protection afforded by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Zoning Plan 2003 increased for nearly all marine turtle sites identified. Additionally, other activities (e.g. water quality, fisheries, traditional use of marine resources) occurring in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park that may impact upon marine turtles are being addressed via other mechanisms.
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Holland, Steven M. "Sea level change and the area of shallow-marine habitat: implications for marine biodiversity." Paleobiology 38, no. 2 (2012): 205–17. http://dx.doi.org/10.1666/11030.1.
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Analysis of a global elevation database to measure changes in shallow-marine habitat area as a function of sea level reveals an unexpectedly complicated relationship. In contrast to prevailing views, sea level rise does not consistently generate an increase in shelf area, nor does sea level fall consistently reduce shelf area. Different depth-defined habitats on the same margin will experience different changes in area for the same sea level change, and different margins will likewise experience different changes in area for the same sea level change. Simple forward models incorporating a species-area relationship suggest that the diversity response to sea level change will be largely idiosyncratic. The change in habitat area is highly dependent on the starting position of sea level, the amount and direction of sea level change, and the habitat and region in question. Such an idiosyncratic relationship between diversity and sea level reconciles the widespread evidence from the fossil record for a link between diversity and sea level change with the lack of quantitative support for such a relationship throughout the Phanerozoic.
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Doukari, M., and K. Topouzelis. "UAS DATA ACQUISITION PROTOCOL FOR MARINE HABITAT MAPPING: AN ACCURACY ASSESSMENT STUDY." ISPRS - International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences XLIII-B3-2020 (August 22, 2020): 1321–26. http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/isprs-archives-xliii-b3-2020-1321-2020.
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Abstract. Marine habitat mapping is essential for updating existing information, preserving, and protecting the marine environment. Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) are an important tool for monitoring and mapping coastal and marine environment because of their ability to provide very high-resolution aerial imagery.Environmental conditions have a critical role in marine mapping using UAS. This is due to the limitations of UAS surveys in coastal areas, i.e. the environmental conditions prevailing in the area. The limitations of weather and oceanographic conditions affecting the quality of marine data led to the creation of a UAS protocol for the acquisition of reliable marine information. The produced UAS Data Acquisition Protocol consists of three main categories: (i) Morphology of the study area, (ii) Environmental conditions, (iii) Flight parameters. These categories include the parameters that must be considered for marine habitat mapping.The aim of the present study is the accuracy assessment of the UAS protocol for marine habitat mapping through experimental flights. For the accuracy assessment of the UAS protocol, flights on different dates and environmental conditions were conducted, over a study area. The flight altitude was the same for all the missions, so the results were comparable. The high-resolution orthophoto maps derived from each date of the experiment were classified. The classification maps show several differences in the shape and size of the marine habitats which are directly dependent on the conditions that the habitats were mapped. A change detection comparison was conducted in pairs to examine the exact changes between the classified maps.The results emphasize the importance of the environmental conditions prevailing in an area during the mapping of marine habitats. The present study proves that the optimal flight conditions that are proposed of the UAS Data Acquisition protocol, respond to the real-world conditions and are important to be considered for an accurate and reliable mapping of the marine environment.
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Schill, Steven R., Valerie Pietsch McNulty, F. Joseph Pollock, Fritjof Lüthje, Jiwei Li, David E. Knapp, Joe D. Kington, et al. "Regional High-Resolution Benthic Habitat Data from Planet Dove Imagery for Conservation Decision-Making and Marine Planning." Remote Sensing 13, no. 21 (October 21, 2021): 4215. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/rs13214215.
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High-resolution benthic habitat data fill an important knowledge gap for many areas of the world and are essential for strategic marine conservation planning and implementing effective resource management. Many countries lack the resources and capacity to create these products, which has hindered the development of accurate ecological baselines for assessing protection needs for coastal and marine habitats and monitoring change to guide adaptive management actions. The PlanetScope (PS) Dove Classic SmallSat constellation delivers high-resolution imagery (4 m) and near-daily global coverage that facilitates the compilation of a cloud-free and optimal water column image composite of the Caribbean’s nearshore environment. These data were used to develop a first-of-its-kind regional thirteen-class benthic habitat map to 30 m water depth using an object-based image analysis (OBIA) approach. A total of 203,676 km2 of shallow benthic habitat across the Insular Caribbean was mapped, representing 5% coral reef, 43% seagrass, 15% hardbottom, and 37% other habitats. Results from a combined major class accuracy assessment yielded an overall accuracy of 80% with a standard error of less than 1% yielding a confidence interval of 78–82%. Of the total area mapped, 15% of these habitats (31,311.7 km2) are within a marine protected or managed area. This information provides a baseline of ecological data for developing and executing more strategic conservation actions, including implementing more effective marine spatial plans, prioritizing and improving marine protected area design, monitoring condition and change for post-storm damage assessments, and providing more accurate habitat data for ecosystem service models.
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Leppi, Jason C., Daniel J. Rinella, Mark S. Wipfli, and Matthew S. Whitman. "Broad Whitefish (Coregonus nasus) isotopic niches: Stable isotopes reveal diverse foraging strategies and habitat use in Arctic Alaska." PLOS ONE 17, no. 7 (July 26, 2022): e0270474. http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0270474.
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Understanding the ecological niche of some fishes is complicated by their frequent use of a broad range of food resources and habitats across space and time. Little is known about Broad Whitefish (Coregonus nasus) ecological niches in Arctic landscapes even though they are an important subsistence species for Alaska’s Indigenous communities. We investigated the foraging ecology and habitat use of Broad Whitefish via stable isotope analyses of muscle and liver tissue and otoliths from mature fish migrating in the Colville River within Arctic Alaska. The range of δ13C (-31.8– -21.9‰) and δ15N (6.6–13.1‰) across tissue types and among individuals overlapped with isotope values previously observed in Arctic lakes and rivers, estuaries, and nearshore marine habitat. The large range of δ18O (4.5–10.9‰) and δD (-237.6– -158.9‰) suggests fish utilized a broad spectrum of habitats across elevational and latitudinal gradients. Cluster analysis of muscle δ13Cˈ, δ15N, δ18O, and δD indicated that Broad Whitefish occupied four different foraging niches that relied on marine and land-based (i.e., freshwater and terrestrial) food sources to varying degrees. Most individuals had isotopic signatures representative of coastal freshwater habitat (Group 3; 25%) or coastal lagoon and delta habitat (Group 1; 57%), while individuals that mainly utilized inland freshwater (Group 4; 4%) and nearshore marine habitats (Group 2; 14%) represented smaller proportions. Otolith microchemistry confirmed that individuals with more enriched muscle tissue δ13Cˈ, δD, and δ18O tended to use marine habitats, while individuals that mainly used freshwater habitats had values that were less enriched. The isotopic niches identified here represent important foraging habitats utilized by Broad Whitefish. To preserve access to these diverse habitats it will be important to limit barriers along nearshore areas and reduce impacts like roads and climate change on natural flow regimes. Maintaining these diverse connected habitats will facilitate long-term population stability, buffering populations from future environmental and anthropogenic perturbations.
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Holland, Daniel S., and Kurt E. Schnier. "Protecting marine biodiversity: a comparison of individual habitat quotas and marine protected areas." Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 63, no. 7 (July 1, 2006): 1481–95. http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/f06-049.
