ANChor:AppraisalofnetworkconnectivitybetweenNorthSea

oilandgasplatforms

DavidCorne,JoeFerris,AlanFox,Lea-AnneHenry,ClaudiaMayorga-Adame,ChrisMcCabe,Faron McClellan,JeffPolton,J.MurrayRoberts

SchoolofGeoSciences,UniversityofEdinburgh,Edinburgh,UK

NationalOceanographyCentre,Liverpool,UK

BMTCordah,Broadfold House,BridgeofDon,Aberdeen,UK

Heriot-WattUniversity,Edinburgh,UK

HighLevelAmbitions

ANChor is part of a suite of INSITE projects thatappraise whether structures can anchor (connect)species, populations and North Sea ecosystems

Rationale behind environmental management decisionsmust be rigorously tested

Can INSITE’s different approaches come to aconsensus about connectivity?

ProjectOverview

(1)Analysisofindustrymarinegrowthsurveys

(2)Biologicallyrealisticparticletracking

(3)Networkanalyses

(4)Decommissioningscenarios

ArcGIS geodatabase of marine growth from 66 North Sea platforms• depth range, peak abundance• agreements to share/publish data coming in place• focus on 5 common, native marine growth species

Spawning seasonDepth range on rigPre- & post competency Pelagic larval durationSwimming behaviours

softcoralstonycoral

(Lophelia)

bluemussel anemone

barnacle

Stony coral Soft coral Blue mussel Barnacle AnemonePre-competencyperiod (days)

32 10 20 10 15

Competencyperiod (days)

28 8 10 8 7

Planktonic larvalduration (days)

60 18 30 18 22

Spawning season Jan-Feb Dec-Jan Apr-Sep Mar-May Aug-Sep

References www.marlin.ac.uk/biotic; Larsson et al., 2014; Strömberg, 2016

www.marlin.ac.uk/biotic; Hartnoll, 1975

www.marlin.ac.uk/biotic; Sprung, 1984; Fuchs and DiBacco, 2011

www.marlin.ac.uk/biotic; Rainbow, 1984; DiBacco et al., 2011; Miller et al., 2013 compiled data from various sources; mostly observations from other species

www.marlin.ac.uk/biotic; Scott and Harrison, 2007 for the anemones Entacmaeaquadricolor and Heteractis crispa

Total # particlesreleased

61180 166376 408408 283374 218736

SCIENCEGAP:Relevantlarvalbiologystudies

Industry data and biological traits used to make simulations realistic

5 x Individual-Based Models (i.e., species-specific simulations)

Ocean circulation model: NEMO 3D ocean circulation model of the Atlantic Margin Model 1/60º,1.8 km horizontal resolution

Particle tracking model: LTRANS, a particle-tracking code that can include complex larval behaviours

Simulations run for the year 2010 (a conservative base-case)**for protected coral Lophelia, 2010-2012 to cover range of circulation patterns

MajorFindings

“Towhatextent,ifany,theman-madestructuresintheNorthSearepresentalargeinter-connectedhardsubstratesystem”

Man-madestructuresshowstrongpotentialtoformlargeinter-connectedsystems:

ANChormeasuredclustering,centrality,betweeness,in- &out-degree

• somespeciesmorethanothers

• someyearsmorethanothers

• somestructuresmoreimportantthanothers

MajorFindings

“Themagnitudeoftheeffectsofman-madestructurescomparedtothespatialandtemporalvariabilityoftheNorthSeaecosystem,consideredondifferenttimeandspacescales”

• Man-madestructureshavepotentialtocontributetonaturalecosystemsdownstream

• Platformecosystemsareevolvingtomimicthoseinthewild

MajorFindings- Connectivity

Stonycoral

Lophelia pertusaBluemussel

Mytilus edulisSoftcoral

Alcyonium digitatumAnemone

Metridium senileBarnacle

Chirona hameri

“Clusters”– groupsofhighlyconnectedstructures:

Lophelia hadfewest,Chirona hadthemost

MajorFindings- Connectivity

Softcoral

Alcyonium digitatumBarnacle

Chirona hameriStonycoral

Lophelia pertusaAnemone

Metridium senileBluemussel

Mytilus edulis

“Betweenness”– structuresthatactasbridgeslinkingclusters:

Importantforthesoftandhardcoralspecies

MajorFindings- Connectivity

SCIENCEGAP:Spawningseason&planktoniclarvaldurationwillvarywithclimatechange

MajorFindings- Connectivity

Softcoral

Alcyonium digitatumBarnacle

Chirona hameriStonycoral

Lophelia pertusaAnemone

Metridium senileBluemussel

Mytilus edulis

“Out-degree”– importanceofstructureasalarvalsource:

Generally,offshorestructuresweremoreimportantthanthoseclosertoland

MajorFindings- Connectivity

Lophelia remainsfairlywell-connectedascirculationpatternschanged(2010-2012),butconnectivity

waslowerin2010whenAtlanticinflowandwind-drivencurrentswouldhavebeenweaker

MajorFindings- Magnitude

MajorFindings- Magnitude

Murchisonnowdecommissioned:

jacketfootingsremainat108m(derogationheight),sufficienttokeepsupplyinglarvaetotheAktivneset MPA

MajorFindings- Magnitude

ImagescredittoCNRI

Platformecosystemshaveevolvedtomimicthoseinthewild:

these are as biodiverse and morphologically similar asnatural coral ecosystems, & also host the same

characteristic coral-worm symbiosis

1st recordofcoral-worm(Lophelia-Eunice)symbiosisfromman-madestructures

©Solvin Zankl

Products

• Anonymisedmarinegrowthdata(agreementstoshareinprogress)• BespokespeciesconnectivitymapsofassetsforallINSITEFoundationPhasesponsors• ConnectivitydataforanyparticularoffshoreoilandgasstructureintheNorthSeae.g.,datacan

beusedforanyregulatory/permittingrequirementifdesiredorjusttoscopeoutconnectivity

ANChor’s NextSteps

• Consensusonclusters&importantstructuresforconnectivity• SCIENCEGAP:likeLophelia,doman-madestructurespotentiallysupportothericonicNorth

Seaspecies• SCIENCEGAP:Continuetoground-truthdata(collectionofsamplesforgenetics;ROV

inspectionsurveys)• Scenario-testimpactofstructureremovalunderOSPAR98/3onconnectivity

SCIENCEGAP1:

Relevantlarvalbiologystudies

SCIENCEGAP2:

Spawningseason&planktonic

larvaldurationwillvarywith

climatechangeSCIENCEGAP3:

ground-truthdata

SCIENCEGAP4:

othericonicNorth

Seaspecies

OriginalphotographcourtesyofLundinBritainLtd.Reproducedfrom“Cold-WaterCorals:TheBiologyandGeologyofDeep-SeaCoralHabitats”,byJ.M.Roberts,A.Wheeler,A.Freiwald,andS.Cairns,CambridgeUniversityPress,2009.

INSITESponsors

RichardHeard

INSITEISAB

EileenRogerson

OtherINSITEprojectteams

InstituteforMarineResearch,Bergen

Thankyou