Data_Sheet_2_Active Ecological Restoration of Cold-Water Corals: Techniques, Challenges, Costs and Future Directions.PDF

Cold-water coral (CWC) habitats dwell on continental shelves, slopes, seamounts, and ridge systems around the world’s oceans from 50 to 4000 m depth, providing heterogeneous habitats which support a myriad of associated fauna. These highly diverse ecosystems are threatened by human stressors such as fishing activities, gas and oil exploitation, and climate change. Since their life-history traits such as long lifespan and slow growth rates make CWCs very vulnerable to potential threats, it is a foremost challenge to explore the viability of restoration actions to enhance and speed up their recovery. In contrast to terrestrial and shallow-water marine ecosystems, ecological restoration in deep marine environments has received minimal attention. This review, by means of a systematic literature search, aims to identify CWC restoration challenges, assess the most suitable techniques to restore them, and discuss future perspectives. Outcomes from the few restoration actions performed to date on CWCs, which have lasted between 1 to 4 years, provide evidence of the feasibility of coral transplantation and artificial reef deployments. Scientific efforts should focus on testing novel and creative restoration techniques, especially to scale up to the spatial and temporal scales of impacts. There is still a general lack of knowledge about the biological, ecological and habitat characteristics of CWC species exploration of which would aid the development of effective restoration measures. To ensure the long-term viability and success of any restoration action it is essential to include holistic and long-term monitoring programs, and to ideally combine active restoration with natural spontaneous regeneration (i.e., passive restoration) strategies such as the implementation of deep-sea marine protected areas (MPAs). We conclude that a combination of passive and active restoration approaches with involvement of local society would be the best optimal option to achieve and ensure CWC restoration success.

冷水珊瑚（Cold-water coral, CWC）栖息于全球各大洋50至4000米水深的大陆架、大陆坡、海山及海岭系统中，其生境可为多样的伴生动物类群提供异质性栖息环境。这类高度多样化的生态系统正受到渔业活动、油气开发及气候变化等人类活动胁迫的威胁。由于冷水珊瑚具有长寿命、生长缓慢等生活史特征，使其对潜在威胁极为脆弱，因此探究可强化并加速其恢复的修复措施的可行性，已成为首要挑战。与陆地及浅海海洋生态系统不同，深海生态修复领域极少受到关注。本综述通过系统性文献检索，旨在明确冷水珊瑚修复面临的挑战、评估最适宜的修复技术，并探讨未来发展方向。迄今开展的少数持续1至4年的冷水珊瑚修复行动结果，为珊瑚移植与人工鱼礁布设的可行性提供了佐证。科研工作应聚焦于研发并测试新颖创新性的修复技术，尤其需将修复规模扩大至与影响效应相匹配的空间与时间尺度。目前学界对冷水珊瑚物种的生物学、生态学及生境特征仍普遍缺乏认知，而对这些特征的深入探究将有助于制定有效的修复措施。为确保任何修复行动的长期有效性与成功性，必须纳入整体性长期监测方案，并应优先将主动修复与自然自发再生（即被动修复）策略相结合，例如布设深海海洋保护区（Marine Protected Areas, MPAs）。综上，将被动与主动修复手段相结合，并吸纳当地社会参与，将是实现并保障冷水珊瑚修复成功的最优方案。