Abstract
Recent advances in technology have enabled an unprecedented development of underwater research, extending from near shore to the deepest regions of the globe. However, monitoring of biodiversity is not fully implemented in political agendas and biological observations in the deep ocean have been even more limited in space and time. The Foresight Workshop on Advances in Ocean Biological Observations: a sustained system for deep-ocean meroplankton was convened to to foster advances in the knowledge on deep-ocean invertebrate larval distributions and improve our understanding of fundamental deep-ocean ecological processes such as connectivity and resilience of benthic communities to natural and human-induced disturbance. This Meroplankton Observations Workshop had two specific goals: 1) review the state-of-the-art instrumentation available for meroplankton observations; 2) develop a strategy to implement technological innovations for in-situ meroplankton observation. Presentations and discussions are summarised in this report covering: i) key challenges and priorities for advancing the knowledge of deep-sea larval diversity and distribution: ii) recent developments in technology and future needs for plankton observation, iii) data integration and oceanographic modelling; iv) synergies and added value of a sustained observation system for meroplankton; v) steps for developing a sustained observation system for deep-ocean meroplankton and plans to maximise collaborative opportunities.
Highlights
Increasing exploitation of marine resources, pollution and climate change are affecting ocean’s health and the ecosystem services they provide
How can we develop an observing system for deep-ocean meroplankton?
The final discussion began with a synthesis of the main points raised during the previous workshop sessions
Summary
Increasing exploitation of marine resources, pollution and climate change are affecting ocean’s health and the ecosystem services they provide. Fundamental knowledge of marine biodiversity and ecosystem functioning is critical for understanding the magnitude of natural and human-induced impacts on the marine environment, informing marine spatial planning and supporting sustainable and ethical Blue Economy (Benedetti-Cecchi et al 2018, Henson 2014). Monitoring of biodiversity is not fully implemented in political agendas (Benedetti-Cecchi et al 2018) and biological observations in the deep ocean have been even more limited in space and time, with a few exceptions at chemosynthetic habitats, and a relatively small number of timeseries stations reaching abyssal depths (Glover et al 2010, Smith et al 2017). Understanding the connections between water column and benthic processes (benthic-pelagic coupling) became more relevant as shifts in benthic assemblages were correlated with climatedriven variations in plankton communities (Smith et al 2013, Sweetman et al 2017). How individual species respond to environmental variability, both as adults and as larvae or other dispersing stages in the water column, is far from being completely understood
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