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Fisheries managers in the United States are required to identify and mitigate the adverse impacts of fishing activity on essential fish habitat (EFH). There are additional concerns that the viability of sessile noncommercial species, animals that are habitat dependent and (or) are themselves constituents of fishery habitat, may be threatened by fishing activities. We propose a system of individual habitat quotas (IHQ) to achieve habitat conservation and species protection cost effectively. Individual quotas of habitat impact units would be distributed to fishers with an aggregate quota set to maintain a target habitat "stock". Using a dynamic, spatially explicit fishery simulation model, we explore the efficiency and effectiveness of an IHQ policy versus marine protected areas (MPAs) for conserving habitat-dependent, sessile species of unknown spatial distributions. Our findings indicate that an IHQ policy with a conservatively established habitat target is better suited to the protection of sessile nontarget species than a rotating or fixed MPA policy.
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Meynecke, J. O. "Coastal habitat connectivity ? implications for declared fish habitat networks in Queensland, Australia." Pacific Conservation Biology 15, no. 2 (2009): 96. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/pc090096.
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Estuaries are widely recognized as key habitats supporting nearshore secondary production and catch of commercial fisheries. In Queensland, some of these coastal marine habitats are protected by the declared fish habitat programme run by the Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries. Expected environmental changes for Australian estuarine systems include reduced freshwater flow, increased sedimentation and with them, a loss of connectivity. At present, the relationship between the protected declared fish habitat and habitat connectivity remains unknown. By comparing long term coastal fish catch data with geomorphic characteristics of coastal habitats structural connectivity was previously identified as a potential driver of commercial fish catch in Queensland. An ecology landscape approach was used for this study to identify potential fish habitat hotspots along the coastline of Queensland thus allowing better defined networks of declared fish habitats. A comparison between this approach and the current declared fish habitats demonstrated potential deficits and provided important insights for fisheries management. Declared fish habitats should be placed in coastal habitats with high structural connectivity to ensure sustainability of fisheries in light of environmental changes.
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Friedman, S. T., S. A. Price, K. A. Corn, O. Larouche, C. M. Martinez, and P. C. Wainwright. "Body shape diversification along the benthic–pelagic axis in marine fishes." Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 287, no. 1931 (July 22, 2020): 20201053. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2020.1053.
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Colonization of novel habitats can result in marked phenotypic responses to the new environment that include changes in body shape and opportunities for further morphological diversification. Fishes have repeatedly transitioned along the benthic–pelagic axis, with varying degrees of association with the substrate. Previous work focusing on individual lineages shows that these transitions are accompanied by highly predictable changes in body form. Here, we generalize expectations drawn from this literature to study the effects of habitat on body shape diversification across 3344 marine teleost fishes. We compare rates and patterns of evolution in eight linear measurements of body shape among fishes that live in pelagic, demersal and benthic habitats. While average body shape differs between habitats, these differences are subtle compared with the high diversity of shapes found within each habitat. Benthic living increases the rate of body shape evolution and has led to numerous lineages evolving extreme body shapes, including both exceptionally wide bodies and highly elongate, eel-like forms. By contrast, we find that benthic living is associated with the slowest diversification of structures associated with feeding. Though we find that habitat can serve as an impetus for predictable trait changes, we also highlight the diversity of responses in marine teleosts to opportunities presented by major habitats.
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Kazanidis, Georgios, Adriano Guido, Antonietta Rosso, Rossana Sanfilippo, J. Murray Roberts, and Vasilis Gerovasileiou. "One on Top of the Other: Exploring the Habitat Cascades Phenomenon in Iconic Biogenic Marine Habitats." Diversity 14, no. 4 (April 12, 2022): 290. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/d14040290.
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Biogenic habitats often form hot spots of biodiversity. However, the role of epibiosis and the ‘habitat cascades’ phenomenon in enhancing structural heterogeneity and biodiversity in biogenic habitats in remote and difficult-to-access areas is little known. In this work, we provide the first insight by exploring epibiosis across remote habitats that often support high levels of biodiversity, i.e., cold-water coral reefs and marine caves. The present study acts as a stepping-stone for the further exploration of ‘habitat cascades’ in habitats where scientific knowledge about this phenomenon is limited.
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ESPINOSA, F., C. NAVARRO-BARRANCO, A. R. GONZÁLEZ, M. MAESTRE, J. C. GARCÍA-GÓMEZ, A. BENHOUSSA, A. LIMAM, and H. BAZAIRI. "A combined approach to assessing the conservation status of Cap des Trois Fourches as a potential MPA: is there a shortage of MPAs in the southern Mediterranean?" Mediterranean Marine Science 15, no. 3 (October 6, 2014): 654. http://dx.doi.org/10.12681/mms.775.
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The Mediterranean basin is recognized as one of the most diverse regions on the planet, but is being threatened by overexploitation and habitat loss. Furthermore, the Strait of Gibraltar and adjacent Alboran Sea have been identified as representing an important habitat for many threatened or endangered species. In this context, one vehicle for marine conservation is the creation of marine protected sites, although Mediterranean Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are neither large nor representative enough to form an effective network of protection. An inventory of the benthic communities and habitats of conservation interest has been carried out in Cap des Trois Fourches, an ecological and biogeographical site of interest. Univariate and multivariate analyses showed differences for marine communities among habitats and localities, indicating a great diversity in marine assemblages but an absence of a spatial gradient in marine α-diversity. The Trois Fourches area showed a high environmental quality and hosted several endangered species. Habitats of conservation concern, such as marine caves, seagrass meadows and coralligenous assemblages, were detected and studied. The scientific data recorded provide sound support for the establishment of a new MPA in Trois Fourches, taking into account that the findings match the scientific criteria required for declaration as a protected area. The benefits for connectivity at the Mediterranean scale and the local economy are discussed.
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Muhamad, M. A. H., and R. Che Hasan. "Seagrass Habitat Suitability Models using Multibeam Echosounder Data and Multiple Machine Learning Techniques." IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science 1064, no. 1 (July 1, 2022): 012049. http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/1064/1/012049.
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Abstract Seagrass beds are important habitats in the marine environment by providing food and shelter to dugongs and sea turtles. Protection and conservation plans require detail spatial distribution of these habitats such as habitat suitability maps. In this study, machine learning techniques were tested by using Multibeam Echo Sounder System (MBES) and ground truth datasets to produce seagrass habitat suitability models at Redang Marine Park. Five bathymetric predictors and seven backscatter predictors from MBES data were used to representing topography features and sediment types in the study area. Three machine learning algorithms; Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt), Random Forests (RF), and Support Vector Machine (SVM) were tested. The results revealed that MaxEnt and RF models achieved the highest accuracy (93% and 91%, respectively) with SVM produced the lowest (67%). Depth was identified as the most significant predictor for all three models. The contributions of backscatter predictors were more central for SVM model. High accuracy models showed that suitable habitat for seagrass is distributed around shallow water areas (<20 m) and between fringing reef habitats. The findings highlight that acoustic data and machine learning are capable to predict how seagrass beds are spatially distributed which provide important information for managing marine resources.
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Bueno, Marilia, Glauco B. O. Machado, and Fosca P. P. Leite. "Colonization of novel algal habitats by juveniles of a marine tube-dwelling amphipod." PeerJ 8 (October 15, 2020): e10188. http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.10188.
