Deep realm research beyond the census of marine life: a trans-pacific road map

Abstract

The ChEss project of the Census of Marine Life (2002-2010) helped foster internationally coordinated studies worldwide with a particular emphasis on exploration for, and characterization of new deep-sea chemosynthetic ecosystem sites in four key geographic locations. This work has advanced our understanding of both the nature of, and what controls, the biogeography and biodiversity of these ecosystems. The ChEss program made key advances in each of four major study areas (the Atlantic Equatorial Belt, the New Zealand region, the Polar Oceans of the Arctic and Antarctic and the SE Pacific close to the Chile Triple Junction). But this was only achieved through a judicious combination of long-term planning and astute inter- and intra-national collaborations. These perspectives have enabled us to identify and recommend important future research directions to a new and emerging project, INDEEP, born from the synthesis of the Deep Realm CoML programs focused on mid-ocean ridges, abyssal plains, seamounts and margins, in addition to our own ChEss program. These future priorities include continued exploration of the deep ocean ridge-crest, an increased focus on potential anthropogenic impacts upon these enigmatic deep-sea ecosystems and a concerted future effort to link with other scientists active in the Deep Ocean Realm for a major investigation of the South Pacific Ocean the world’s largest contiguous habitat for life but also its least investigated deep ocean basin