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International Deep-Sea Corals Workshop
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientist Kathy Scanlon participated in the International Deep-Sea Corals Workshop in Galway, Ireland, on January 16 and 17. The workshop, which was jointly sponsored by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Irish Marine Institute, brought together about 25 deep-water-coral researchers from the United States, Canada, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, England, Belgium, and Germany to develop plans for future research and international collaboration. Deep-water corals (also called cold-water corals, deep-sea corals, cool corals, and azooxanthellate corals) occur predominantly in water depths between 100 and 1,000 m, below the photic zone. (The more familiar, zooxanthellate corals thrive in the shallowest parts of the photic zone—generally less than 30 m deep—where there is ample sunlight for photosynthesis by their symbiotic zooxanthellae.) In some places, deep-water corals form spectacular coral mounds and reefs. They have been reported in U.S. waters off Alaska, in the Gulf of Mexico, off eastern Florida, and off New England but have been little studied. Recent research, much of it in Norway, Sweden, Ireland, and Canada, has shown that deep-water corals are important as essential fish habitat, biodiversity hotspots, and climate-change indicators and as potential sources of pharmaceutical compounds. Because they are long-lived, slow-growing, and fragile, they are particularly vulnerable to impacts from such human activities as trawling and oil and gas development. Three major themes were discussed during the workshop:
Preliminary plans were made for several collaborative international projects, including a major multinational, circum-North Atlantic series of cruises designed to locate and study deep-water-coral habitats and bring attention to their importance to fishery issues, biodiversity, and ecosystem function.
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in this issue: Congressional Briefing on Gas Hydrates Volcanic Ash and Aviation Safety International Deep-Sea Corals Workshop Northeastern Coastal Ecosystems and Resources Workshop
Coastal and Marine Scientists Win 2002 Shoemaker Product Excellence Awards Behrendt and Poag Elected AAAS Fellows Marine Geophysics Pioneer Honored Celebrating Careers of Five Retirees Manheim Lectures on Trends in Scientific and Technological Innovation
Effectivenes of Marine Reserves in Central California Human Influence on Diatom Productivity and Sedimentation in Chesapeake Bay |
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U. S. Department of the Interior | U.S. Geological Survey
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