Patterns of benthic mega-invertebrate habitat associations in the Pacific Northwest continental shelf waters

As human impacts and demands for ocean space increase (fisheries, aquaculture, marine reserves, renewable energy), identification of marine habitats hosting sensitive biological assemblages has become a priority. Epifaunal invertebrates, especially the structure-forming species, are an increasing conservation concern as many traditional (bottom-contact fishing) and novel (marine renewable energy) ocean uses have the potential to displace or otherwise impact these slow-growing organisms. The differences in mega-invertebrate species assemblages between high-relief rocks and low-relief sediments are well documented and likely hold for most marine environments. In anticipation of potential development of marine renewable energy faculties off Oregon and Washington (USA), a survey of the benthic invertebrate assemblages and habitats was conducted on the continental shelf of the Pacific Northwest, using video footage collected by ROV, to more finely characterize these assemblage-habitat associations. Four main associations were found: pure mud/sand dominated by sea whips and burrowing brittle stars; mixed mud-rock (which may be further divided based on size of mixed-in rocks) characterized by various taxa at small densities; consolidated rocks characterized by high diversity and density of sessile or motile mega-invertebrates; and rubble rocks showing less diversity and density than the consolidated rocks, possibly due to the disturbance generated by movement of the unconsolidated rocks. The results of this study will help classify and map the seafloor in a way that represents benthic habitats reflective of biological species assemblage distributions, rather than solely geological features, and support conservation and management planning.Keywords: Soft sediment, Benthic assemblage, Rocky reef, Epifauna, Underwater vide

Animal displacement from marine energy development : Mechanisms and consequences

This work would not be possible without funding support from the U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Water Power Technologies Office to Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) under contract DE-AC05- 76RL01830 . We are grateful to all the international marine energy researchers and regulatory advisors who attended the online Expert Forum hosted by OES-Environmental on December 7th, 2022, and provided feedback and input on an earlier version of this work. We also thank Stephanie King (PNNL) for creating the original illustrations, as well as the anonymous reviewers for their constructive feedback.For marine wave and tidal energy to successfully contribute to global renewable energy goals and climate change mitigation, marine energy projects need to expand beyond small deployments to large-scale arrays. However, with large-scale projects come potential environmental effects not observed at the scales of single devices and small arrays. One of these effects is the risk of displacing marine animals from their preferred habitats or their migration routes, which may increase with the size of arrays and location. Many marine animals may be susceptible to some level of displacement once large marine energy arrays are increasingly integrated into the seascape, including large migratory animals, non-migratory pelagic animals with large home ranges, and benthic and demersal mobile organisms with more limited ranges, among many others. Yet, research around the mechanisms and effects of displacement have been hindered by the lack of clarity within the international marine energy community regarding the definition of displacement, how it occurs, its consequences, species of concern, and methods to investigate the outcomes. This review paper leveraged lessons learned from other industries, such as offshore development, to establish a definition of displacement in the marine energy context, explore which functional groups of marine animals may be affected and in what way, and identify pathways for investigating displacement through modeling and monitoring. In the marine energy context, we defined displacement as the outcome of one of three mechanisms (i.e., attraction, avoidance, and exclusion) triggered by an animal's response to one or more stressors acting as a disturbance, with various consequences at the individual through population levels. The knowledge gaps highlighted in this study will help the regulatory and scientific communities prepare for mitigating, observing, measuring, and characterizing displacement of various animals around marine energy arrays in order to prevent irreversible consequences.Peer reviewe

The macro- and megabenthic fauna on the continental shelf of the eastern Amundsen Sea, Antarctica

In 2008 the BIOPEARL II expedition on board of RRS James Clark Ross sailed to the eastern Amundsen Sea Embayment and Pine Island Bay, one of the least studied Antarctic continental shelf regions due to its remoteness and ice cover. A total of 37 Agassiz trawls were deployed at depth transects along the continental and trough slopes. A total of 5,469 specimens, belonging to 32 higher taxonomic groups and more than 270 species, were collected. Species richness per station varied from 1–55. The benthic assemblages were dominated by echinoderms and clearly different to those in the Ross, Scotia and Weddell seas. Here we present the macro- and megafaunal assemblage structure, its species richness and the presence of several undescribed species

