ORCID Profile
0000-0001-9040-2625
Current Organisation
University of Oxford
Does something not look right? The information on this page has been harvested from data sources that may not be up to date. We continue to work with information providers to improve coverage and quality. To report an issue, use the Feedback Form.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 27-10-2022
DOI: 10.1111/CONL.12924
Abstract: Deep reefs below 30 m provide essential ecosystem services for ocean health and human well‐being such as food security and climate change resilience. Yet, deep reefs remain poorly researched and largely unprotected, including in the Western Indian Ocean (WIO). Here, we assessed current conservation approaches in the WIO focusing on deep reefs, using a combination of online surveys and semi‐structured interviews. Results indicated that deep‐reef data are sparse and commonly stemming from non‐peer‐reviewed or non‐publicly available sources, and are often not used to inform conservation of WIO marine protected areas. Based on those findings, we co‐developed a framework with WIO stakeholders comprising recommendations linked to specific actions to be undertaken by regional actors to improve the capacity of the region to collect and share deep‐reef information. We hope this framework will enhance deep‐reef stewardship and management throughout the WIO and thus aid sustainable blue economic growth in the region.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 19-12-2022
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 19-07-2022
DOI: 10.1002/RSE2.290
Abstract: Benthic components of tropical mesophotic coral ecosystems (MCEs) are home to erse fish assemblages, but the effect of multiscale spatial benthic characteristics on MCE fish is not well understood. To investigate the influence of fine‐scale benthic seascape structure and broad‐scale environmental characteristics on MCE fish, we surveyed fish assemblages in Seychelles at 30, 60 and 120 m depth using submersible video transects. Spatial pattern metrics from seascape ecology were applied to quantify fine‐scale benthic seascape composition, configuration and terrain morphology from structure‐from‐motion photogrammetry and multibeam echosounder bathymetry and to explore seascape–fish associations. Hierarchical clustering using fish abundance and biomass data identified four distinct assemblages separated by the depth and geographic location, but also significantly influenced by variations in fine‐scale seascape structure. Results further revealed variable responses of assemblage characteristics (fish biomass, abundance, trophic group richness, Shannon ersity) to seascape heterogeneity at different depths. Sites with steep slopes and high terrain complexity hosted higher fish abundance and biomass, with shallower fish assemblages (30–60 m) positively associated with aggregated patch mixtures of coral, rubble, sediment and macroalgae with variable patch shapes. Deeper fish assemblages (120 m) were positively associated with relief and structural complexity and local variability in the substratum and benthic cover. Our study demonstrates the potential of spatial pattern metrics quantifying benthic composition, configuration and terrain structure to delineate mesophotic fish–habitat associations. Furthermore, incorporating a finer‐scale perspective proved valuable to explain the compositional patterns of MCE fish assemblages. As developments in marine surveying and monitoring of MCEs continue, we suggest that future studies incorporating spatial pattern metrics with multiscale remotely sensed data can provide insights will that are both ecologically meaningful to fish and operationally relevant to conservation strategies.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2023
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 27-06-2022
DOI: 10.1007/S00338-022-02281-4
Abstract: Mesophotic (30–150 m) and rariphotic (150–300 m) deeper reef habitats are important from an ecological and conservation perspective, yet remain understudied. Key knowledge gaps exist on the environmental patterns and processes that drive and shape their geographical distributions. Understanding these is particularly important for regions as the Western Indian Ocean, where deeper reefs are poorly known but support food security and host economically important species. Spatial predictive models of assemblage occurrences, using terrain variables as predictors, offer a solution to address knowledge gaps around deeper reef distributions. We identified relationships between seafloor geomorphology, quantified at multiple scales, and sessile benthic assemblages in four atoll seascapes in Seychelles using terrain models derived from high-resolution multibeam sonar and underwater video surveys. Using random forests and boosted regression trees, we demonstrated that terrain derivatives extracted over multiple scales perform as reliable predictors of deeper reef assemblages. The most influential environmental predictors were depth, distance to shore, topographic complexity, slope and curvature and substrate characteristics. The relative importance of predictors was explained by assemblage functional characteristics. Assemblage–environment relationships were used to produce probability distribution maps that showed similar distributional patterns for identified assemblages across locations, with high occurrence probabilities linked to complex geomorphological structures. Our results help contribute to a consistent baseline understanding of the relationship between seascape structure and mesophotic reef ecosystems in this area. Complex geomorphological structures, including terraces and paleoshorelines, supported high densities of mesophotic assemblages and could be considered priority habitats for management.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 15-11-2021
DOI: 10.1002/LNO.11976
Abstract: Seascape ecology is an emerging pattern‐oriented and integrative science conceptually linked to landscape ecology. It aims to quantify multidimensional spatial structure in the sea and reveal its ecological consequences. The seascape ecology approach has made important advances in shallow coastal environments, and increasing exploration and mapping of the deep seabed provides opportunities for application in the deep ocean. We argue that seascape ecology, with its integrative and multiscale perspective, can generate new scientific insights at spatial and temporal scales relevant to ecosystem‐based management. Seascape ecology provides a conceptual and operational framework that integrates and builds on existing benthic ecology and habitat mapping research by providing additional pattern‐oriented concepts, tools and techniques to (1) quantify complex ecological patterns across multiple scales (2) link spatial patterns to bio ersity and ecological processes and (3) provide ecologically meaningful information that is operationally relevant to spatial management. This review introduces seascape ecology and provides a framework for its application to deep‐seabed environments. Research areas are highlighted where seascape ecology can advance the ecological understanding of deep benthic environments.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 28-10-2022
DOI: 10.1007/S10980-022-01541-6
Abstract: Seamounts are abundant geomorphological features creating seabed spatial heterogeneity, a main driver of deep-sea bio ersity. Despite its ecological importance, substantial knowledge gaps exist on the character of seamount spatial heterogeneity. This study aimed to map, quantify and compare seamount seascapes to test whether in idual habitats and seamounts differ in geomorphological structuring, and to identify spatial pattern metrics useful to discriminate between habitats and seamounts. We mapped and classified geomorphological habitat using bathymetric data collected at five Southwest Indian Ridge seamounts. Spatial pattern metrics from landscape ecology are applied to quantify and compare seascape heterogeneity in composition and configuration represented in resulting habitat maps. Whilst part of the same regional geological feature, seamounts differed in seascape composition and configuration. Five geomorphological habitat types occurred across sites, which within seamounts differed in patch area, shape and clustering, with ridge habitat most dissimilar. Across seamounts, the spatial distribution of patches differed in number, shape, habitat aggregation and intermixing, and outcomes were used to score seamounts on a gradient from low to high spatial heterogeneity. Although seamounts have been conceptualised as similar habitats, this study revealed quantitative differences in seascape spatial heterogeneity. As variations in relative proportion and spatial relationships of habitats within seamounts may influence ecological functioning, the proposed quantitative approach can generate insights into within-seamount characteristics and seamount types relevant for habitat mappers and marine managers focusing on representational ecosystem-based management of seamounts. Further research into associations of sessile and mobile seamount bio ersity with seascape composition and configuration at relevant spatial scales will help improve ecological interpretation of metrics, as will incorporating oceanographic parameters.
Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
No related grants have been discovered for Denise Swanborn.