Into the Unknown: Exploring Marine Biodiversity in Frontier Areas

1. 2008-2014 Into the Unknown: Exploring Marine Biodiversity in Frontier Areas 7. Protecting Rockfish 1. The Challenge 3. Who We Are 5. Exploring the Arctic Ocean The Canadian Arctic Ocean rivals other Canadian oceans in the number and types of plants and animals that live in it. Many stressors will affect this last near-pristine ocean habitat. We urgently CHONe is a university – government research partnership that addresses questions on conservation and sustainable ocean use. The team includes about 140 researchers from across Canada and focuses on 3 interrelated research themes: North Pacific rockfish grow slowly and mature at a late age. Many species are vulnerable to fishing, and declined to the point that Canada now lists them as a species of special concern. Canada is an ocean nation; it has 16% of the world’s coastlines and the largest territorial sea in the world. need to know more about what organisms live there and what they do. Rockfish In response, the federal government has established Rockfish Conservation Areas (RCAs) along the British Columbia coast. Taking samples of biodiversity and abundance of ice algae Many stressors (climate change, habitat modification, natural resource exploitation) affect ocean health. • Who/where: How many and what types of microbes and animals live in our oceans and where do we find them? Research Vessel CCGS Amundsen Studying kelp beds on the coast of Nova Scotia • Findings: • Many new and previously unknown animals discovered • The number and type of animals on the seafloor influence the nutrients in the water We have relatively little information on Canada’s vast oceans and what lives in it, and our scientific community is small. Getting ready for a scuba diving survey • How: How are groups of animals connected? Discovery of a new marine worm (polychaete) species • Our research shows that RCAs can be effective in protecting rockfish, sheltering comparatively larger populations. Rockfish take shelter in deep water corals on Learmonth Bank, British Columbia • So what: How do plants, animals and stressors influence how the marine environment works? Rockfish habitat Life on the ocean floor of the North-West Passage • This project is helping to recover inshore rockfish. • This work has helped identify many ecologicallyimportant areas. Heike Link, Virginie Roy, Philippe Archambault, Isabelle Côté, Ryan Cloutier Processing seafloor samples aboard Canada’s research vessel Hudson Feather stars form part of the high biodiversity on Canada’s Pacific Coast Study of biodiversity changes due to mussel farming 8. Healthy Oceans 6. Tracing Lobster Movements 2. Why Should We Care about the Ocean? 4. Exploring the Ocean Floor • CHONe’s research helps to: • Understand the vulnerability and the resilience of the living sea • Protect highly productive areas to maintain species diversity The dispersal of larval lobsters is necessary to connect adult populations. Larvae are carried by ocean currents, but may alter their dispersal direction, distance and speed by swimming. Oceans … The number and types of bottom-dwelling animals that live in any one place can depend on how rough the seafloor is. • Provide 95% of the livable environment on earth • Host the greatest breadth of species diversity on our planet - between 500,000 and 10 million species A rougher seafloor provides more living and feeding spaces and can support more species. • Findings: • Identification of factors influencing larval lobster swimming Larval lobsters from St. George's Bay, Nova Scotia Deployment of a mooring in the Beaufort Sea • Predict how marine systems and populations can adapt to change • Suggest strategies for life in a changing ocean • Improved ability to predict larval settlement Shallow seafloor community in coastal waters of New Brunswick • Produce half the oxygen we breathe • Provide significant food resources (e.g. fish, shellfish, kelp) Video-laser scan of flat seafloor: deep-sea sand with only sparse animals. Video-laser scan of rough seafloor: a deep-sea Farreaoccasponge covered in rockfish and seastars. Using an underwater robot with a video camera and attaching a novel laser tool, we are able to explore the ocean floor, count and measure animals, and measure the roughness of the seafloor. Sea snail in estuary of Magdalen Islands, Québec Exploring marine biodiversity along the Arctic corridor • Ensure sustainability for all life on Earth • Support diverse industries (e.g. fisheries, energy, transport) • Help regulate climate change Retrieving net with lobster sample Collection net for larval lobster samples • This work can help fisheries managers develop strategies to protect valuable species such as lobsters. Biodiversity at Endeavour Hydrothermal Vents Marine Protected Area, BC Ryan Stanley, Eric Pederson, Remi Daigle, Paul Snelgrove, Anna Metaxas, Fred Guichard Remotely operated vehicle ROPOS with camera and laser attached to the top front Major Funding Partners • Contact • Canadian Healthy Oceans NetworkMemorial University of Newfoundland St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada,  A1C 5S7Tel: 709-864-6797 Fax: 709-864-6983  web: www.chone.ca • This tool helps locate priority areas for species that need protection. Deep ocean floor community off the coast of Nova Scotia Cherisse Du Preez, VerenaTunnicliffe Photo Credits: P. Archambault, I. Côté, R. Daigle, C. Du Preez, M. Gautier, P. Lawton, H. Link, A. Metaxas, F. Olivier, E. Pedersen, A. Piot, ROPOS, R. Scheibling, P. Snelgrove, R. Stanley, M.Strong and M.-I. Buzeta, V. Tunnicliffe Sea pig on the continental slope off the west coast of Canada