Biological Consequences of Marine Energy Development on Marine Animals

Marine energy devices harness power from attributes of ocean water to form a sustainable energy source. Knowledge gaps remain about whether marine energy systems can affect the environment, adding another threat to animal populations and habitats already under pressure from climate change and anthropogenic activities. To date, potential environmental effects have been studied under the scope of stressor–receptor interactions, where moving parts of, or emissions from, a system could harm the animals, habitats, and natural processes. While crucial for understanding effects and identifying knowledge gaps, this approach misses a holistic view of what animals may experience in the presence of marine energy systems. We look at six biological consequences and forces that drive the health of an animal population and the effects expected from marine energy development: success of early life stages; changes in competitive capabilities; growth and survival based on food availability; susceptibility to predators; injury or death; and reproductive success. We use case studies to develop this approach, focusing on a variety of marine animals. An approximate level of risk is assigned for each interaction based on the biological consequences. This work highlights the need to examine the effects of marine energy development on animal populations within their natural habitats

Methods for Measuring Carbon Dioxide Uptake and Permanence: Review and Implications for Macroalgae Aquaculture

Carbon dioxide removal (CDR) is gaining recognition as a necessary action in addition to emissions reduction to prevent some of the worst effects of climate change. Macroalgae aquaculture has been identified as a potential CDR strategy and significant research investments have been made in this area. This article reviews current methods for monitoring carbon to assess the potential for application in the context of macroalgae aquaculture as a CDR strategy. In total, 382 papers were included in the review and categorized by carbon uptake methods, carbon permanence methods, and comprehensive frameworks for assessing carbon capture. While methods for measuring carbon uptake are well established, methods to assess the permanence of carbon in the natural life cycle of macroalgae and in products following harvest are lacking. To achieve the full benefit of macroalgae cultivation as a climate solution, monitoring, reporting, and verification standards and improved methods for assessing carbon uptake and permanence need to be developed

Biological Consequences of Marine Energy Development on Marine Animals

Marine energy devices harness power from attributes of ocean water to form a sustainable energy source. Knowledge gaps remain about whether marine energy systems can affect the environment, adding another threat to animal populations and habitats already under pressure from climate change and anthropogenic activities. To date, potential environmental effects have been studied under the scope of stressor–receptor interactions, where moving parts of, or emissions from, a system could harm the animals, habitats, and natural processes. While crucial for understanding effects and identifying knowledge gaps, this approach misses a holistic view of what animals may experience in the presence of marine energy systems. We look at six biological consequences and forces that drive the health of an animal population and the effects expected from marine energy development: success of early life stages; changes in competitive capabilities; growth and survival based on food availability; susceptibility to predators; injury or death; and reproductive success. We use case studies to develop this approach, focusing on a variety of marine animals. An approximate level of risk is assigned for each interaction based on the biological consequences. This work highlights the need to examine the effects of marine energy development on animal populations within their natural habitats

Understanding processes at the origin of species flocks with a focus on the marine Antarctic fauna

