Quantifying the distinctiveness of deep-water vertical habitats

为了支持海洋空间管理，我们需要更好地了解具有重要生态意义的生境的空间分布，这可以通过确定在形成生物空间格局方面发挥重要作用的因素来促进。 在更深的沃茨的主要问题是，大多数栖息地都没有得到很好的研究，更罕见的栖息地仍在被发现。 在沿海浅沃茨，海底斜坡长期以来被认为是海底生物群落的重要结构组成部分，垂直和平坦区域的组成有所不同。 然而，在较深的沃茨，传统的取样设备在崎岖的环境中是无效的。 因此，深垂直生境没有被详细研究，即使是悬垂的石珊瑚的大型垂直珊瑚礁，以及由alcyonacea，双壳类和海绵居住的墙壁越来越多地被发现，并可能代表一个被低估的高生物多样性生境。 由于其复杂的地形，悬崖环境为脆弱的物种提供了天然保护，使其免受拖网活动的影响，可能使幼虫寄生在周围受损的栖息地。 然而，并不是所有的墙壁都一定是生物多样性热点，并且仍然不知道它们是否拥有与附近平坦地形不同的组合。 也就是说，我们可以假设环境条件可能会明显影响垂直栖息地。 例如，大型珊瑚群可能只生长在具有特定强度特性的岩石表面，水流可能与陡峭的地形相互作用，形成复杂的水流模式，影响喂养条件的适宜性，可能控制精细尺度的空间模式。 本研究项目的目的是了解深水垂直栖息地在控制当地和区域空间生物多样性模式中的作用。 将进行垂直墙和平坦地形群落之间的β多样性比较，并将调查地质、水动力和生物对生境复杂性、多样性和相关动物的小规模生态位选择的控制。 这项工作将利用现有的视频数据集，并从纽芬兰的深水峡湾和即将进行的海上探险收集新的数据集。 鉴于全球海洋生物多样性的下降，了解控制这些生物多样性热点分布的因素对于成功实施养护措施至关重要。 既然加拿大已经实现了其2020年的保护目标，监测具有生物和生态意义的生境将是确保及早发现变化的关键。 通过调查地质、流体动力学和生物控制，该项目将增加我们对控制生物多样性和未充分研究的深水垂直生境分布的因素的了解。

To support marine spatial management, we need to understand better the spatial distribution of ecologically important habitats, which can be facilitated by identifying the factors that play significant roles in shaping biological spatial patterns. The main issue in deeper waters is that most habitats are poorly studied, with rarer ones still being discovered. In shallow coastal waters, the slope of the seabed has long been identified as an important structural component for benthic communities, with differences in composition observed between vertical and flat areas. In deeper waters, however, traditional sampling equipment are ineffective in rugged environments. Deep vertical habitats have therefore not been studied in detail, even though large vertical reefs of overhanging scleractinians, and walls inhabited by alcyonacea, bivalves and sponges are increasingly being discovered, and likely represent an underestimated high biodiversity habitat. Because of their complex topography, cliff environments provide natural protection to vulnerable species against trawling activities, potentially allowing larvae to recolonize surrounding damaged habitats. However, not all walls are necessarily biodiversity hotspots, and it remains unknown whether they host assemblages different from nearby flat terrain. That said, we can hypothesize that environmental conditions likely affect vertical habitats distinctly. For example, large coral colonies may only grow on rock faces with particular strength properties and currents likely interact with the steep topography to create complex flow patterns that affect suitability of feeding conditions, potentially controlling fine-scale spatial patterns. The aim of this research program is to understand the role of deep-water vertical habitats in controlling local and regional spatial biodiversity patterns. Beta-diversity comparisons between vertical-wall and flat-terrain communities will be performed, and the geological, hydrodynamic and biological controls on habitat complexity, diversity and fine-scale niche selection of associated fauna will be investigated. This work will make use of existing video datasets, as well as collect new datasets from deep-water fjords in Newfoundland and upcoming offshore expeditions. Understanding the factors controlling the distribution of these biodiversity hotspots is crucial to the implementation of successful conservation measures given global declines in marine biodiversity. Now that Canada has met its 2020 conservation targets, monitoring of biologically and ecologically significant habitats will be key to ensure early detection of change. By investigating geological, hydrodynamic and biological controls, this project will increase our understanding of the factors that control the biodiversity and distribution of understudied deep-water vertical habitats.