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Background Dispersal is an important process affecting population dynamics and connectivity. For marine direct developers, both adults and juveniles may disperse. Although the distribution of juveniles can be initially constrained by their mothers’ choice, they may be able to leave the parental habitat and colonize other habitats. We investigated the effect of habitat quality, patch size and presence of conspecific adults on the colonization of novel habitats by juveniles of the tube-dwelling amphipod Cymadusa filosa associated with the macroalgal host Sargassum filipendula. Methods We tested the factors listed above on the colonization of juveniles by manipulating natural and artificial plants in both the field and laboratory. Results In the laboratory, juveniles selected high-quality habitats (i.e., natural alga), where both food and shelter are provided, when low-quality resources (i.e., artificial alga) were also available. In contrast, habitat quality and algal patch size did not affect the colonization by juveniles in the field. Finally, the presence of conspecific adults did not affect the colonization of juveniles under laboratory condition but had a weak effect in the field experiment. Our results suggest that C. filosa juveniles can select and colonize novel habitats, and that such process can be partially affected by habitat quality, but not by patch size. Also, the presence of conspecifics may affect the colonization by juveniles. Successful colonization by this specific developmental stage under different scenarios indicates that juveniles may act as a dispersal agent in this species.
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Caddy, John F. "Why do assessments of demersal stocks largely ignore habitat?" ICES Journal of Marine Science 71, no. 8 (April 19, 2013): 2114–26. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fss199.
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AbstractThe divergence between most stock assessments and studies in marine ecology is characterized by the low priority usually given to assessing the holding capacity of marine habitats. Habitats of high structural complexity are relatively uncommon in shelf waters, are contagiously distributed, and are damaged incidentally by bottom-towed gear. Structurally complex habitats are used by many demersal fish and crustaceans for predation abatement and as a site for feeding forays. Successive life-history stages typically migrate through several structurally complex habitats which recent studies show often to have fractal properties. One consequence of fractal structures as cover is a rapid reduction of protection from predators with growth in size: migration is the only response possible when further growth of the recruiting age class renders individuals in that habitat vulnerable to predation. A common feature of structurally complex habitats with high vulnerability at size is the occurrence of population bottlenecks. It is suggested that identifying and rectifying shortages of structured habitat, and eliminating habitat bottlenecks, will be effective in stock enhancement. This will require placing strict spatial constraints on the operation of bottom gear. This paper reviews new methods of estimating juvenile predation mortality, including mortality-at-age and mortality-at-life-history stage, which depend on the fractal characteristics of structurally complex habitats.
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Champion, Curtis, Alistair J. Hobday, Xuebin Zhang, Gretta T. Pecl, and Sean R. Tracey. "Changing windows of opportunity: past and future climate-driven shifts in temporal persistence of kingfish (Seriola lalandi) oceanographic habitat within south-eastern Australian bioregions." Marine and Freshwater Research 70, no. 1 (2019): 33. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/mf17387.
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Climate-driven shifts in species distributions are occurring rapidly within marine systems and are predicted to continue under climate change. To effectively adapt, marine resource users require information relevant to their activities at decision-making timescales. We model oceanographic habitat suitability for kingfish (Seriola lalandi) from south-eastern Australia using multiple environmental variables at monthly time steps over the period 1996–2040. Habitat predictions were used to quantify the temporal persistence (months per year) of suitable oceanographic habitat within six coastal bioregions. A decline in temporal habitat persistence is predicted for the northernmost (equatorward) bioregion, whereas increases are predicted for the three southernmost (poleward) bioregions. We suggest that temporal habitat persistence is an important metric for climate change adaptation because it provides fishery-relevant information. Our methods demonstrate how novel metrics relevant to climate adaptation can be derived from predictions of species’ environmental habitats, and are appropriate for the management of fisheries resources and protection of high conservation value species under future climate change.
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Parsons, D. M., N. T. Shears, R. C. Babcock, and T. R. Haggitt. "Fine-scale habitat change in a marine reserve, mapped using radio-acoustically positioned video transects." Marine and Freshwater Research 55, no. 3 (2004): 257. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/mf03190.
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Large-scale changes in subtidal reef habitats have occurred within the Leigh Marine Reserve (New Zealand) since its establishment in 1976. To determine the extent of habitat change within Goat Island Bay, video transects positioned by a radio acoustic positioning telemetry (RAPT) system were used to map habitats within a Geographic Information System (GIS) framework. This map was compared to a map of the same area constructed 22 years earlier in 1978. Visual categorisation of habitats was consistent with the quantification of habitat-forming species within quadrats, justifying the creation of a map based on visually interpreted video footage. Furthermore, the large-scale changes in habitats were consistent with smaller-scale changes in community structure identified at permanent sites located in the study area. The most obvious changes were the total disappearance of ‘urchin barrens’ across all depths and the recovery of kelp forest in water <8 m, caused by a trophic cascade related to predator recovery. In water > 12 m, the extent of kelp forest and sponge flats was found to decrease by 25 and 33%, respectively, while turfing algal habitat had increased by 50%. This increase in turfing algal habitat had not been previously documented due to the spatial scale of traditional sampling methods.
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Kenny, Andrew J., Chris Jenkins, Daniel Wood, Stefan G. Bolam, Peter Mitchell, Callum Scougal, and Adrian Judd. "Assessing cumulative human activities, pressures, and impacts on North Sea benthic habitats using a biological traits approach." ICES Journal of Marine Science 75, no. 3 (November 10, 2017): 1080–92. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsx205.
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Abstract The application of a biological traits analysis, in the present study, has allowed benthic habitat sensitivities and their risk of impact to be mapped at a spatial scale appropriate for the assessment of the North Sea ecoregion. This study considered habitat impacts associated with five important marine sectors; bottom fishing, marine aggregate dredging, sediment disposal, renewable energy devices (tidal, waves, and wind) and the oil and gas sectors, both individually and cumulatively. The significance of the “actual” footprint of impact arising from these human activities and their associated pressures (sediment abrasion, sediment removal, smothering, and placement of hard structures) is presented and discussed. Notable differences in sensitivity to activities are seen depending on habitat type. Some of the more substantial changes in benthic habitat function evaluated are potentially associated with the placement of hard structures in shallow mobile sedimentary habitats, which result in a shift in habitat dominated by small, short-living infaunal species, to a habitat dominated by larger, longer-lived, sessile epibenthic suspension feeders. In contrast, the impacts of bottom fishing, dredging and disposal activities are all assessed to be most severe when executed in deep, sedimentary habitats. Such assessments are important in supporting policies (e.g. spatial planning) directed towards ensuring sustainable “blue-growth,” through a better understanding of the potential ecological impacts associated with human activities operating across different habitat types. The aim of this study is to provide a better understanding of the spatial extent of selected human activities and their impacts on seabed habitats using a biological trait-based sensitivity analysis.
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Yamazaki, D., O. Miura, S. Uchida, M. Ikeda, and S. Chiba. "Comparative seascape genetics of co-distributed intertidal snails Monodonta spp. in the Japanese and Ryukyu archipelagoes." Marine Ecology Progress Series 657 (January 7, 2021): 135–46. http://dx.doi.org/10.3354/meps13553.
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Recent molecular ecological studies have focused on how the relationships between physical and ecological factors influence marine biogeography. Comparative phylogeography using closely related species is a powerful approach to evaluate the role of ecological traits in the genetic variation of marine organisms. In the present study, we compared ecological traits and genetic variation in 3 species of the intertidal snail genus Monodonta that co-occur in the Japanese and Ryukyu archipelagoes. We found that M. labio was dominant in sheltered habitats and M. perplexa was dominant in wave-exposed habitats, while M. confusa showed no habitat specificity. This indicates that M. labio and M. perplexa are habitat specialists regarding wave exposure, while M. confusa is a generalist. M. labio and M. perplexa showed lower genetic diversity and greater genetic differentiation among populations than M. confusa. Our findings support the specialist-generalist variation hypothesis in a well-connected marine environment.
