Seabed geodiversity and benthic assemblages at

Seabed geodiversity and benthic assemblages at

Seabed geodiversity and benthic
assemblages at the eastern Gulf
of Finland, the Baltic Sea
Anu Kaskela, Kotilainen, A., Orlova, M., Ronkainen, M., Rousi,
H., Karjalainen, M., Neevin, I., Puro, H., Ryabchuk, D.,
Sergeev, A., Venesjärvi, R., Zhamoida, V. & TOPCONS
partners
Geological Survey of Finland, Zoological Institute RAS, Finnish
Environmental Institute, Kotka Maritime Research Centre, A.P. Karpinsky
Russian Geological Research Institute, Metsähallitus/Åbo Akademi,
University of Helsinki, Russian State Hydrometerological University
Introduction – The reasons for the study
• Blue growth, Marine strategy framework directive
• Ecosystem based marine spatial planning
• Marine diplomacy between economical and
environmental values
• Need for understandable transboundary knowledge
• Local/Regional/International
• Science/Planning
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Baltic Sea
• Non-tidal epicontinental
Baltic Sea, brackish water
• Shallow, archipelago area
• Cities, marine traffic
• Mosaic of different
bathymetric, hydrographic
and geologic environments
Eastern
Gulf of
Finland
• Strong (seasonal) gradients
in salinity (0-5), oxygen and
temperature
• Species poor
• Rock and boulders, eskers,
moraines, clays
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More specific aims:
• What are the ecologically significant abiotic characteristics of
this sea area?
• How these parameters should be classified?
• Are the parameters included in current classification
schemes (e.g. EUNIS)?
Understandable, relevant and transboundary knowledge on
the regional seabed characteristics of the EGoF to serve
marine management.
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Field surveys
Representative key areas
in Finland & Russia
Bio & Geo surveys
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• Environmental data
Datasets
• Benthic dataset
• Fin - Rus
• Late summer conditions
• > 200 sites (2012-2013)
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• Geological data
• Key areas/MBES
• Harmonised data/EGoF
• Hydrographic parameters
• Coastal parameters
Data: VSEGEI
BACC II, 2015
Environmental data
EGoF has a diverse seafloor
environment with a vast
archipelago.
Emphasis of variables
describing physical
heterogeneity and
geomorphology with
multiple scales.
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What are the
ecologically relevant
environmental
parameters?
Marina Orlova, RAS
Minna Ronkainen & Heta
Rousi, SYKE
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Multivariate statistics to select
the combination of variables
that best explain the species
community pattern
(PRIMER; BEST)
Ecologically significant parameters
0.58
0.52
0.42
0.37
0.36
0.15
0.08
0.01
Benthic data
0.66
0.64
0.62
0.55
0.46
0.54 0.53
0.49
0.63 0.66
0.6
0.48
0.38
0.4
0.23
0.19
0.16
0.10
0.05
0.8
0.67
0.57
0.51
0.47
0.46
0.37
0.06
0.04
0.2
0.12
0.11
0.05
0.05
0.04
0.04
0.01
0.0
-0.02
-0.03
Salinity, depth, roughness and archipelago co-varied
Coastal impact
Substrate heterogeneity
Substrate
Topographical
heterogeneity
Topography
Salinity
Depth
Secchi depth
Zsd /D
Slope
Aspect
Curvature
BPI 1 km
BPI 0.5 km
BPI 3 km
BPI 5 km
Roughness 0.5 km
Roughness 1 km
Roughness 3 km
Roughness 5 km
Roughness 10 km
Soft sediments
Roughness 20 km
Sand
Gravel
Stones
Boulders
Rock
Concretions
Variability 0.5 km
Variability 1 km
Variability 3 km
Variability 5 km
Variability 10 km
Variability 20 km
Patchiness 0.5 km
Patchiness 1 km
Patchiness 3 km
Patchiness 5 km
Patchiness 10 km
Patchiness 20 km
Distance to land
Direction to land
Land/Sea 3 km
Islands 3km
Land/Sea 5 km
Islands 5km
Islands 20km
Openness 3km
Openness 5km
Openness 15km
Broad scale descriptors:
Roughness, Salinity, Secchi depth, Substrate variability, Archipelago
gradient
-0.07
-0.14
-0.2
Hydrography
Roughness (20km) and Secchi depth resulted as a best combination
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Classification with Linktree
R20 < 0.66
• Secchi depth (Zsd) and
roughness (R20) were analysed
against benthic data (ρ= 0.69)
Zsd<2(>2.5)
R20>0.59
R20>0.77
R20<0.71
Zsd>3
R20<0.16
R20<0.73
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• Cut-off values on the basis of
species abundance with
LINKTREE method
Classification, Multi Dimensional Scaling (MDS)
Three species were identified
to contribute most to similarity
within landscape groups:
Marenzelleria spp., oligochaeta
and Chironomidae.
Complex, ”average”
seafloor
H2 highest avg. species
richness (9 species)
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Homogeneous
seafloor
D1 most species
poor/avg (3 species)
Spatial outlook
Flat environment
• Neva, Strong riverine influence
• Salinity separates fresh and
brackish waters
Seabed complexity
 Km scale
 Complex habitats, High species
diversity
 Hydrographical processes
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Discussion and conclusions
• Benthic assemblages of the EGoF are related to
geodiversity, archipelago gradient, salinity, depth and
photic depth
• In a heterogeneous seafloor environment at broad
regional scale
• Submarine labyrinth channels water movement,
distributing hydrological parameters (e.g. oxygen)
• Geodiversity overrides the influence of seabed
substrate and geomorphology (vs. detailed scale)
• Multitude of habitats - linkage with biodiversity
Geodiversity has not been included in the broad scale
marine classification systems.
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MSP for Kymenlaakso (Fin) Marine area
Marine
geodiversity
hotspot
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Thank You!
More info:
[email protected]
Image by Mia Välimäki, Merikotka, 2013
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