Deep-sea Corals of the USA
AGE, GROWTH RATES, AND PALEOCLIMATE STUDIES IN DEEP- SEA CORALS OF THE U.S.
Published as Chapter 10 of The State of Deep‐Sea Coral and Sponge Ecosystems of the United States
Deep-water corals are some of the slowest growing, longest-lived skeletal accreting marine organisms. These habitat-forming species support diverse faunal assemblages that include commercially and ecologically important organisms. Therefore, effective management and conservation strategies for deep-sea corals can be informed by precise and accurate age, growth rate, and lifespan characteristics for proper assessment of vulnerability and recovery from perturbations. This is especially true for the small number of commercially valuable, and potentially endangered, species that are part of the black and precious coral fisheries. In addition to evaluating time scales of recovery from disturbance or exploitation, accurate age and growth estimates are essential for understanding the life history and ecology of these habitat-forming corals. Given that longevity is a key factor for population maintenance and fishery sustainability, partly due to limited and complex genetic ow among coral populations separated by great distances, accurate age structure for these deep-sea coral communities is essential for proper, long-term resource management. To read more on the subject, feel free to download this public assess document here: Ch10_Spotlight_Prouty.pdf.
Authors: Nancy G. Prouty, E. Brendan Roark, Allen H. Andrews, Laura F. Robinson,
Tessa Hill, Owen Sherwood, Branwen Williams, Thomas Guilderson, and Stewart Fallon
If you would like to know more about deep-sea coral and sponge ecosystems visit:Coral Reef Information System.
Work I have performed on deep sea corals with publications:
2300 year old black coral - Azores
Bamboo coral of Davidson Seamount and Alaska
Black coral from Channel Islands
