Marine Biodiversity and the
Health of the Oceans
.
.
. .. .
...
. Dr. Paul Snelgrove
University Research Professor
Director, Canadian Health Oceans Network
Memorial University, Newfoundland Canada
The Challenge – Us! (7.5 billion)P.
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DFO
Mora et al. 2013
lofty & often fuzzy objectives
specific objectives & targets
demonstrable economic benefits
Scientists & conservationists want
Managers want
Other stakeholders want
“Conserve biodiversity”What is “baseline”?
historical?
seasonal?
Increased survival of key species
Increased egg production
“Healthy” Oceans
“Healthy” Oceans
The devil is in the details.
• Sustain biodiversity
• Enhance fisheries
• Conserve productivity & function
• Protect (or Restore) habitat
• Recover endangered species
…but relative to what?
How do we measure success (or failure)?
“Healthy” Oceans – Challenge 1
“Healthy” Oceans – Challenge 2
x
x x x xx
xx
xx
• Environmental impact studies
• Marine Strategy Framework Directive
• Fisheries reference points
• Conservation (and restoration) targets
Indicators
“Healthy” Oceans
• Individual species
• Habitats
• Ecosystems
What can WE do?
• Work to minimize impacts
Sustainable quotas
Minimize gear impacts
Minimize pollution levels
(sewage, bilge, etc.)
• Marine Protected Areas (all types)
“Healthy” Oceans
• Appropriate (defensible) indicators of healthy oceans
Marine Protected Areas as a Management Tool
MPA (all types) 2.0%, Canada ~1 %
(well behind China, Colombia, Cuba….)
MPAs as the next application of DEVOTES tools
• Charismatic / emblematic species
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• Special habitat (productive, pristine, diverse, structural)
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• Strategic species
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• Representative habitat
All good!!!!
What to Protect?
Canada promises 10% (!!!) by 2020
Single Species Focus
• Protect source populations
• Protect all life history stages
• Protect critical habitat
R. G
rego
ry
• Protect spawners
Imperfect knowledge
What to Protect?
Sustaining Humans - Protect functions & services
• Food (and related jobs)
• Gas regulation (O2, CO2)
• Climate control
• Waste treatment
• Energy & minerals
• Nutrients
• Clothing
• Habitats
• Genetic resources & medicines
• Culture and inspiration
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Links to biodiversity?
What to Protect?
Mora et al. 2008
Global fishes
16,475 known, 4000 more to go!
After Ramirez-Llodra et al. 2010
Year
1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020
Cum
ula
tive n
um
ber
of
new
specie
s
500
600
700
800
900
Deep-sea nematodes
100,000+ more to go?
Marine Biodiversity - What We Don’t Know
Marine Biodiversity - What We Don’t Know
Poulsen et al. (2016) PLoS One
A second look at preservation problems doubles known species of barrelfish
• Protect biodiversity by protecting hotspots
• Protect biodiversity by protecting habitat
2 million in total?
9% known
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Land
Sea
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
245,000 known
marine species
Knowns & Unknowns
What about
microbes?
Marine Biodiversity - What We Don’t Know
• Better platforms
• Digital imaging
• Genetics
• Better sensors
• Computational power
Better tools to meet the challenges
Marine Biodiversity - What We Could Know
R. D
ano
varo
Marine Biodiversity – Redefining Textbooks
New phylum 1983
New metabolic processes? (2010)
Marine Biodiversity – Redefining Textbooks
A New Tree of Life
Bacteria
Eucarya
Archaea
rare
Woese & Fox 1977
20% of
marine
microbes
V. T
unnic
liffe
Late 1970s
Redefining how Earth works
Marine Biodiversity - New Habitats
K.
Junip
er
Marine Biodiversity - New Habitats
• Biodiversity hotspots
• Habitat, and thus biodiversity
• Spawners
• Source populations
• All life history stages
Sustaining Humans
• Functions and services
Unknown
Known
Protect, through MPAs and other strategies…
What to Protect?
