This forests gorgonians, A Mediterranean coral has suffered a massive death in the last 15 years. increase in sea temperature. But research has found that this species resists these changes at a certain depth, as researcher Lorenzo Bramanti at the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) explains.
The CNRS researcher states that “the gorgons, cousins of the corals, have a flexible skeleton that it is made of a protein, not calcium carbonate like reef corals”. They are tree-shaped and so important that when they reach a “high enough density” create “animal forests” very similar to masses of trees, Bramanti points to Efe Verde.
From an ecological perspective, he says, this metaphor of animal forests leads to “a better understanding of what a forest is under the sea,” because it provides shelter to different species that find a suitable environment in the forest, This allows for increased biodiversity.
That’s why his work has described these animal forests as “Noah’s Ark of the depths, a future for biodiversity”.
In addition, he adds, the gorgonians are also involved. There are 20 different typesIt plays a role in the “biogeochemical cycle of matter” as it transforms organic matter.
Bramanti’s work red gorgon (“Paramuricea clavata”)), “most common, most fatal It has the feature of being found at depths of 20 to 200 meters and deeper”.
It is a species found in the northwest Mediterranean, also in Spain, France, Italy, Greece and Turkey.
The project is supported by the ONE Ocean Foundation and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) – which invited Bramanti to present it at its headquarters in Paris – and in collaboration with the CNRS and the LECOB Oceanological Research Unit. Banyuls-sur-Mer Observatory in France will run for two years.
Mortality rate of gorgons by temperature
CNRS researcher explains In the last fifteen years, there has been a “major gorgon death” due to rising sea water temperatures.During the summer months thanks to heat waves with records of “losses of up to 70 or 80% in some populations” a.
According to Bramanti, experts are trying to understand the “mechanisms” of this mortality rate, which is “under 30-40 meters at sea, the distance a person normally dives.”
It indicates that it has been observed for several years “Gorgon populations below 40-50-60 meters depth have no signs of death or very low signs”a finding made by the researcher with ONE Ocean experts at depths of 50 to 150 meters.
The hypothesis is that “heat waves do not reach these lower depths”, so “shelters or vaults” are created where gorgonians are protected from temperature rise.
But the researcher cautions because, on the one hand, “it’s good news that gorgonian populations are still intact,” How long this situation will last is unknown because heat waves are getting stronger and more frequent.
As such, he explains that the project has three distinct phases: sample collection, analysis, and genetic research. First, it also has research and data from other scientific studies.
larvae for reproduction
Stage two, pointing, searching These populations are refuges because they can survive “without being dependent on surface populations”. “for demographics” increases, because gorgonians, fixed to the sea surface and not moving, release some larvae annually that move until they find a place to settle, “something that becomes a formula”.
Genetic research determines the longevity of a gorgon forest because, refuge is temporary and ends if “new individuals” do not arriveand, on the other hand, trying to find out whether deep-sea populations are demographically self-sufficient.
The third phase involves a research. gorgon forests found in submerged shipwrecksThe date of the sinking will allow you to know the time of existence of these specimens.
Promote marine protected areas
He adds that for these studies, monitoring data on sea water temperature collected between 0 and 40 meters depth by the Barcelona Institute of Marine Sciences, affiliated with the Higher Scientific Research Center in the Mediterranean (ICM-CSIC), is very valuable. however, this margin is intended to cover 80-90 meters.
Because everything in the research was done within a group, these data are “very valuable information missing from my puzzle,” he continues.
emphasizes that:For the protection of Gorgonians, we should create marine protected areas (AMPs) and encourage their formation.and which of these species can also be observed.
However, he advocates reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in any sector, including tourism, a political decision to benefit the fact that the deep sea can become “climate refuges for marine forests.”
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