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Hemery, Lenaïg G., Kailan F. Mackereth, and Levy G. Tugade. "What’s in My Toolkit? A Review of Technologies for Assessing Changes in Habitats Caused by Marine Energy Development." Journal of Marine Science and Engineering 10, no. 1 (January 11, 2022): 92. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/jmse10010092.
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Marine energy devices are installed in highly dynamic environments and have the potential to affect the benthic and pelagic habitats around them. Regulatory bodies often require baseline characterization and/or post-installation monitoring to determine whether changes in these habitats are being observed. However, a great diversity of technologies is available for surveying and sampling marine habitats, and selecting the most suitable instrument to identify and measure changes in habitats at marine energy sites can become a daunting task. We conducted a thorough review of journal articles, survey reports, and grey literature to extract information about the technologies used, the data collection and processing methods, and the performance and effectiveness of these instruments. We examined documents related to marine energy development, offshore wind farms, oil and gas offshore sites, and other marine industries around the world over the last 20 years. A total of 120 different technologies were identified across six main habitat categories: seafloor, sediment, infauna, epifauna, pelagic, and biofouling. The technologies were organized into 12 broad technology classes: acoustic, corer, dredge, grab, hook and line, net and trawl, plate, remote sensing, scrape samples, trap, visual, and others. Visual was the most common and the most diverse technology class, with applications across all six habitat categories. Technologies and sampling methods that are designed for working efficiently in energetic environments have greater success at marine energy sites. In addition, sampling designs and statistical analyses should be carefully thought through to identify differences in faunal assemblages and spatiotemporal changes in habitats.
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Hyman, A. Challen, Thomas K. Frazer, Charles A. Jacoby, Jessica R. Frost, and Michał Kowalewski. "Long-term persistence of structured habitats: seagrass meadows as enduring hotspots of biodiversity and faunal stability." Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 286, no. 1912 (October 2, 2019): 20191861. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2019.1861.
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Ecological studies indicate that structurally complex habitats support elevated biodiversity, stability and resilience. The long-term persistence of structured habitats and their importance in maintaining biodiverse hotspots remain underexplored. We combined geohistorical data (dead mollusc assemblages, ‘DA’) and contemporary surveys (live mollusc assemblages, ‘LA’) to assess the persistence of local seagrass habitats over multi-centennial timescales and to evaluate whether they acted as long-term drivers of biodiversity, stability and resilience of associated fauna. We sampled structured seagrass meadows and open sandy bottoms along Florida's Gulf Coast. Results indicated that: (i) LA composition differed significantly between the two habitat types, (ii) LA from seagrass sites were characterized by significantly elevated local biodiversity and significantly higher spatial stability, (iii) DA composition differed significantly between the two habitat types, and (iv) fidelity between LA and DA was significantly greater for seagrass habitats. Contemporary results support the hypotheses that local biodiversity and spatial stability of marine benthos are both elevated in structured seagrass habitats. Geohistorical results suggest that structured habitats persist as local hotspots of elevated biodiversity and faunal stability over centennial-to-millennial timescales; indicating that habitat degradation and concomitant loss within structurally complex marine systems is a key driver of declining biodiversity and resilience.
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Dickey-Collas, Mark, Abigail McQuatters-Gollop, Eileen Bresnan, Alexandra C. Kraberg, John P. Manderson, Richard D. M. Nash, Saskia A. Otto, Anne F. Sell, Jacqueline F. Tweddle, and Verena M. Trenkel. "Pelagic habitat: exploring the concept of good environmental status." ICES Journal of Marine Science 74, no. 9 (August 20, 2017): 2333–41. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsx158.
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Abstract Marine environmental legislation is increasingly expressing a need to consider the quality of pelagic habitats. This paper uses the European Union marine strategy framework to explore the concept of good environmental status (GES) of pelagic habitat with the aim to build a wider understanding of the issue. Pelagic ecosystems have static, persistent and ephemeral features, with manageable human activities primarily impacting the persistent features. The paper explores defining the meaning of “good”, setting boundaries to assess pelagic habitat and the challenges of considering habitat biodiversity in a moving medium. It concludes that for pelagic habitats to be in GES and able to provide goods and services to humans, three conditions should be met: (i) all species present under current environmental conditions should be able to find the pelagic habitats essential to close their life cycles; (ii) biogeochemical regulation is maintained at normal levels; (iii) critical physical dynamics and movements of biota and water masses at multiple scales are not obstructed. Reference points for acceptable levels of each condition and how these may change over time in line with prevailing oceanographic conditions, should be discussed by knowledge brokers, managers and stakeholders. Managers should think about a habitat hydrography rather than a habitat geography. Setting the bounds of the habitats requires a consideration of dimension, scale and gradients. It is likely that to deal with the challenges caused by a dynamic environment and the relevance of differing spatial and temporal scales, we will need to integrate multidisciplinary empirical data sets with spatial and temporal models to assess and monitor progress towards, or displacement from GES of the pelagic habitat.
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Amaral, Valter, Henrique N. Cabral, and José Paula. "Implications of habitat-specific growth and physiological condition on juvenile crab population structure." Marine and Freshwater Research 59, no. 8 (2008): 726. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/mf08006.
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Post-settlement processes can regulate the size and structure of marine invertebrate and fish populations. Faster growth and better physiological condition generally increase the survival potential of early juveniles, being usually associated with structurally complex habitats. Successive cohorts of early juvenile Carcinus maenas were followed in sandy and seagrass (Zostera noltii) habitats in the Mira Estuary, Portugal, to estimate growth and physiological condition (evaluated by RNA/DNA ratio) of juvenile populations. Mean cohort growth was similar in both habitats. However, in the sandy habitat, population size structure progressed to cohorts of larger carapace width (CW) and the RNA/DNA ratio was always higher than in the Z. noltii habitat. In this habitat, cohorts of low CW prevailed throughout and RNA/DNA ratio only increased after ~5.0 mm CW. Higher densities characterising seagrass areas may result in higher competition for resources, limiting growth and condition and leading to dispersal to less populated habitats. Larger juveniles had the best physiological condition, especially early in the season. Seagrass habitats do not necessarily yield enhanced growth rates and physiological condition of early juvenile crabs in relation to sandy areas. Knowledge of such trends is vital to understand distribution and abundance patterns of fish and marine invertebrate populations.
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Thiebot, Jean-Baptiste, Amélie Lescroël, David Pinaud, Philip N. Trathan, and Charles-André Bost. "Larger foraging range but similar habitat selection in non-breeding versus breeding sub-Antarctic penguins." Antarctic Science 23, no. 2 (January 5, 2011): 117–26. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0954102010000957.
