University of Plymouth PEARL https://pearl.plymouth.ac.uk 04 University of Plymouth Research Theses 01 Research Theses Main Collection 2012 Mapping Deep-Sea Features in UK Waters For Use in Marine Protected Area Network Design Davies, Jaime Selina http://hdl.handle.net/10026.1/1200 University of Plymouth All content in PEARL is protected by copyright law. Author manuscripts are made available in accordance with publisher policies. Please cite only the published version using the details provided on the item record or document. In the absence of an open licence (e.g. Creative Commons), permissions for further reuse of content should be sought from the publisher or author. MAPPING DEEP-SEA FEATURES IN UK WATERS FOR USE IN MARINE PROTECTED AREA NETWORK DESIGN JAIME SELINA DAVIES, B.Sc. (Hons.), MRes A thesis submitted to the University of Plymouth in partial fulfilment for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Faculty of Marine Science & Technology School of Marine Science and Engineering In collaboration with British Geological Survey National Oceanography Centre Scottish Association for Marine Science June 2012 This copy of the thesis has been supplied on condition that anyone who consults it is understood to recognise that its copyright rests with its author and that no quotation from the thesis and no information derived from it may be published without the author’s prior consent. No raw data can be used without the permission of the author. AUTHOR’S DECLARATION At no time during the registration for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy has the author been registered for any other University award without prior agreement of the Graduate Committee. This study was financed by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) and was carried out in collaboration with the British Geological Survey, the National Oceanography Centre and the Scottish Association for Marine Science. The work described in this thesis was conducted by the author, under the supervision of Dr. K. Howell, Prof. J. Spicer, H. Stewart, C. Jacobs and Dr. B. Narayanaswamy. The data used within the thesis was collected by the author as part of collaborative research cruises funded by the JNCC. The processing and interpretation of the biological data within the thesis is completely the work of the author. Geological interpretation and production of substratum and geomorphology maps, from the two cruises, used in the thesis was undertaken by the British Geological Survey. Geological interpretation included in the thesis is taken from the cruise reports. Relevant aspects of research training undertaken by the author include attendance on a PRIMER statistics course, ArcGIS and Fledermaus software training, and attendance on relevant video/image analysis workshops. Conferences and workshops attended: Oral presentations Davies J. S., Howell K. L., Jacobs C., Narayanaswamy B. E., Stewart H. and Golding N. (2010). Mapping the benthic assemblages of Anton Dohrn Seamount. The 45th European Marine Biology Symposium. Edinburgh 2010. Davies J. S., Howell K. L., Jacobs C., Narayanaswamy B. E., Stewart H. and Golding N. (2010). Mapping the benthic assemblages of Anton Dohrn Seamount. The 12th International Deep-sea Biology Symposium Reykjavik, Iceland 2010. Davies J. S., Howell K. L., Stewart H., Guinan J. and Golding N. (2009). Investigating the use of geological and biological maps in designing a potential network of Marine Protected Areas for the UK’s deep-sea. The 9th international marine geological and biological habitat mapping (GeoHab) symposium. Trondheim, Norway 2009. Davies J. S, Howell H., Stewart H., Guinan J., Verling E., Golding N. (2008). Deep- water habitat mapping. Marine Biological Association Postgraduate conference, Aberystwyth 2008. Poster presentations Davies J., Howell K., Stewart H., Guinan J., Verling E. (2008). Biological communities of the South West Approaches (UK). The 8th international marine geological and biological habitat mapping (GeoHab) symposium. Sitka, Alaska 2008. Conferences attended Stakeholder participation and good decision making: MPAs and beyond, Exeter 2008. Marine Policy: wider policy developments and the interaction with the marine bill, London, 2008. Workshops attended GeoHab video analysis workshop: Techniques for using video and stills as a tool for quantitative habitat description. Trondheim, Norway, 2009. MBARI workshop: Classification and identification of marine organisms from images and video workshop (2009). MBARI, Monterey Bay. Word count of main body of thesis: 48, 137 Signed …..……………………………….. Date …..