Mesophotic Coral Reef Ecosystems in the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area: their potential distribution and possible role as refugia from disturbance

摘要

This report reviews the most recent science regarding the potential distribution of mesophotic coral reef ecosystems (MCEs) throughout the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area, and discusses the potential importance of MCEs as refugia for corals and other sessile benthic megafauna from disturbance and as potential sources of coral larvae to disturbed shallow‐water coral reefs. MCEs are zooxanthellate coral reef communities occurring in the intermediate depths of the photic zone (~30–150 metres) and have been documented in many regions of the world's oceans, including the tropical western Atlantic, Red Sea, and throughout the Indo‐Pacific. MCEs are not as well studied as their shallow‐water counterparts because they are found in waters that cannot be accessed safely with conventional SCUBA methods. However, recent advances in SCUBA technology (e.g. closed‐circuit rebreathers and mixed gas diving) and robotics (autonomous underwater vehicles and remotely operated vehicles) provide a means to access MCEs, enabling scientists to document the unique mix of both shallow‐water coral reef fauna and other species that are endemic to the mesophotic zone. The potential importance of MCEs as refugia areas from environmental disturbance and climate change makes them of great interest to managers of coral reef ecosystems, as illustrated by the United States’ National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) recently developing a Research Strategy for mesophotic coral ecosystems.