Conservation efforts have largely failed to protect seafloor invertebrate animals, including worms, clams, and shrimps, which are cited as playing a critical role in mediating the health of the ocean, a paper has said.
The study, led by researchers at Texas A&M University and published in the journal Current Biology, resulted in the first-ever global map of seafloor activity, and found that most marine protected areas (MPAs) do not adequately safeguard it.
“Our analysis suggests that the present global network of marine protected areas does not sufficiently protect important seafloor processes,” said Lidya Tarhan, an assistant professor in the department of Earth and planetary sciences at Yale University, who co-authored the study.
“Protection measures need to be better catered to promote ecosystem health.”
Through leveraging machine learning and global datasets, the researchers mapped out a global picture of bottom-dwelling animals’ activities and the environmental conditions that drive them.
Notably, the study focused on the movement of sediment particles by these organisms, a process known as bioturbation, investigating how it helps shape ecosystem health throughout the oceans.
“Through our analysis, we discovered that not just one, but multiple environmental factors jointly influence seafloor bioturbation and the ecosystem services these animals provide,” said Tarhan.
“This includes factors that directly impact food supply, underlying the complex relationships that sustain marine life, both today and in Earth’s past.”
ENHANCING CONSERVATION EFFORTS
Researchers said the ability to anticipate these changes could allow for the development of more efficient strategies to mitigate habitat deterioration and protect marine biodiversity.
“We have known for some time that ocean sediments are extremely diverse … but only now do we have insights about where, and by how much, these communities contribute,” said Martin Solan, a professor of marine ecology at the University of Southampton and among the study’s authors.
“For example, the way in which these communities affect important aspects of ocean ecosystems are very different between the coastlines and deep sea.”
Although the study marks a significant step towards enhancing marine habitat protection, researchers said major questions remain regarding how seafloor activities translate into the ecosystem services society relies upon, such as food security and climate regulation.
The conservation of marine ecosystems is one of the main goals of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, whose national signatories have committed to protecting at least 30% of land and seas by 2030.
MPAs are considered to play a pivotal role in reaching the 30×30 target, though poor management and lack of funding have often hampered conservation efforts within these areas.
A separate paper by the Marine Conservation Institute recently assessed the 100 world’s largest MPAs, and found that only a third of them is highly protected.
According to the study, many reported MPAs allow high-impact activities, including bottom trawling, widely regarded as a major threat to marine conservation.
By Sergio Colombo – sergio@carbon-pulse.com
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