Nova Southeastern University NSUWorks Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles Department of Marine and Environmental Sciences 8-1-2017 A Global Biogeographic Classification of the Mesopelagic Zone Tracey Sutton Nova Southeastern University, <<span class="elink">[email protected] Malcolm R. Clark National Institute of Water & Atmospheric Research - Wellington, New Zealand Daniel C. Dunn Duke University Patrick N. Halpin Duke University Alex D. Rogers University of Oxford - United Kingdom See next page for additional authors Find out more information about Nova Southeastern University and the Halmos College of Natural Sciences and Oceanography. Follow this and additional works at: https://nsuworks.nova.edu/occ_facarticles Part of the Marine Biology Commons, and the Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology Commons NSUWorks Citation Tracey Sutton, Malcolm R. Clark, Daniel C. Dunn, Patrick N. Halpin, Alex D. Rogers, John Guinotte, Steven J. Bograd, Martin V. Angel, Jose Angel A. Perez, Karen Wishner, Richard L. Haedrich, Dhugal Lindsay, Jeffrey C. Drazen, Alexander Vereshchaka, Uwe Piatkowski, Telmo Morato, Katarzyna Blachowiak-Samolyk, Bruce H. Robison, Kristina Gjerde, Annelies Pierrot-Bults, Patricio Bernal, Gabriel Reygondeau, and Mikko Heino. 2017. A Global Biogeographic Classification of the Mesopelagic Zone .Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers : 85 -102. https://nsuworks.nova.edu/occ_facarticles/813. This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Marine and Environmental Sciences at NSUWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles by an authorized administrator of NSUWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Authors John Guinotte Marine Conservation Institute Steven J. Bograd National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Martin V. Angel National Oceanography Centre - Southampton, United Kingdom Jose Angel A. Perez Universidade do Vale do Itajai - Brazil Karen Wishner University of Rhode Island Richard L. Haedrich Memorial University - Newfoundland, Canada Dhugal Lindsay Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology - Yokosuka City Jeffrey C. Drazen University of Hawaii Alexander Vereshchaka P.P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology - Moscow, Russia Uwe Piatkowski Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel - Germany Telmo Morato Universidade dos Acores - Horta, Portugal Katarzyna Blachowiak-Samolyk Polish Academy of Sciences - Sopot This article is available at NSUWorks: https://nsuworks.nova.edu/occ_facarticles/813 Bruce H. Robison Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute Kristina Gjerde Wycliffe Management - Warsaw, Poland Annelies Pierrot-Bults University of Amsterdam - The Netherlands Patricio Bernal L'Institut oceanographique - Paris, France Gabriel Reygondeau University of British Columbia - Canada Mikko Heino University of Bergen - Norway This article is available at NSUWorks: https://nsuworks.nova.edu/occ_facarticles/813 Deep-Sea Research Part I 126 (2017) 85–102 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Deep-Sea Research Part I journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/dsri A global biogeographic classification of the mesopelagic zone MARK ⁎ Tracey T. Suttona, , Malcolm R. Clarkb, Daniel C. Dunnc, Patrick N. Halpinc, Alex D. Rogersd, John Guinottee, Steven J. Bogradf, Martin V. Angelg, Jose Angel A. Perezh, Karen Wishneri, Richard L. Haedrichj, Dhugal J. Lindsayk,Jeffrey C. Drazenl, Alexander Vereshchakam, Uwe Piatkowskin, Telmo Moratoo, Katarzyna Błachowiak-Samołykp, Bruce H. Robisonq, Kristina M. Gjerder, Annelies Pierrot-Bultss, Patricio Bernalt, Gabriel Reygondeauu, Mikko Heinov a Halmos College of Natural Sciences and Oceanography, Nova Southeastern University, 8000 North Ocean Drive, Dania Beach, FL 33004, USA b National Institute of Water & Atmospheric Research, 301 Evans Bay Parade, Greta Point, Wellington, New Zealand c Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, 135 Duke Marine Lab Rd, Beaufort, NC 28516, USA d Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Tinbergen Building, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PS, United Kingdom e Marine Conservation Institute, 4010 Stone Way N, Suite 210, Seattle, WA 98103, USA f NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center, Environmental Research Division, 99 Pacific St., Suite 255A, Monterey, CA 93940, USA g National Oceanography Centre, Waterfront Campus, European Way, Southampton, Hampshire SO14 3ZH, United Kingdom h Centro de Ciências Tecnológicas da Terra e do Mar, Universidade do Vale do Itajaí, Rua Uruguai, 458, Itajaí, Santa Catarina, Brazil i Graduate School of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island, 215 S Ferry Rd, Narragansett, RI 02882, USA j Memorial University, 230 