Conservation strategies for
Canada’s changing oceans Networks of collaboration for
effective networks of MPAs
10% by 2020 – Turning Challenges Into Solutions
Canadian Healthy Oceans Network
2008-2020
Chih-Lin Wei (P Snelgrove, P Lawton) – Memorial University
Benefits: Cost effective remote “monitoring”, potential nowcast /
forecast of seafloor conditions. Free “R” package available!
General Approach
• Photosynthesis drives seafloor biomass
• How to scale up “snapshots” from
benthic surveys?
• Use satellite data and best space-time
predictions to match benthic empirical
data
• Interpolate spatially, extrapolate
temporally
Challenges – Incomplete Information
satellite data human impacts on seafloor (e.g. oil spill)
Rénald Belley (& P Snelgrove) – Memorial University
Benefits: Better understanding of role of biodiversity in healthy ocean
ecosystems AND indicators of ecosystem health.
Challenges – Predictors of Function
Strong spatial variation in parameters
complicates global models.
General Approach:
Measured respiration & nutrient
fluxes from contrasting sediments.
Does biodiversity influence rates
of carbon and nutrient recycling?
Major Findings:
Environment and functional groups
equally influence nutrient efflux.
Challenges – Scales of Dispersal
Melanie Shapiera (& R Gregory, P Snelgrove) – Memorial University
Benefits: These connectivity estimates can inform management on
cod nursery areas in Newfoundland and spatial planning.
Acoustic telemetry tracking Major Findings
• Dichotomy between “residents” and
“dispersers”
• Weak site fidelity in dispersers
• Movements on km+ scale!
• Age 1 cod travel farther than
expected
• Single and reciprocal transplants
between 2 source coves
Shapiera et al.
(2014) MEPS
Dustin Schornagel (& R Gregory, P Snelgrove) – Memorial University
Benefits: Path-based estimate of spatial use (vs. point-based) better
identifies movement corridors from high-frequency tracking data.
Kernel
Density
Dynamic
Brownian
Bridge
59%Kelp
7%Kelp
= Avoidance
= Selection
Sonic tags used
to track juvenile
cod over a year
Movement
patterns
overlayed
on habitat
map
Acoustic Telemetry
Challenges – Habitat as Predictor
General Approach Major Findings
Use acoustic tags to test whether
“golden cod” movement explains
declining numbers post MPA .
Short, seasonal excursions outside the MPA likely result in bycatch loss.
Benefits: Knowledge of cod movement aided adaptive management of
fishing season that should reduce bycatch and improve MPA efficacy.
Morris et al. 2014
Can J Fish Aquat Sci
Challenges – Adaptability
Indicators of…
The Common Thread
Abundance
Biomass
Trends
Diversity
Growth
Productivity
Diversity
Habitat
Connectivity
Function• From fuzzy to quantitative
• From desirable to defensible
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• Cooperation, dialogue, and action
• MPA and individual adaptability
• Multiple MPA strategies and objectives
• Networks of MPAs
• Postage stamps won’t do
• Ocean outposts (alone) won’t do
• Clear objectives, monitoring, and research
Not a silver bullet, but an ESSENTIAL tool
Turning Challenges Into Solutions
After R. Stanley et al. (in prep)
Immediate Short-term Medium-term Long-term
Cessation
of activity
Damage stops
Mortality
reduced
Longer lived
individuals
Better
habitat
Better spawning
habitat
Mean age &
size increase
Spawning & total
biomass increase
Number & density
increase
Biodiversity increases
Ecological function enhanced
Resilient communities
Habitat complexity increases
Other economic opportunities
Insurance
Enhanced
recruitment
The Payoff
Marine
Protected Area
Adjacent
AreasSpillover benefits (e.g. larval &
adult export, stability
Improved age &
size structure
Reduced loss of
genetic diversity
Increased
reproductive output
4th World Conference on Marine Biodiversity
Montreal (Canada) ● May 20-23 2018
Detailed information, registration, call for abstracts and sponsor/exhibitor opportunities will be available on the WCMB web site in December 2016.
www.wcmb2018.org
Connectingwith the
Living Ocean