Seamount benthos in a cobalt-rich crust region of the central Pacific: conservation challenges for future seabed mining

Thomas Schlacher; Amy R Baco; Ashley A Rowden; Timothy D O'Hara; Malcolm R Clark; Chris Kelley; John F Dower

doi:10.1111/ddi.12142

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Seamount benthos in a cobalt-rich crust region of the central Pacific: conservation challenges for future seabed mining

Journal article

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Seamount benthos in a cobalt-rich crust region of the central Pacific: conservation challenges for future seabed mining

Thomas Schlacher, Amy R Baco, Ashley A Rowden, Timothy D O'Hara, Malcolm R Clark, Chris Kelley and John F Dower

Diversity and Distributions, Vol.20(5), pp.491-502

2014

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/ddi.12142

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Abstract

benthic assemblages

cobalt-rich crust

conservation

deep sea

mining

seamounts

Aim: The benthic fauna of seamounts typically includes organisms that are slow-growing, long-lived and sensitive to mechanical disturbance, making seamounts susceptible to anthropogenic impacts. Such impacts may arise from mining cobalt-rich crusts, envisaged for seamounts in the central North Pacific; this scenario requires that environmental guidelines for mining operations on seamounts be developed. Here, we provide the biological information essential for effective conservation planning of deep-sea features targeted for such mining. Location: Central North Pacific, Hawaiian Seamount Chain. Methods: Spatial analysis of seamount benthos using a large biological dataset (> 600 taxa) obtained from 144 submersible dives (depth range: 113-1985 m) on 27 seamounts covering a distance of over 2200 km of ocean. Results: Benthic assemblages of invertebrates are structurally different between seamounts located inside and outside a region with cobalt-rich crusts. This spatial contrast results from variations in species composition and relative abundance of species, rather than differences in species richness, challenging historical notions of an impoverished cobalt-rich crust fauna in the region. Seamount assemblages also have high species turnover with depth and distance at the scale of individual seamounts, but geographic separation was a poor predictor of ecological separation for the region at large. Main conclusion: Several implications for the design of spatial management and conservation tools with respect to mining emerge: (1) conservation of seamounts outside the cobalt-rich crust region is unlikely to capture the full range of ecological features found inside the region; (2) conservation areas need to encompass a broad bathymetric gradient; (3) ideally, mining blocks on individual seamounts should not exceed 2 km in length. Overall, the life history characteristics and morphological traits of the deep-water invertebrate fauna typical of seamounts in the region imply that any recovery from mechanical impacts is likely to be very slow.

Details

Title: Seamount benthos in a cobalt-rich crust region of the central Pacific: conservation challenges for future seabed mining
Authors: Thomas Schlacher (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast - Faculty of Science, Health, Education and Engineering
Amy R Baco (Author) - Florida State University, United States
Ashley A Rowden (Author) - National Institute for Water and Atmospheric Research, New Zealand
Timothy D O'Hara (Author) - Museum Victoria
Malcolm R Clark (Author) - National Institute for Water and Atmospheric Research, New Zealand
Chris Kelley (Author) - University of Hawaii, United States
John F Dower (Author) - University of Victoria, Canada
Publication details: Diversity and Distributions, Vol.20(5), pp.491-502
Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Date published: 2014
DOI: 10.1111/ddi.12142
ISSN: 1366-9516
Copyright note: Copyright © 2013 The Authors. Diversity and Distributions published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Organisation Unit: School of Science and Engineering - Legacy; University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; School of Science, Technology and Engineering
Language: English
Record Identifier: 99449053302621
Output Type: Journal article

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Web Of Science research areas: Biodiversity Conservation; Ecology

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