Deep Water Coral Ecosystems

The emerging field of Environmental DNA (eDNA) analysis allows characterization of species presence and community biodiversity by identifying trace amounts of genetic material left behind as organisms move through their environments. EESC scientists have been using eDNA technologies to detect native and rare species and as community biomonitoring tools.

Knowledge of the degree to which populations are connected through larval dispersal is imperative to effective management, yet little is known about larval dispersal capability or population connectivity in Primnoa pacifica , an important habitat forming octocoral on the outer continental shelf and upper slope in the Gulf of Alaska.

This study utilizes genetics and genomics techniques to characterize biodiversity and genetic connectivity among deep-sea coral habitats and cold seeps in and near submarine canyons and will use environmental DNA techniques to characterize plankton diversity and to identify key contributors to carbon export from surface waters that sustain sensitive benthic communities. The proposed genetics and...

Although out of sight to most, a diverse array of coral species thrive deep below the photic zone off U.S. coasts and worldwide. Deep-sea corals can be found at depths greater than 50m, where sunlight does not penetrate. Similar to shallow-water corals, larger sea fan and reef-forming deep-sea coral species create structural complexity in the deep sea, attracting fishes and invertebrates that...