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Mapping deep-sea biodiversity and good environmental status in the Azores: assisng with the implementaon of EU Marine Strategy Framework Direcve
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Authors
Abstract(s)
ABSTRACT: One of the major shortfall of biodiversity knowledge steams from an incomplete description of the geographical distribution of species. Overcoming this shortfall is essential for conserving nature and its services and it is a required first step to tackle more complex ecological processes (e.g. dispersal, speciation, disturbance, biotic interactions, etc.) in remote and poorly studied regions such as the deep sea. In a region such as the Azores (NE Atlantic), where the deep sea represents a dominant component of the seascape, it is essential to characterize patterns and processes of deep-sea biodiversity. In fact, only by understanding how species and marine resources distribute it is possible to correctly inform area- and ecosystem-based management and achieve the goals of policies aiming at reversing the cycle of decline in ocean health. In particular, the European Commission has adopted a number of policies to grant a sustainable use of nature space and resources which include the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MFSD) and the Maritime Spatial Planning Directive (MSPD). The overall goal of this thesis is to bring together existing and new biodiversity data from recent scientific surveys to deepen our understanding of biodiversity and biogeographic patterns of deep-sea Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems (VMEs) indicator taxa. The focus is on deep-sea hard-substrate communities of the Azores and, in particular, on ecosystem engineer species of the Phyla Cnidaria and Porifera. Four major environmental drivers of deep-sea benthic engineer species are recognized in the Azores: (i) a latitudinal gradient in primary production strongly influenced by the Azores Current-Azores Front (AzC-AzF) system; (ii) the depth-wise succession of the regional water masses and their stratification into different isopycnal (vertical) layers; (iii) the spatial distribution of prominent geomorphic features such as seamounts ridges and island slopes; (iv) the availability of hard substrate for attachment. The recognition of these environmental drivers sets an interesting background for future ecological research, ecosystem-based management and spatial monitoring. The response of deep-sea species to these environmental drivers is explored in detail in the different chapters of the present manuscript.
Description
Tese de Doutoramento, Ciências Biológicas, 26 de junho de 2023, Universidade dos Açores.
Keywords
Atlantic Biogeography Deep Sea Species Turnover Marine Ecosystems Zonation
Pedagogical Context
Citation
Taranto, Gerald Hechter. (2022). "Mapping deep-sea biodiversity and good environmental status in the Azores: assisng with the implementaon of EU Marine Strategy Framework Direcve". 243 p. (Tese de Doutoramento em Ciências Biológicas). Horta: Universidade dos Açores, 2022. Disponível em http://hdl.handle.net/10400.3/6809