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AbstractFor land-breeding marine organisms such as seabirds, knowledge about their habitat use has mainly been gained through studies of breeding individuals that are constrained to return frequently to their breeding grounds. In this study we set out to measure whether: a) habitat selection in the non-breeding period predicts habitat selection in the breeding period, and b) whether breeding individuals concentrated their activity on the closest suitable habitats. MacaroniEudyptes chrysolophusand gentooPygoscelis papuapenguins, two marine predators with contrasting foraging strategies, were tracked from the Iles Kerguelen and their habitat selection investigated through Mahalanobis distances factorial analysis. This study presents the first data about gentoo penguins’ juvenile dispersal. For both species, results showed 6.9 times larger maximum ranges and up to 12.2 times greater distances travelled during the non-breeding period. Habitat suitability maps suggested both species made similar environmental selections whatever the period. Macaroni penguins targeted pelagic areas beyond the shelf break while gentoo penguins always remained over the shelf. We consider the ecological significance of larger scale movements made outside the breeding period and suggest that this non-breeding period is of particular interest when attempting to understand an animal's habitat selection.
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Davis, Tom R., David Harasti, and Stephen D. A. Smith. "Developing a habitat classification typology for subtidal habitats in a temperate estuary in New South Wales, Australia." Marine and Freshwater Research 67, no. 8 (2016): 1186. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/mf15123.
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Effective estuarine management depends on adequate data about the ecology, extent and biodiversity of component habitats. However, these data are often scant, as exemplified by the Port Stephens estuary, part of the Port Stephens–Great Lakes Marine Park (NSW, Australia), for which even basic descriptions of habitat types and extent are lacking. Herein we present the results of the first quantitative assessment of subtidal benthic communities within the estuary, involving 130km of towed video transects over an area exceeding 50km2. We identified previously undocumented macroalgae-dominated habitat types and found strong correlations between habitat types and depth. The soft coral Dendronephthya australis habitat is of particular interest because this was found to occur exclusively outside current sanctuary (no take) zones. The habitat map of Port Stephens generated during the study provides the basis for more objective representative planning in future iterations of zoning in the estuarine section of the marine park. The study also suggests that depth may be a useful proxy for estuarine habitat types where specific data are lacking. The classification methodology developed during the study was cost-effective, generated robust data and consequently has potential for wider application in other large estuarine bays.
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Briggs, John C., and Brian W. Bowen. "Marine shelf habitat: biogeography and evolution." Journal of Biogeography 40, no. 6 (January 31, 2013): 1023–35. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jbi.12082.
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Wallentinus, Inger, and Cecilia D. Nyberg. "Introduced marine organisms as habitat modifiers." Marine Pollution Bulletin 55, no. 7-9 (January 2007): 323–32. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2006.11.010.
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Peirano, Andrea, Mattia Barsanti, Ivana Delbono, Elena Candigliota, Silvia Cocito, Ta’hirih Hokafonu, Francesco Immordino, Lorenzo Moretti, and Atelaite Lupe Matoto. "Baseline Assessment of Ecological Quality Index (EQI) of the Marine Coastal Habitats of Tonga Archipelago: Application for Management of Remote Regions in the Pacific." Remote Sensing 15, no. 4 (February 7, 2023): 909. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/rs15040909.
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The loss of coral habitats and associated biodiversity have direct effects both on the physical dynamics of the coast and on natural resources, threatening the survival of local populations. Conservative actions, such as the creation of new Marine Protected Areas, are urgent measures needed to face climate change. Managers need fast and simple methods to evaluate marine habitats for planning conservation areas. Here, we present the application of an Ecological Quality Index (EQI), developed for regional-scale habitat maps of the Atlas of the Marine Coastal Habitats of the Kingdom of Tonga, by processing Copernicus Sentinel-2 imagery. Both the habitat mapping classification and the EQI application were focused on the importance of coral reef, seagrass and mangrove habitats, both as natural defense and sustenance for the local populations. Twelve main Pacific reef habitats were evaluated through a three-level EQI score assigned to six parameters: nursery ground, connectivity, species reservoir, fish attraction, biodiversity and primary production. The EQI was integrated into a developed georeferenced database associated to the QGIS software providing the ability to identify on the maps the area of interest and the associated habitats, and to quantify their ecological relevance. The EQI is proposed as a tool that can offer to stakeholders and environmental managers a simple and direct indicator of the value of the marine coastal environment. The index may be handled for management purposes of vast areas with remote and uninhabited islands.
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Muhamad, Muhammad Abdul Hakim, Rozaimi Che Hasan, Najhan Md Said, and Jillian Lean-Sim Ooi. "Seagrass habitat suitability model for Redang Marine Park using multibeam echosounder data: Testing different spatial resolutions and analysis window sizes." PLOS ONE 16, no. 9 (September 23, 2021): e0257761. http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0257761.
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Integrating Multibeam Echosounder (MBES) data (bathymetry and backscatter) and underwater video technology allows scientists to study marine habitats. However, use of such data in modeling suitable seagrass habitats in Malaysian coastal waters is still limited. This study tested multiple spatial resolutions (1 and 50 m) and analysis window sizes (3 × 3, 9 × 9, and 21 × 21 cells) probably suitable for seagrass-habitat relationships in Redang Marine Park, Terengganu, Malaysia. A maximum entropy algorithm was applied, using 12 bathymetric and backscatter predictors to develop a total of 6 seagrass habitat suitability models. The results indicated that both fine and coarse spatial resolution datasets could produce models with high accuracy (>90%). However, the models derived from the coarser resolution dataset displayed inconsistent habitat suitability maps for different analysis window sizes. In contrast, habitat models derived from the fine resolution dataset exhibited similar habitat distribution patterns for three different analysis window sizes. Bathymetry was found to be the most influential predictor in all the models. The backscatter predictors, such as angular range analysis inversion parameters (characterization and grain size), gray-level co-occurrence texture predictors, and backscatter intensity levels, were more important for coarse resolution models. Areas of highest habitat suitability for seagrass were predicted to be in shallower (<20 m) waters and scattered between fringing reefs (east to south). Some fragmented, highly suitable habitats were also identified in the shallower (<20 m) areas in the northwest of the prediction models and scattered between fringing reefs. This study highlighted the importance of investigating the suitable spatial resolution and analysis window size of predictors from MBES for modeling suitable seagrass habitats. The findings provide important insight on the use of remote acoustic sonar data to study and map seagrass distribution in Malaysia coastal water.
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Ilich, Alexander R., Jennifer L. Brizzolara, Sarah E. Grasty, John W. Gray, Matthew Hommeyer, Chad Lembke, Stanley D. Locker, et al. "Integrating Towed Underwater Video and Multibeam Acoustics for Marine Benthic Habitat Mapping and Fish Population Estimation." Geosciences 11, no. 4 (April 13, 2021): 176. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/geosciences11040176.
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The west Florida shelf (WFS; Gulf of Mexico, USA) is an important area for commercial and recreational fishing, yet much of it remains unmapped and unexplored, hindering effective monitoring of fish stocks. The goals of this study were to map the habitat at an intensively fished area on the WFS known as “The Elbow”, assess the differences in fish communities among different habitat types, and estimate the abundance of each fish taxa within the study area. High-resolution multibeam bathymetric and backscatter data were combined with high-definition (HD) video data collected from a near-bottom towed vehicle to characterize benthic habitat as well as identify and enumerate fishes. Two semi-automated statistical classifiers were implemented for obtaining substrate maps. The supervised classification (random forest) performed significantly better (p = 0.001; α = 0.05) than the unsupervised classification (k-means clustering). Additionally, we found it was important to include predictors at a range of spatial scales. Significant differences were found in the fish community composition among the different habitat types, with both substrate and vertical relief found to be important with rock substrate and higher relief areas generally associated with greater fish density. Our results are consistent with the idea that offshore hard-bottom habitats, particularly those of higher vertical relief, serve as “essential fish habitat”, as these rocky habitats account for just 4% of the study area but 65% of the estimated total fish abundance. However, sand contributes 35% to total fish abundance despite comparably low densities due to its large area, indicating the importance of including these habitats in estimates of abundance as well. This work demonstrates the utility of combining towed underwater video sampling and multibeam echosounder maps for habitat mapping and estimation of fish abundance.
