The activity of the seafloor invertebratessuch as worms, clams and shrimp, has been mapped using Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Scientists of the United Kingdom and United States combined large data sets with machine learning (a branch of AI) to reveal critical factors that support and maintain the health of marine ecosystems in all the world’s oceans.
Understanding the health of the oceans
Like the worms that stir and enrich the soil in gardens, small creatures that reside in sediments churn and churn the seafloor (a process called bioturbation) that impacts the rregulation of global carbon, nutrient and biogeochemical cyclesimproving conditions for the inhabitants of the oceans.
Understanding how these processes work in different regions of the world helps scientists understand What drives ocean health and how they can respond to climate change. Now, for the first time, scientists have developed a way to predict and map the contributions of seafloor creatures anywhere in the world.
Discovering plankton, the small organisms that play a big role in the oceans
“Knowing how bioturbation is linked to other aspects of the environment means we are now better equipped to predict how these systems might change in response to climate change”says Dr. Shuang Zhang, principal investigator and assistant professor in the Department of Oceanography, Texas A&M University.
“We have known for some time that Ocean sediments are extremely diverse and play a fundamental role in mediating ocean health, but we only now have information about where and to what extent these communities contribute,” adds Martin Solan, Professor of Marine Ecology at the School of Ocean and Earth Sciences at the University of Southampton. “For example , the way these communities affect important aspects of ocean ecosystems is very different between the coasts and the deep sea.”
Complex environmental conditions
The researchers used existing data sets on the activity of sea creatures and the depth of their sediment mix, obtained from hundreds of test points around the world, and related them to various environmental conditions to andTrain AI to make accurate predictions about what happens in seafloor sediments anywhere on the planet.
A complex combination of environmental conditions—such as water depth, temperature, salinity, distance from land, animal abundance, and nutrient availability—influence the bioturbation, and these conditions vary around the world. All of these affect the activity of invertebrate animals and therefore, the health of ocean ecosystems.
“Through our analysis, we discovered that not just one, but Multiple environmental factors jointly influence seafloor bioturbation and the ecosystem services that these animals provide,” explains Dr. Lidya Tarhan, assistant professor in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Yale University. “This includes factors that directly impact the food supplyunderlying the complex relationships that sustain marine life, both today and in the past on Earth.”
The researchers hope the study will help develop strategies to moderate habitat deterioration and protect marine biodiversity.
“Our analysis suggests that the current global network of marine protected areas does not sufficiently protect these important seafloor processes, indicating that Better protection measures need to be adopted to promote healthy ecosystems“Adds Tarhan.
Sources and references of the news:Zhang, S. et al (2024) Global distribution and environmental correlates of marine bioturbation, Current Biology