Elizabeth Ave, St John's, Newfoundland, Canada A1B 3X9 k Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, 2-15 Natsushima-cho, Yokosuka City, Kanagawa Prefecture 237-0021, Japan l Dept. of Oceanography, University of Hawaii, Manoa, 1000 Pope Road, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA m P.P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, Nakhimovskiy pr., 36, Moscow 117218, Russia n GEOMAR, Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, Düsternbrooker Weg 20, 24105 Kiel, Germany o Centro do IMAR da Universidade dos Açores & Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre (MARE), Universidade dos Açores, 9901-862 Horta, Portugal p Institute of Oceanology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Powstancow Warszawy 55, Sopot 81-712, Poland q Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, 7700 Sandholdt Road, Moss Landing, CA 95039, USA r Wycliffe Management, Ul. Korotynskiego 21/34, Warszawa, Poland s Univ. of Amsterdam, P.O. Box 94248, 1090 GE Amsterdam, The Netherlands t International Union for Conservation of Nature, L′Institut océanographique, 195, rue Saint Jacques, 75005 Paris, France u Fisheries Centre, Univ. of British Columbia, 2202 Main Mall, Vancouver, Canada BC V6T 1Z4 v Department of Biology and Hjort Centre for Marine Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Bergen, Box 7803, N-5020 Bergen, Norway ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Keywords: We have developed a global biogeographic classification of the mesopelagic zone to reflect the regional scales Biodiversity over which the ocean interior varies in terms of biodiversity and function. An integrated approach was neces- Biogeographical ecoregions sary, as global gaps in information and variable sampling methods preclude strictly statistical approaches. A Oceanic biomes panel combining expertise in oceanography, geospatial mapping, and deep-sea biology convened to collate Gyres expert opinion on the distributional patterns of pelagic fauna relative to environmental proxies (temperature, Oxygen minimum zones salinity, and dissolved oxygen at mesopelagic depths). An iterative Delphi Method integrating additional bio- Upwelling logical and physical data was used to classify biogeographic ecoregions and to identify the location of ecoregion boundaries or inter-regions gradients. We define 33 global mesopelagic ecoregions. Of these, 20 are oceanic while 13 are ‘distant neritic.’ While each is driven by a complex of controlling factors, the putative primary driver of each ecoregion was identified. While work remains to be done to produce a comprehensive and robust mesopelagic biogeography (i.e., reflecting temporal variation), we believe that the classification set forth in this study will prove to be a useful and timely input to policy planning and management for conservation of deep- pelagic marine resources. In particular, it gives an indication of the spatial scale at which faunal communities are expected to be broadly similar in composition, and hence can inform application of ecosystem-based ⁎ Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: [email protected] (T.T. Sutton), [email protected] (M.R. Clark), [email protected] (D.C. Dunn), [email protected] (P.N. Halpin), [email protected] (A.D. Rogers), [email protected] (J. Guinotte), [email protected] (S.J. Bograd), [email protected] (M.V. Angel), [email protected] (J.A.A. Perez), [email protected] (K. Wishner), [email protected] (R.L. Haedrich), [email protected] (D.J. Lindsay), [email protected] (J.C. Drazen), [email protected] (A. Vereshchaka), [email protected] (U. Piatkowski), [email protected] (T. Morato), [email protected] (K. Błachowiak-Samołyk), [email protected] (B.H. Robison), [email protected] (K.M. Gjerde), [email protected] (A. Pierrot-Bults), [email protected] (P. Bernal), [email protected] (G. Reygondeau), [email protected] (M. Heino). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr.2017.05.006 Received 18 April 2017; Received in revised form 14 May 2017; Accepted 15 May 2017 Available online 22 May 2017 0967-0637/ © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/BY/4.0/). T.T. Sutton et al. Deep-Sea Research Part I 126 (2017) 85–102 management approaches, marine spatial planning and the distribution and spacing of networks of representative protected areas. 1. Introduction 2. Methods The open oceans and deep seas (> 200 m depth) cover the majority Rigorous quantitative analyses of taxonomic and environmental of the Earth’s surface area and habitat volume. Within these, the vast data for the deep-pelagic zone on a global scale are currently impeded deep-pelagic habitat between the sunlit layers (upper 200 m) and the by the spatially patchy and inconsistent manner of data collection over seafloor is the largest and least-understood environment on our planet