Deep-sea ecology
from the seafloor up.

Monitoring Deep-Sea MPAs

Changing ocean conditions are disrupting marine ecosystems and posing serious challenges for managing biodiversity in remote, offshore MPAs. My thesis evaluated two approaches for assessing and monitoring species in these environments — where logistical constraints are immense and long-term ecological change is hard to detect.

Chapter 1 — Functional group monitoring, Northeast Pacific. Using ROV transect data from Fisheries and Oceans Canada, I analysed inter- and intra-seamount variability in depth-occupancy patterns of cold-water corals and sponges within the SG̲áan K̲ínghlas-Bowie and Tang.ɢ̱wan–ḥačxwiqak–Tsig̱is MPAs. Functional groups capture broad distribution patterns well, but species-level assessments remain necessary for detecting finer ecological change — an important nuance for MPA monitoring design.

Chapter 2 — Trait-based vulnerability framework, Azores. Using molluscs in the Azores Marine Park as a case study, I built a species-level vulnerability framework integrating functional traits with oceanographic models to quantify exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity to ocean acidification and warming. Bivalves in northern MPAs emerged as particularly vulnerable due to high sensitivity and low adaptive capacity; cephalopods showed considerably greater resilience.