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Wang, Zhengjie. "Influence of Climate Change On Marine Species and Its Solutions." IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science 1011, no. 1 (April 1, 2022): 012053. http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/1011/1/012053.
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Abstract Marine species are the major components of living organisms on the Earth that have dominated nearly 90 percent of the habitat of Earth. Climate changes have changed the distribution of the marine species among the world and causing extinctions and eventually greatly impacts the whole marine ecosystem. This paper is going to discuss the impacts of climate change on marine species and what humans could do to protect the marine species under the change of the climate. This paper first introduces the global background about the climate change and how does it affects marine species. Then evaluates the whole systems to three smaller parts: fish industry, coral reefs and seagrass. The protection of coral reef and seagrass habitats are necessary to maintain the marine ecosystem. Finally the paper proposals several solutions to minimize the impacts of climate change on marine species. The advanced technology, government support and volunteer works would be essential to save the marine species from the undergoing life threatening situation. From now on, humans should stand together to protect our common habitat and save other species who share the Earth with humans. This paper is important because it evaluates the recent conditions of marine species under the climate change and it explores the potential solutions to solve the ongoing issues.
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Hamdan, Leila J., Justyna J. Hampel, Rachel D. Moseley, Rachel L. Mugge, Anirban Ray, Jennifer L. Salerno, and Melanie Damour. "Deep-sea shipwrecks represent island-like ecosystems for marine microbiomes." ISME Journal 15, no. 10 (April 22, 2021): 2883–91. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41396-021-00978-y.
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AbstractBiogeography of macro- and micro-organisms in the deep sea is, in part, shaped by naturally occurring heterogeneous habitat features of geological and biological origin such as seeps, vents, seamounts, whale and wood-falls. Artificial features including shipwrecks and energy infrastructure shape the biogeographic patterns of macro-organisms; how they influence microorganisms is unclear. Shipwrecks may function as islands of biodiversity for microbiomes, creating a patchwork of habitats with influence radiating out into the seabed. Here we show microbiome richness and diversity increase as a function of proximity to the historic deep-sea shipwreck Anona in the Gulf of Mexico. Diversity and richness extinction plots provide evidence of an island effect on microbiomes. A halo of core taxa on the seabed was observed up to 200 m away from the wreck indicative of the transition zone from shipwreck habitat to the surrounding environment. Transition zones around natural habitat features are often small in area compared to what was observed at Anona indicating shipwrecks may exert a large sphere of influence on seabed microbiomes. Historic shipwrecks are abundant, isolated habitats with global distribution, providing a means to explore contemporary processes shaping biogeography on the seafloor. This work is a case study for how built environments impact microbial biodiversity and provides new information on how arrival of material to the seafloor shapes benthic microbiomes.
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Zaharia, Tania, Valodia Maximov, Gheorghe Radu, Eugen Anton, Alina Spinu, and Magda Nenciu. "Reconciling fisheries and habitat protection in Romanian coastal marine protected areas." Scientia Marina 78, S1 (March 30, 2014): 95–101. http://dx.doi.org/10.3989/scimar.04028.25b.
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Bianchi, Carlo Nike, Annalisa Azzola, Silvia Cocito, Carla Morri, Alice Oprandi, Andrea Peirano, Sergio Sgorbini, and Monica Montefalcone. "Biodiversity Monitoring in Mediterranean Marine Protected Areas: Scientific and Methodological Challenges." Diversity 14, no. 1 (January 10, 2022): 43. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/d14010043.
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Biodiversity is a portmanteau word to indicate the variety of life at all levels from genes to ecosystems, but it is often simplistically equated to species richness; the word ecodiversity has thus been coined to address habitat variety. Biodiversity represents the core of the natural capital, and as such needs to be quantified and followed over time. Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are a major tool for biodiversity conservation at sea. Monitoring of both species and habitat diversity in MPAs is therefore mandatory and must include both inventory and periodic surveillance activities. In the case of inventories, the ideal would be to census all species and all habitats, but while the latter goal can be within reach, the former seems unattainable. Species inventory should be commeasured to investigation effort, while habitat inventory should be based on mapping. Both inventories may profit from suitability spatial modelling. Periodic surveillance actions should privilege conspicuous species and priority habitats. Efficient descriptor taxa and ecological indices are recommended to evaluate environmental status. While it seems obvious that surveillance activities should be carried out with regular recurrence, diachronic inventories and mapping are rarely carried out. Time series are of prime importance to detect marine ecosystem change even in the absence of direct human impacts.
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White, J. Wilson. "Marine reserve design theory for species with ontogenetic migration." Biology Letters 11, no. 1 (January 2015): 20140511. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2014.0511.
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Models for marine reserve design have been developed primarily with ‘reef fish’ life histories in mind: sedentary adults in patches connected by larval dispersal. However, many fished species undertake ontogenetic migrations, such as from nursery grounds to adult spawning habitats, and current theory does not fully address the range of reserve options posed by that situation. I modelled a generic species with ontogenetic migration to investigate the possible benefits of reserves under three alternative scenarios. First, the fishery targets adult habitat, and reserves can sustain yields under high exploitation, unless habitat patches are well connected. Second, the fishery targets the nursery, and reserves are highly effective, regardless of connectivity patterns. Third, the fishery targets both habitats, and reserves only succeed if paired on adjacent, well-connected nursery and adult patches. In all cases, reserves can buffer populations against overexploitation but would not enhance fishery yield beyond that achievable by management without reserves. These results summarize the general situations in which management using reserves could be useful for ontogenetically migrating species, and the type of connectivity data needed to inform reserve design.
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Marshak, Anthony R., Just Cebrian, Kenneth L. Heck, Crystal L. Hightower, Andrea M. Kroetz, Aaron Macy, Shanna Madsen, Trey Spearman, and José-Luis Sánchez-Lizaso. "Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Mediterranean Shallow Coastal Fish Communities along a Gradient of Marine Protection." Water 12, no. 6 (May 28, 2020): 1537. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/w12061537.
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The importance of habitat factors in designing marine reserves and evaluating their performance over time has been regularly documented. Over three biennial sampling periods, we examined the effects of vegetated coverage and habitat diversity (i.e., patchiness) on fish density, community composition, and species-specific patterns along a gradient of protection from harvest in the shallow Spanish southern Mediterranean, including portions of the Tabarca marine reserve. With the exception of two herbivores (Sarpa salpa and Symphodus tinca), vegetated cover did not significantly affect fish densities, while habitat diversity was an influential factor across all three sampling periods. Overall, fish density was more positively associated with more continuous vegetated or unvegetated habitats, and was greatest in areas of highest protection (Tabarca II – Isla Nao site). These patterns were usually observed for four abundant fish species (Boops boops, Chromis chromis, Oblada melanura, and S. salpa). Fish community composition was distinct in the most protected portion of the Tabarca reserve, where it was also most stable. Our findings align with previous investigations of the Tabarca reserve and its surrounding areas, and demonstrate its continued effectiveness in conserving fish biomass and habitat. Together with effective management, marine reserves can facilitate greater species abundance, more stable biological communities, and resilient ecosystems.
