Recovery and restoration potential of cold‐water corals: experience from a deep‐sea marine protected area

Asa Strong, J., Piechaud, N., De Clippele, L. H. , Bett, B. J., Horton, T., Corbera, G. and Huvenne, V. A. I. (2023) Recovery and restoration potential of cold‐water corals: experience from a deep‐sea marine protected area. Restoration Ecology, 31(8), e13970. (doi: 10.1111/rec.13970)

Abstract

Cold-water corals (CWCs) are important species that provide habitat for other taxa but are sensitive to mechanical damage from bottom trawling. CWC conservation has been implemented in the form of marine protected areas (MPAs), but recovery from impact may be particularly slow in the deep-sea environment; consequently, the use of restoration techniques has been considered. To gain some insight into CWC recruitment and growth, in 2011 we deployed small seabed moorings in the Darwin Mounds MPA (~1,000 m water depth). This site hosts hundreds of CWC mounds, that had previously (until 2003) been impacted by deep-water trawling. In 2019, we carried out in situ visual surveys of these moorings and the surrounding seabed environment, then recovered two of the moorings. The mooring buoys, glass floats with plastic covers, were extensively colonized by a diverse epifauna that included the CWCs Desmophyllum pertusum and D. dianthus. The presence of coral recruits indicated that environmental conditions, and larval supply, remained favorable for the settlement and growth of CWCs within the MPA. Based on our observations, we consider four possible restoration methods, together with a “do-nothing” option, for the Darwin Mounds CWCs that have shown little, if any, natural recovery despite 16 years of protection. We conclude that seabed emplacement of high-relief artificial substrata is likely to be the most efficient and cost-efficient means of promoting enhanced recovery of the CWCs.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: This work was primarily supported by the Climate Linked Atlantic Sector Science (CLASS) project, funded by the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NE/R015953/1), with additional support from the BioCam project (NE/P020887/1), and the Bottom-Boundary Layer Turbulence and Abyssal Recipes project (NE/S001433/1). LHDC received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 ATLAS project (Grant Agreement No. 678760); LHDC, JAS, and VAIH were also supported by the Horizon 2020 iAtlantic project (Grant Agreement No. 818123).
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: De Clippele, Dr Laurence
• Authors: Asa Strong, J., Piechaud, N., De Clippele, L. H., Bett, B. J., Horton, T., Corbera, G., and Huvenne, V. A. I.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Biodiversity, One Health & Veterinary Medicine
• Journal Name: Restoration Ecology
• Publisher: Wiley
• ISSN: 1061-2971
• ISSN (Online): 1526-100X
• Published Online: 10 July 2023
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2023 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Restoration Ecology 31(8):e13970
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons license