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Ecological and environmental controls on the fine-scale distribution of cold-water corals in the North-East Atlantic Laurence Hélène De Clippele Submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Heriot-Watt University The School of Energy, Geoscience, Infrastructure and Society February 2018 The copyright in this thesis is owned by the author. Any quotation from the thesis or use of any of the information contained in it must acknowledge this thesis as the source of the quotation or information. ABSTRACT This thesis integrated acoustic, high-definition video and hydrodynamic data to study the distribution, morphology and ecology of cold-water corals (CWC) in the Mingulay Reef area (Chapter 2), the Tisler Reef area (Chapter 3) and the Logachev Mound area (Chapter 4). A new British Geological Survey (BGS) ArcGIS seabed mapping toolbox was developed and quantified semi-automatically the morphometric and acoustic characteristics of CWC reefs. Over 500 Lophelia pertusa reef mounds were delineated and characterised at the Mingulay Reef Complex (Chapter 2), 14 at the Tisler Reef (Norway) (Chapter 3) and 123 in the Logachev Area (Chapter 4). These reefs all had large amounts of small round-shaped mounds. Additionally, the Logachev area had very large dendriform-shaped mounds. A microbathymetric grid of the central area of the Mingulay Reef was used to identify individual live coral colonies (1-7 m) that provided data to predict the likelihood of presence of live coral colonies on biogenic reef mounds (Chapter 2). The distribution and morphology of L. pertusa colonies and the sponges Mycale lingua and Geodia sp. within the Tisler Reef, revealed the importance of local hydrodynamics and substrate availability (Chapter 3). Non- scleractinian corals associated with the Logachev mounds (Chapter 4) proved to be abundant, biodiverse and function as a habitat for associated organisms. Differences in their distribution were found to be related to food supply, the availability and stability of settling substrates. This thesis showed that the BGS Seabed Mapping Toolbox is useful to study the ecology and morphology of reef mounds within and between reefs. Studies on the fine-scale spatial distribution of corals within reefs provided information on the ecology of CWCs. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to start by thanking my academic supervisor Murray Roberts for broadening my expertise, always enthusiastically introducing me to the wider scientific community and allowing me to take up “non-academic” opportunities which prepared me for post-PhD life. I would also like to thank my second supervisor Veerle Huvenne for being a great inspiration, giving endless amounts of feedback, kind words and for encouraging my critical thinking. I’m also immensely grateful for the Heriot-Watt University James Watt Scholarship which funded my PhD. Doing this PhD, moving to Edinburgh and meeting wonderful people along the way has truly been the best thing that has ever happened to me, and for this I am eternally grateful. My great thanks go to Lene and Pål Buhl-Mortensen, Tomas Lundälv, Susanna Strömberg and Ann Vanreusel. Thank you for taking me under your wings at the beginning of my career and introducing me to the beauty and science of cold-water coral habitats. I also owe thanks to Seb, Fiona, Lea-Anne, Alan, Laura, Katherine, Kat, Laure, Johanne, Afiq and Lissie. Thank you for being amazing colleagues and friends, and for supporting me throughout the good and more difficult times. I treasure the laughs and experiences from Skye, Boston, Portugal, Southampton, Tjärnö and the Celtic Explorer. Special thanks go to Joanna and Cova, for their kindness, critical thinking and for sharing their wisdom and skills which have helped me a lot throughout writing this PhD and publishing papers. I am blessed to have the family I do and couldn’t be more grateful to them. Thank you for being supportive of my career, life choices and for sending me endless amounts of Chokotoffs! I am grateful for my incredible friends Jennie, Nikki, Heather, Hannah MC, Anna, Leila, Loris, Jon, Mounsey and Swany. I would like to offer my special thanks to Hannah I. for being an amazing friend, inspiration and stimulation during my PhD. Thank you all for being so supportive at all times. Deep gratitude is reserved for my schattie Jack, who I would like to thank for all the stimulating discussions and feedback but especially for the love, silliness and laughter which added much happiness throughout this adventure. iii DECLARATION STATEMENT ACADEMIC REGISTRY Research Thesis Submission Name: Laurence De Clippele School: The School of Energy, Geoscience, Infrastructure and Society Version: First Degree Sought: Doctor of Philosophy Declaration In accordance with the appropriate regulations I hereby submit my thesis and I declare that: 1) the thesis embodies the results of my own work and has been composed by myself 2) where appropriate, I have made acknowledgement of the work of others and have made reference to work carried out in collaboration with other persons 3) the thesis is the correct version of the thesis for submission and is the same version as any electronic versions submitted*. 4) my thesis for the award referred to, deposited in the Heriot-Watt University Library, should be made available for loan or photocopying and be available via the Institutional Repository, subject to such conditions as the Librarian may require 5) I understand that as a student of the University I am required to abide by the Regulations of the University and to conform to its discipline. 6) I confirm that the thesis has been verified against plagiarism via an approved plagiarism detection application e.g. Turnitin. * Please note that it is the responsibility of the candidate to ensure that the correct version of the thesis is submitted. Signature of Date: Candidate: Submission Submitted By (name in capitals): Signature of Individual Submitting: Date Submitted: iv For Completion in the Student Service Centre (SSC) Received in the SSC by (name in capitals): Method of Submission (Handed in to SSC; posted through internal/external mail): E-thesis Submitted (mandatory for final theses) Signature: Date: v CONTENT CHAPTER 1 - INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................... 1 1.1 General Introduction ................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 What are cold-water coral reefs? ................................................................................................ 2 1.3 Why are cold-water coral reefs important? ................................................................................. 4 1.4 Environmental controls on cold-water coral reefs ...................................................................... 4 1.5 Morphology of cold-water coral reefs ........................................................................................ 5 1.6 Cold-water corals as ecosystem engineers .................................................................................. 7 1.7 Threats ........................................................................................................................................ 8 1.8 Policy and management .............................................................................................................. 9 1.9 Studying cold-water coral reefs ................................................................................................ 10 1.10 Aims of this thesis .................................................................................................................... 11 CHAPTER 2 - USING NOVEL ACOUSTIC AND VISUAL MAPPING TOOLS TO PREDICT THE SMALL-SCALE SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF LIVE BIOGENIC REEF FRAMEWORK IN COLD- WATER CORAL HABITATS .................................................................................................................. 12 2.1 Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 12 2.2 Methods .................................................................................................................................... 15 2.2.1 Bathymetry ........................................................................................................................... 15 2.2.2 High definition video data .................................................................................................... 16 2.2.3 Current information .............................................................................................................. 17 2.2.4 The BGS Seabed Mapping Toolbox and visual mapping ..................................................... 17 2.2.5 Spatial distribution modelling .............................................................................................. 24 2.3 Results ...................................................................................................................................... 26 2.3.1 Mound delineation and morphometric characteristics .......................................................... 26 2.3.2 Presence of living coral framework ...................................................................................... 28 2.3.3 Random forest classification ................................................................................................ 29 2.4 Discussion ................................................................................................................................