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Alabia, Irene D., Sei-Ichi Saitoh, Hiromichi Igarashi, Yoichi Ishikawa, Norihisa Usui, Masafumi Kamachi, Toshiyuki Awaji, and Masaki Seito. "Future projected impacts of ocean warming to potential squid habitat in western and central North Pacific." ICES Journal of Marine Science 73, no. 5 (November 6, 2015): 1343–56. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsv203.
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Abstract Climate-driven changes in the marine ecosystem largely influence the distribution, abundance, and the consequent availability of marine resources to the fishery. In this study, we examined the potential habitat distributions of the neon flying squid (Ommastrephes bartramii) under the projected impacts of ocean warming. We used the sea surface temperature (SST) from the three CMIP5 climate scenarios (RCP4.5, RCP6.0, and RCP8.5) with the low to high future emissions. Based on the squid habitat models, SST showed the highest effect on the present potential squid habitat distribution that accounted for at least 60% of the predicted spatial patterns from May to July 2000–2010. This result underpinned the species' high sensitivity to the temperature changes in its feeding environments. Moreover, the projected future potential squid habitats revealed pronounced differences in the spatial and temporal patterns relative to the present habitat distributions across the different regions of the western and central North Pacific. The future squid habitat predictions revealed a net reduction in the suitable squid habitat coupled with the corresponding northward habitat retreat. Moreover, the magnitude of the predicted habitat changes was proportional to the levels of warming for the representative periods from May to July 2025, 2050, and 2100. The highest decrease in the spatial extent and poleward retreat of the potential squid habitat were observed from May to July 2100 under the RCP 8.5 scenario. These trends could translate to shorter squid fishing periods and offshore shifts of the squid fishing grounds. Thus, insights into the future spatio-temporal patterns and trajectories of the potential squid habitats could lend important implications on the availability of squid resources to the fishery and subsequent evaluation of squid fishery management options under climate change.
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Arai, Takaomi, Aya Kotake, Chris Harrod, Michelle Morrissey, and T. Kieran McCarthy. "Ecological plasticity of the European eel Anguilla anguilla in a tidal Atlantic lake system in Ireland." Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 99, no. 5 (February 7, 2019): 1189–95. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0025315419000031.
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AbstractRecent studies have shown that anguillid eel populations in habitats spanning the marine–freshwater ecotone can display extreme plasticity in the range of catadromy expressed by individual fish. The apparent use of marine and freshwater habitats by the European eel Anguilla anguilla was examined by analysing the strontium (Sr) and calcium (Ca) concentrations in otoliths of eels collected from a tidal Atlantic lake system in Ireland. Variations of the Sr:Ca ratio in the otoliths indicated that a variety of environmental salinities had been experienced in the habitats that were occupied during the growth phase of these individuals in the tidal Atlantic lake system. The otolith microchemistry of these eels indicated that most of the eels had entered each salinity environment (freshwater (FW); brackish water (BW); marine-dominated water (MW) and full seawater (SW)) from fresh water to full seawater just after recruitment and had stayed in each environment until maturation without movement to other salinity environments. Only 2 of 93 (2%) eels had shifted their habitat once in their lives. This result suggests that each individual might have an environmental habitat preference, although each individual could move along a short (<2 km) salinity gradient.
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Accola, KL, JK Horne, JR Cordell, and JD Toft. "Nocturnal distributions of juvenile Pacific salmon along an eco-engineered marine shoreline." Marine Ecology Progress Series 687 (April 7, 2022): 113–23. http://dx.doi.org/10.3354/meps14006.
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Nocturnal distributions and habitat preferences of juvenile fish along urban shorelines are understudied relative to daytime investigations. As a case study, nocturnal distributions of juvenile Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) among ecological engineered and conventional seawall and pier habitats were characterized from May through August 2019 along the Seattle, WA, USA, waterfront. A multibeam sonar mounted beneath a kayak enabled day-night fish density comparisons to identify distribution and habitat use differences. Ecological engineering included mattresses (mesh bags filled with rocks) to create intertidal benches, a textured seawall to increase invertebrate colonization, and embedded glass blocks in an overhanging sidewalk to increase ambient light. Overall juvenile salmon night presence was twice that of daytime, and counts were 1.5 times higher during peak salmon densities. Juvenile salmon presence in eco-engineered and reference habitats was more similar at night compared to day. At night, juvenile salmon avoided traditional under-pier habitats and were more likely to navigate around piers that lack nearshore eco-engineered habitats. Increased use of eco-engineered habitats by juvenile salmon at night highlights the need to incorporate diel fish distribution differences in resource abundance estimates, and in the design and construction of coastline modifications.
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Farr, Emily R., Michael R. Johnson, Mark W. Nelson, Jonathan A. Hare, Wendy E. Morrison, Matthew D. Lettrich, Bruce Vogt, et al. "An assessment of marine, estuarine, and riverine habitat vulnerability to climate change in the Northeast U.S." PLOS ONE 16, no. 12 (December 9, 2021): e0260654. http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0260654.
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Climate change is impacting the function and distribution of habitats used by marine, coastal, and diadromous species. These impacts often exacerbate the anthropogenic stressors that habitats face, particularly in the coastal environment. We conducted a climate vulnerability assessment of 52 marine, estuarine, and riverine habitats in the Northeast U.S. to develop an ecosystem-scale understanding of the impact of climate change on these habitats. The trait-based assessment considers the overall vulnerability of a habitat to climate change to be a function of two main components, sensitivity and exposure, and relies on a process of expert elicitation. The climate vulnerability ranks ranged from low to very high, with living habitats identified as the most vulnerable. Over half of the habitats examined in this study are expected to be impacted negatively by climate change, while four habitats are expected to have positive effects. Coastal habitats were also identified as highly vulnerable, in part due to the influence of non-climate anthropogenic stressors. The results of this assessment provide regional managers and scientists with a tool to inform habitat conservation, restoration, and research priorities, fisheries and protected species management, and coastal and ocean planning.
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Murphy, Grace E. P., Melisa C. Wong, and Heike K. Lotze. "A human impact metric for coastal ecosystems with application to seagrass beds in Atlantic Canada." FACETS 4, no. 1 (June 1, 2019): 210–37. http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/facets-2018-0044.
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Coastal biogenic habitats are vulnerable to human impacts from both terrestrial and marine realms. Yet the broad spatial scale used in current approaches of quantifying anthropogenic stressors is not relevant to the finer scales affecting most coastal habitats. We developed a standardized human impact metric that includes five bay-scale and four local-scale (0–1 km) terrestrial and marine-based impacts to quantify the magnitude of anthropogenic impacts to coastal bays and nearshore biogenic habitats. We applied this metric to 180 seagrass beds ( Zostera marina), an important biogenic habitat prioritized for marine protection, in 52 bays across Atlantic Canada. The results show that seagrass beds and coastal bays exist across a wide human impact gradient and provide insight into which are the most and least affected by human threats. Generally, land alteration, nutrient loading, and shellfish aquaculture were higher in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, whereas invasive species and fishing activities were higher along the Atlantic coast. Sixty-four percent of bays were at risk of seagrass decline from nitrogen loading. We also found high within-bay variation in impact intensity, emphasizing the necessity of quantifying impacts at multiple spatial scales. We discuss implications for management and conservation planning, and application to other coastal habitats in Canada and beyond.
