. Cold-water Coral Reefs: out of sight - no longer out of mind. UNEP-WCMC Biodiversity Series 22. A bamboo coral on Davidson Seamount, off California. A lace coral {Stylaster sp.\, western Rockall Trough west Atlantic. Stylaster species occur in all major oceans and are known as a dominant component of the octocoral forests along ttie Aleutian Islands iHeifetz, 20021. In the Lophelia-Madrepora systems in the Porcupine Seabight and Rockall Trough, northeast Atlantic, S(y/as(erand Pliobothrus frequently colonize stones and dead stony corals. In places, stylasterlds occur in great abundance as in
. Cold-water Coral Reefs: out of sight - no longer out of mind. UNEP-WCMC Biodiversity Series 22. A bamboo coral on Davidson Seamount, off California. A lace coral {Stylaster sp.\, western Rockall Trough west Atlantic. Stylaster species occur in all major oceans and are known as a dominant component of the octocoral forests along ttie Aleutian Islands iHeifetz, 20021. In the Lophelia-Madrepora systems in the Porcupine Seabight and Rockall Trough, northeast Atlantic, S(y/as(erand Pliobothrus frequently colonize stones and dead stony corals. In places, stylasterlds occur in great abundance as in the Denmark Strait Ibetween Greenland and Iceland! and along the western slope of the Porcupine Bank at depths of 560 to 900 m (Broch, 19U|. COLD-WATER CORAL ECOSYSTEMS This section describes characteristic cold-water coral ecosystems and provides Information on their structure and subhabitats. Cold-water coral ecosystems are defined as large areas of corals at a given locality. Almost all known coral ecosystems share a number of attributes or environmental factors, and their preferred locations are found In areas where: ? The seasonal storm wave base does not affect the seabed. J Strong topographically guided bottom currents prevent deposition of sediments, thereby creating current- swept hard substrate that facilitates colonization by habitat-forming corals. Generally, these grounds are pre-existing topographic highs of various scales that form obstacles in the current path: they can be boulder fields, moraine ridges, drumlins, the flanks of oceanic banks, seamounts, sedimentary mounds and occasion- ally artificial substrates such as wrecks and oil rigs. !J The flow of water is funnelled through narrow passages such as straits ( Florida Strait, Strait of Gibraltar, Cook Strait (New Zealandll or channels, fjord troughs ( in Scandinavia, New Zealand and Chile! and submerged canyons and gullies. ij Nearby nutrient-rich waters stimulate the develop- ment of high phyto- a
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