Conservation of the Deep

Sea
By Chris Tucker
The Largest Ecosystem on the
Earth
• Average depth of the ocean 4,267
meters
• Deepest section 11,030 meters
(Marianas Trench)
• Oceans cover 71% of the Earth
• Over 90% of this habitat is deep ocean
(below the photic zone >1000 meters)
Amazing Biodiversity of Life
Biodiversity of Life
• As many as 10 million species may occupy
deep sea
• Thought to be as biodiverse as tropical
rainforests
• Many novel proteins found only in deep sea
organisms
• Archaeal and bacterial life have
unprecedented diversity in the deep ocean
having completely different life styles than
their photophilic cousins
Three Main Deep Ocean
Habitats
• Benthos
– Sediment Layer
– Very diverse and important habitat
• Water Column
– Harsh, energy poor environment
– Extremely cold (avg. 2°C)
• Hydrothermal Vents
– Energy rich environment
– Forms very diverse endemic hot spot
communities
Benthos
• Very bottom of the ocean
• 98% of ocean species live on or just above ocean
floor
• Important for decomposition and nitrogen cycle
– Deep ocean benthic archaea are thought to be largest
contributor to nitrification in the world (important for
generating nutrient rich waters for upwelling in coastal
regions)
• Habitat also largest carbon sync in the world
• Only ~2000 organisms formally documented at
deep sea benthic locations
Threats to Benthic Habitats
• Trawling
– Single largest threat to continued existence of
the benthic environment at the bottom of the
ocean
– Nets are drug with metal weights attached
– Weights dig up sediment and nets catch all the
organisms
– Results in a dead zone
– Recovery extremely slow because of the life
histories of these organisms
• Other threats
– Acidification, global warming, pollution, etc.
Water Column
• Extremely hostile environment
• Relies on other habitats’ detritus and
chemosynthesis for energy
• Evolution has shifted the paradigm of this habitat
to small body sizes, large heads, and
bioluminescence.
• Sit and wait techniques of hunting prevalent to
reduce energy loss
• Huge expanse of habitat leads to very sparsely
populated areas
• Some organisms from here feed in both the photic
and aphotic zones to compensate for lack of food
Threats to the Water
Column
• Over Fishing
– Fishing vessels are continually moving to
greater and greater depths
– Organisms extremely scarce, any removal has
huge repercussions
– Causes increased stress to already stressed
environment
– Alters dynamics between communities
– Recovery has been shown to extremely slow
• Other threats
– Global climate change, acidification, pollution
Hydrothermal Vents
• Extremely high endemism
– 350 individual species of tube worms found on one hydrothermal vent
– 30,000 species of microbes found at one site near Oregon
– Atlantic Ocean hydrothermal vent communities have completely
different assemblages of species than Pacific Ocean vents.
– Separated from each other, no chance of recolonization
• Water reaches temperatures of 400°C
• Archaea and bacteria form the basis of the food chain
– Use Sulfur and other substances as electron donors
• Symbiotic relationships
• Bioprospecting
Threats to Hydrothermal
Vents
• Trawling can cause devastation tearing
vents apart
– Such high endemism leads to high extinction
rates
• Increased carbon in atmosphere leads to
increased concentration of carbonic acid in
the oceans causing lowering of pH
– Causes problems for some of these organisms as
they are unable to lay down proper shells
• Most recently concern over undersea mining
operations
– Looking for silver, gold and other valuable metals
being expelled from the Earth’s mantle
Conservation Status
• Most of the deep ocean is completely
unprotected from trawling
• Thousands of miles of deep ocean
habitat are already lost due to
increased fishing demands
• Some deep water along the coastal US
and other countries’ zones are
protected
• Problems with jurisdiction
Why Should We Care?
• Deep sea vitally important for entire ocean
biodiversity
– Nutrient cycling and sequestration of carbon
– Study conducted showed 25% loss of species could
reduce ecosystem function by 50% and 50% loss of
species could cause ecosystem collapse.
– Lead to increased [CO2] in atmosphere and collapse
of fishing industries
• Last frontier for ecological and biological
research
– Almost completely unexplored, many new species
yet to be discovered
– Bioprospecting: Deep sea corals known to produce
antibiotics, hydrothermal vent archaea produce heat
and cold stable proteins, etc
Future Research and
Protection
• We need to better understand this
environment and how it affects the
rest of the world
– Organism’s needs? Habitat ranges?
Extinction risks? Medically/Industrially
useful compounds?
– Need to perform wide scale surveys and
just more study of the deep sea
What can you do?
• Write letters like me to NOAA and Oregon
Ocean Policy Advisory Council (OPAC)
urging them to protect deep sea locations
• Get in contact with United Nations or other
large scale organizations to implement
global trawling and pollution restrictions
• Limit your carbon footprint
• Other ideas?