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Hofmann, Richard, Melanie Tietje, and Martin Aberhan. "Diversity partitioning in Phanerozoic benthic marine communities." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 116, no. 1 (December 17, 2018): 79–83. http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1814487116.
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Biotic interactions such as competition, predation, and niche construction are fundamental drivers of biodiversity at the local scale, yet their long-term effect during earth history remains controversial. To test their role and explore potential limits to biodiversity, we determine within-habitat (alpha), between-habitat (beta), and overall (gamma) diversity of benthic marine invertebrates for Phanerozoic geological formations. We show that an increase in gamma diversity is consistently generated by an increase in alpha diversity throughout the Phanerozoic. Beta diversity drives gamma diversity only at early stages of diversification but remains stationary once a certain gamma level is reached. This mode is prevalent during early- to mid-Paleozoic periods, whereas coupling of beta and gamma diversity becomes increasingly weak toward the recent. Generally, increases in overall biodiversity were accomplished by adding more species to local habitats, and apparently this process never reached saturation during the Phanerozoic. Our results provide general support for an ecological model in which diversification occurs in successive phases of progressing levels of biotic interactions.
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HADI, TRI ARYONO, MUHAMMAD HAFIZT, HADIYANTO HADIYANTO, AGUS BUDIYANTO, and RIKOH MANOGAR SIRINGORINGO. "Shallow water sponges along the south coast of Java, Indonesia." Biodiversitas Journal of Biological Diversity 19, no. 2 (March 1, 2018): 485–93. http://dx.doi.org/10.13057/biodiv/d190223.
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Hadi TA, Hafizt M, Hadiyanto, Budiyanto A, Siringoringo RM. 2018. Shallow water sponges along the south coast of Java, Indonesia. Biodiversitas 19: 485-493. Sponges are the most diverse benthic filter feeders, occupying many different types of marine habitat. The south coast of Java is one such marine habitat, very exposed to the open sea. This study investigated the sponge diversity as well as their morphological characters across the south coast of Java. The observations were carried out from 2011 to 2016 in four different locations, including Pamang Peuk, Gunungkidul, Prigi Bay and Bayuwangi. The study found 96 sponge species, from 15 orders, and described them in terms of nine morphological characters. The most common species included Spheciospongia inconstans, Stylissa massa, Callyspongia sp. and Cinachyrella australiensis, while the most common growth forms were massive and encrusting, accounting respectively for 34.4% and 28.1% of the total number of species. There was a significant difference in the number of species found between sub-tidal and intertidal habitats; subtidal sponges were approximately 50% more diverse than intertidal sponges. Apart from the habitat types, the number of sponges varied in relation to the longitude; east Java had more sponge species with more variations in morphology compared to central and west Java. Encrusting and globular growth forms were the most common characteristics of intertidal sponges in west and central Java, while other growth forms comprised the diverse characteristics of the subtidal sponges in the east Java. This baseline information is essential for management of marine biodiversity hotspots in taking decisions for marine life conservation, because the global trajectory of marine habitat degradation is predicted to rise.
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Peterson, Mark S., and Michael J. Andres. "Progress on Research Regarding Ecology and Biodiversity of Coastal Fisheries and Nektonic Species and Their Habitats within Coastal Landscapes." Diversity 13, no. 4 (April 15, 2021): 168. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/d13040168.
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This paper aims to highlight the new research and significant advances in our understanding of links between coastal habitat quality/quantity/diversity and the diversity of fisheries species and other mobile aquatic species (hereafter nekton) that use them within coastal landscapes. This topic is quite diverse owing to the myriad of habitat types found in coastal marine waters and the variety of life history strategies fisheries species and nekton use in these environments. Thus, we focus our review on five selective but relevant topics, habitat templates, essential fish habitat, habitat mosaics/habitat connectivity, transitory/ephemeral habitat, and the emerging/maturing approaches to the study of fish-habitat systems as a roadmap to its development. We have highlighted selected important contributions in the progress made on each topic to better identify and quantify landscape scale interactions between living biota and structured habitats set within a dynamic landscape.
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Metcalfe, Kristian, Nathalie Bréheret, Gaëlle Bal, Eva Chauvet, Philip D. Doherty, Angela Formia, Alexandre Girard, et al. "Tracking foraging green turtles in the Republic of the Congo: insights into spatial ecology from a data poor region." Oryx 54, no. 3 (February 3, 2020): 299–306. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0030605319000309.
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AbstractGlobally, marine turtles are considered threatened throughout their range, and therefore conservation practitioners are increasingly investing resources in marine protected areas to protect key life history stages and critical habitats, including foraging grounds, nesting beaches and inter-nesting areas. Empirical data on the distribution of these habitats and/or the spatial ecology and behaviour of individuals of many marine turtle populations are often lacking, undermining conservation efforts, particularly along the Atlantic coast of Africa. Here we contribute to the knowledge base in this region by describing patterns of habitat use for nine green turtles Chelonia mydas tagged with satellite platform transmitter terminals at a foraging ground in Loango Bay, Republic of the Congo, one of only a few documented mainland foraging grounds for marine turtles in Central Africa. Analyses of these data revealed that core areas of habitat use and occupancy for a wide range of size/age classes were restricted to shallow waters adjacent to Pointe Indienne in Loango Bay, with most individuals showing periods of high fidelity to this area. These data are timely given the Congolese government recently announced its intention to create a marine conservation zone to protect marine turtles in Loango Bay. Despite the small sample size of this study, these data exemplify the need for comprehensive strategies that span national jurisdictions, as we provide the first documented evidence of linkages between green turtle foraging sites in Central Africa (Loango Bay, Republic of the Congo) and Southern Africa (Mussulo Bay, Angola).
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Bullimore, Ross D., Nicola L. Foster, and Kerry L. Howell. "Coral-characterized benthic assemblages of the deep Northeast Atlantic: defining “Coral Gardens” to support future habitat mapping efforts." ICES Journal of Marine Science 70, no. 3 (January 23, 2013): 511–22. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fss195.
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Abstract Bullimore, R. D., Foster, N. L., and Howell, K. L. 2013. Coral-characterized benthic assemblages of the deep Northeast Atlantic: defining “Coral Gardens” to support future habitat mapping efforts – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 70: 511–522. Providing statistically robust maps of habitat distributions on which to base spatial planning and management of the marine area is reliant upon established and agreed descriptions and definitions of habitats. “Coral Gardens” is an Oslo–Paris Convention (OSPAR) listed habitat, which currently cannot be reliably mapped as a result of poorly developed deep-sea habitat classification systems and habitat definitions. The aim of this study is to assess and inform development of the current definition of this habitat to support future mapping efforts. This study uses multivariate community analysis of video data to identify deep-sea benthic assemblages characterized by coral taxa and thus constituting a potential “coral gardens” habitat. Assemblages are assessed against a set of qualifying criteria, derived from current definitions of “coral gardens”, first at the assemblage level then sample by sample. The current definition of “coral gardens” captures a range of benthic assemblages, thus “Coral Gardens” cannot be considered a single “habitat”. While 19 assemblages are identified as being characterized by one or more coral garden taxa, only 8 meet the qualifying criteria. It is suggested that the current definition incorporates descriptions of the different “Coral Gardens” assemblages together with guidance on threshold densities for coral species specific to each assemblage type.