Fine-Scale Heterogeneity of a Cold-Water Coral Reef and Its Influence on the Distribution of Associated Taxa

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dc.contributor.authorPrice, David M.
dc.contributor.authorLim, Aaron
dc.contributor.authorCallaway, Alex
dc.contributor.authorEichhorn, Markus P.
dc.contributor.authorWheeler, Andrew J.
dc.contributor.authorLo lacono, Claudio
dc.contributor.authorHuvenne, Veerle A.I.
dc.date.accessioned2021-03-31T09:12:18Z
dc.date.available2021-03-31T09:12:18Z
dc.date.issued2021-03-23
dc.descriptionPublication history: Accepted - 18 February 2021; Published online - 23 March 2021en_US
dc.description.abstractBenthic fauna form spatial patterns which are the result of both biotic and abiotic processes, which can be quantified with a range of landscape ecology descriptors. Fine- to medium-scale spatial patterns (<1–10 m) have seldom been quantified in deep-sea habitats, but can provide fundamental ecological insights into species’ niches and interactions. Cold-water coral reefs formed by Desmophyllum pertusum (syn. Lophelia pertusa) and Madrepora oculata are traditionally mapped and surveyed with multibeam echosounders and video transects, which limit the ability to achieve the resolution and/or coverage to undertake fine-scale, centimetric quantification of spatial patterns. However, photomosaics constructed from imagery collected with remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) are becoming a prevalent research tool and can reveal novel information at the scale of individual coral colonies. A survey using a downward facing camera mounted on a ROV traversed the Piddington Mound (Belgica Mound Province, NE Atlantic) in a lawnmower pattern in order to create 3D reconstructions of the reef with Structure-from-Motion techniques. Three high resolution orthorectified photomosaics and digital elevation models (DEM) >200 m2 were created and all organisms were geotagged in order to illustrate their point pattern. The pair correlation function was used to establish whether organisms demonstrated a clustered pattern (CP) at various scales. We further applied a point pattern modelling approach to identify four potential point patterns: complete spatial randomness (CSR), an inhomogeneous pattern influenced by environmental drivers, random clustered point pattern indicating biologically driven clustering and an inhomogeneous clustered point pattern driven by a combination of environmental drivers and biological effects. Reef framework presence and structural complexity determined inhabitant distribution with most organisms showing a departure from CSR. These CPs are likely caused by an affinity to local environmental drivers, growth patterns and restricted dispersion reproductive strategies within the habitat across a range of fine to medium scales. These data provide novel and detailed insights into fine-scale habitat heterogeneity, showing that non-random distributions are apparent and detectable at these fine scales in deep-sea habitats.en_US
dc.description.sponsorshipThese data were collected during the Querci expedition, funded by the Marine Institute under the Ship Time Programme of the National Development Plan. DP was funded by the Natural Environmental Research Council (grant number NE/N012070/1) and University of Southampton GSNOCS European Exchange Programme. VH was funded by the NERC CLASS project (grant number NE/R015953/1). AL and VH were supported by the iAtlantic project of the EU H2020 Research and Innovation Programme (grant number 818123). CLI was supported by the H2020 MSC Action HABISS (GA 890815).en_US
dc.identifierhttp://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12518/228
dc.identifier.citationPrice, D. M., Lim, A., Callaway, A., Eichhorn, M. P., Wheeler, A. J., Lo Iacono, C. and Huvenne, V. A. I. (2021) ‘Fine-Scale Heterogeneity of a Cold-Water Coral Reef and Its Influence on the Distribution of Associated Taxa’, Frontiers in Marine Science. Frontiers Media SA, 8. doi: 10.3389/fmars.2021.556313.en_US
dc.identifier.issn2296-7745
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.556313
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherFrontiers Mediaen_US
dc.rightsCopyright © 2021 Price, Lim, Callaway, Eichhorn, Wheeler, Lo Iacono and Huvenne. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these termsen_US
dc.subjectcold-water coralen_US
dc.subjectpoint pattern analysisen_US
dc.subjectstructure from motionen_US
dc.subjectspatial patternsen_US
dc.subjectphotomosaicen_US
dc.subjectlandscape eccologyen_US
dc.subjectNE Atlanticen_US
dc.titleFine-Scale Heterogeneity of a Cold-Water Coral Reef and Its Influence on the Distribution of Associated Taxaen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US
dcterms.dateAccepted2021-02-18
dcterms.dateSubmitted2020-04-27

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