24 pagesInternational audienceSpecies flocks (SFs) fascinate evolutionary biologists who wonder whether such striking diversification can be driven by normal evolutionary processes. Multiple definitions of SFs have hindered the study of their origins. Previous studies identified a monophyletic taxon as a SF if it displays high speciosity in an area in which it is endemic (criterion 1), high ecological diversity among species (criterion 2), and if it dominates the habitat in terms of biomass (criterion 3); we used these criteria in our analyses. Our starting hypothesis is that normal evolutionary processes may provide a sufficient explanation for most SFs. We thus clearly separate each criterion and identify which biological (intrinsic) and environmental (extrinsic) traits are most favourable to their realization. The first part focuses on evolutionary processes. We highlight that some popular putative causes of SFs, such as key innovations or ecological speciation, are neither necessary nor sufficient to fulfill some or all of the three criteria. Initial differentiation mechanisms are diverse and difficult to identify a posteriori because a primary differentiation of one type (genetic, ecological or geographical) often promotes other types of differentiation. Furthermore, the criteria are not independent: positive feedbacks between speciosity and ecological diversity among species are expected whatever the initial cause of differentiation, and ecological diversity should enhance habitat dominance at the clade level. We then identify intrinsic and extrinsic factors that favour each criterion. Low dispersal emerges as a convincing driver of speciosity. Except for a genomic architecture favouring ecological speciation, for which assessment is difficult, high effective population sizes are the single intrinsic factor that directly enhances speciosity, ecological diversity and habitat dominance. No extrinsic factor appeared to enhance all criteria simultaneously but a combination of factors (insularity, fragmentation and environmental stability) may favour the three criteria, although the effect is indirect for habitat dominance. We then apply this analytical framework to Antarctic marine environments by analysing data from 18 speciose clades belonging to echinoderms (five unrelated clades), notothenioid fishes (five clades) and peracarid crustaceans (eight clades). Antarctic shelf environments and history appear favourable to endemicity and speciosity, but not to ecological specialization. Two main patterns are distinguished among taxa. (i) In echinoderms, many brooding, species-rich and endemic clades are reported, but without remarkable ecological diversity or habitat dominance. In these taxa, loss of the larval stage is probably a consequence of past Antarctic environmental factors, and brooding is suggested to be responsible for enhanced allopatric speciation (via dispersal limitation). (ii) In notothenioids and peracarids, many clades fulfill all three SF criteria. This could result from unusual features in fish and crustaceans: chromosome instability and key innovations (antifreeze proteins) in notothenioids, ecological opportunity in peracarids, and a genomic architecture favouring ecological speciation in both groups. Therefore, the data do not support our starting point that normal evolutionary factors or processes drive SFs because in these two groups uncommon intrinsic features or ecological opportunity provide the best explanation. The utility of the three-criterion SF concept is therefore questioned and guidelines are given for future studies

What’s in My Toolkit? A Review of Technologies for Assessing Changes in Habitats Caused by Marine Energy Development

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

Surprises from the Deep: New and Unusual Crinoids

A combination of new material and observations of deep-sea crinoids, chiefly from NOAA’s expeditions in the central and western Pacific, plus re-examined older specimens, has revealed a series of unexpected novelties, including range extensions for several taxa (e.g., Metacrininae and Holopodidae). A new species, and possibly genus, of the stalked family Phrynocrinidae previously seen in Indonesia, exhibits an arm branching pattern previously unknown among extant crinoids, and a pattern of stalk articulations apparently the inverse of its confamilials. In the Phoenix Islands Protected Area, Maibua Seamount supports a vast dense monospecific assemblage of featherstars in ~700-740 m, and an observation at 5770 m in Kinono Trough represents a new depth record for any featherstar. On Utu Seamount off Samoa, some adult-sized apparent featherstars retain a postlarval stalk shorter than their arm length. An apparently new species of Atopocrinus from off Japan bears cirrus sockets separated by large openings that appear to connect the centrodorsal cavity directly with the exterior; it more closely resembles a crinoid recently described from the Jurassic than any other extant genus. Specimens ostensibly belonging to two other featherstar genera, Thaumatocrinus and Psathyrometra, stretch their respective generic diagnoses. Sequence data from recently collected specimens is being added to an ongoing phylogenetic revision of extant Crinoidea

Use of a 360-Degree Underwater Camera to Characterize Artificial Reef and Fish Aggregating Effects around Marine Energy Devices

Marine energy devices must be attached to the seafloor by their foundations, pilings, or anchors, and will have other parts in the water column like the devices themselves, mooring lines, and power export cables running along the seafloor. The installation and presence of these artificial structures will create physical changes that can disrupt or create new habitats, and potentially alter the behavior of mobile organisms such as fish around a device by attracting them to these new artificial reefs and fish aggregating devices. In this study, we tested a new approach for monitoring fish activity around a marine energy device anchor: a 360-degree underwater camera to keep the target (a wave energy converter’s anchor) in the field of view of the camera. The camera was deployed in three configurations (hand-held, tripod, video lander) at sites with different hydrodynamics and underwater visibilities. The video lander was the best configuration: very stable, versatile, and easy to handle. The 360-degree field of view enabled observing and counting fishes, which were more abundant at dusk than dawn or noon, around the anchor. Despite remaining challenges, 360-degree cameras are useful tools for monitoring animal interactions with marine energy devices