ArticleScience advances2018
A strategy for the conservation of biodiversity on mid-ocean ridges from deep-sea mining.
Article in Science advances, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers.
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Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed.
- Conservation implications of low contemporary connectivity along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge in hydrothermal vent gastropods.Conservation biology : the journal of the Society for Conservation Biology · 2026Article
- Looking beyond the vent to the environmental seascapes shaping deep-sea hydrothermal ecosystems.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- The role of habitat mosaics on biological communities at hydrothermal vents and their periphery.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Seamount larval dispersal networks: A potential strategy for conserving ecological connectivity from deep-sea mining.Ecological applications : a publication of the Ecological Society of America · 2025Article
- High Connectivity at Abyssal Depths: Genomic and Proteomic Insights Into Population Structure of the Pan-Atlantic Deep-Sea BivalveEcology and evolution · 2025Article
- Deep oxygen-depleted depressions in a Red Sea coral reef sustain resistant ecosystems.PNAS nexus · 2025Article
- Unveiling ophiuroid biodiversity across North Atlantic habitats via an integrative perspective.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Deep-sea mining rock-fragment dispersal scenarios associated with submesoscale forcings: A case study in the Atlantic.Heliyon · 2024Article
- 3D ocean assessments reveal that fisheries reach deep but marine protection remains shallow.Nature communications · 2024Article
- Assessing the extinction risk of insular, understudied marine species.Conservation biology : the journal of the Society for Conservation Biology · 2022Article
- Benthic megafaunal biodiversity of the Charlie-Gibbs fracture zone: spatial variation, potential drivers, and conservation status.Marine biodiversity : a journal of the Senckenberg Research Institute · 2022Article
- How disturbance history alters invasion success: biotic legacies and regime change.Ecology letters · 2021Article
- Beta diversity differs among hydrothermal vent systems: Implications for conservation.PloS one · 2021Article
- Climate change considerations are fundamental to management of deep-sea resource extraction.Global change biology · 2020Article
- Ecological variables for developing a global deep-ocean monitoring and conservation strategy.Nature ecology & evolution · 2020Review
- The importance of migratory connectivity for global ocean policy.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
18 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Mineral exploitation has spread from land to shallow coastal waters and is now planned for the offshore, deep seabed. Large seafloor areas are being approved for exploration for seafloor mineral deposits, creating an urgent need for regional environmental management plans. Networks of areas where mining and mining impacts are prohibited are key elements of these plans. We adapt marine reserve design principles to the distinctive biophysical environment of mid-ocean ridges, offer a framework for design and evaluation of these networks to support conservation of benthic ecosystems on mid-ocean ridges, and introduce projected climate-induced changes in the deep sea to the evaluation of reserve design. We enumerate a suite of metrics to measure network performance against conservation targets and network design criteria promulgated by the Convention on Biological Diversity. We apply these metrics to network scenarios on the northern and equatorial Mid-Atlantic Ridge, where contractors are exploring for seafloor massive sulfide (SMS) deposits. A latitudinally distributed network of areas performs well at (i) capturing ecologically important areas and 30 to 50% of the spreading ridge areas, (ii) replicating representative areas, (iii) maintaining along-ridge population connectivity, and (iv) protecting areas potentially less affected by climate-related changes. Critically, the network design is adaptive, allowing for refinement based on new knowledge and the location of mining sites, provided that design principles and conservation targets are maintained. This framework can be applied along the global mid-ocean ridge system as a precautionary measure to protect biodiversity and ecosystem function from impacts of SMS mining.
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