Marine biodiversity in rocky subtidal habitats:Spatio-temporal dynamics, controlling factors and conservation

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Coastal marine habitats and organisms are being compromised at an unprecedented rate by human activities and most effects are going unnoticed because insufficient resources are invested in describing what lives in our oceans. In this project, we propose to develop a tool and monitoring program to assist the management of regions in the Bay of Fundy that have recently been identified as Ecologically and Biologically Significant Areas by the supporting organization, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO). This project will test the use of settlement cages (collectors) as a tool for monitoring biodiversity of benthic marine invertebrates and small benthic fishes in rocky subtidal habitats. The collectors offer a method for comparing biodiversity among sites and regions in a standardized way with low impact to the environment. Identification of species will be based on morphological characteristics and DNA barcoding. Collectors will be used to examine spatial and temporal patterns of biodiversity using a spatially nested study design in 5 areas in southwestern New Brunswick, and the relationship of these patterns to physical factors (temperature, salinity, bottom type). The group of species found in the collectors will be compared to those in bottom samples from the sites to calibrate this monitoring tool. A field experiment will quantify the impact of predation on larval settlement and early post-settlement mortality. In addition to generating useful scientific information for the monitoring and management of biodiversity in general, this project will examine settlement patterns of species with particular ecological and/or economical significance, such as the American lobster. The proposed research is expected to provide scientific data that should immediately contribute to DFO's management of Ecologically and Biologically Significant Areas in the Bay of Fundy and is expected to result in the development of a standardized tool and protocol DFO will be able to use to continue monitoring biodiversity in these and other significant marine areas in the future.