………………………………… ABSTRACT MAPPING DEEP-SEA FEATURES IN UK WATERS FOR USE IN MARINE PROTECTED AREA NETWORK DESIGN JAIME SELINA DAVIES, B.Sc. (Hons.), MRes. With an increase in demand on deep-sea resources comes a need for appropriate and effective management of this ecosystem. The establishment of a representative network of deep-sea Marine Protected Areas offers one tool with which to address the conservation needs of the deep sea. While a number of deep-sea habitats have been identified as vulnerable to anthropogenic activities (e.g. cold-water coral reefs and sponge aggregations), poor knowledge of the distribution of these habitats hinders conservation efforts and network planning, and thus we need habitat maps. With improvements in acoustic data resolution acquired from the deep sea, and the ability to cover large areas rapidly, the use of acoustic techniques in mapping biological habitats is growing. Multibeam bathymetry and its derived terrain variables can potentially provide important information that can aid in the delineation and characterisation of biological communities. A necessary prelude to mapping is therefore the definition of biological assemblages for use as mapping units. Two megahabitat features (seamount and submarine canyons) were sampled using acoustic and ground-truthing to characterise and map the distribution of benthic assemblages. Species were identified as distinct morpho-types and catalogued, and still images quantitatively analysed. Standard multivariate community analysis was undertaken to define distinct faunal assemblage that may act as mapping units. Those clusters identified by the SIMPROF routine were taken against a set of criteria to reject/accept as robust assemblages that may be used as mapping units. Twenty two benthic assemblages or biotopes were defined from multivariate analysis of quantitative species data, 11 from the SW Approaches and 11 from Anton Dohrn Seamount, and a further one from video observations (SW Approaches). Taken against current definitions, 11 of these were considered as Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems (VME). Diversity was measured to compliment the comprehensive description of biotopes. The use of multivariate diversity indices proved better for comparing diversity of biotopes as it captures a more than one aspect of diversity of the community. Two biotopes were common to both megahabitat features, cold-water coral reef habitats, and those from Anton Dohrn Seamount were more diverse than from the SW Approaches. Modelling techniques were employed to test the relationship between biotopes and environmental and geophysical parameters, which may be used as surrogates to map VME. Generalised Additive Models of Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems revealed multibeam bathymetry and its derived parameters to be significant surrogate for mapping the distribution of some assemblages, particularly those that appear to be influenced by current regime; whilst not so well for those whose distribution is not so strongly current driven e.g. soft sediment communities. In terms of deep-sea mapping, the use of multibeam can prove a useful mapping tool if the resolution of the data is at an appropriate scale that will identify meso-scale geomorphological features, such as cliff-top mounds, that may act as proxies for occurrence of biotopes, but this relationship is still unclear. Surrogates were used to map VME across the seamount and submarine canyons, and full coverage maps were produced for all biotopes occurring on these megahabitat features. ACKNOWLEDMENTS I am profoundly grateful to my supervisory team, Kerry Howell, Heather Stewart, John Spicer, Colin Jacobs and Bhavani Narayanaswamy, who have been supportive throughout the PhD. I am especially thankful to my mentor Kerry Howell, who has always believed in me and given me many opportunities to develop my career as a deep-sea ecologist. Heather Stewart has not only been a dedicated and supportive supervisor, but has taught me so much about geology and has been my mentor during research cruise work. John Spicer has been a source of both wisdom and humour throughout this PhD, and has always been on hand to answer ‘random’ questions which I may have. I would also like to thank Andy Foggo for not only his advice regarding statistics but also his support. Prof. Robert Clarke has been of the utmost help regarding advice on statistical methods, and I am extremely grateful to him. I feel I have been very fortunate to have worked in such a friendly and supportive department as MBERC, and am grateful for the experience and friendships which I have formed. My friends Kate de la Haye, Maria Campbell, Vale Lauria, Sam Patrick and Helen Saglam have been a rock for me, supported me when I needed it and even fed me frequently! I am very lucky to have you girls looking out for me. My family and friends have been very forgiving of my workaholic ways, and my all consumption by my PhD. Awantha, the person who knows me better than I know myself, and always