Protection of deep-water corals with the development of oil and gas resources in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico: an adaptive approach

摘要

The occurrence of Lophelia pertusa (Linnaeus, 1758) in the northern Gulf of Mexico (GOM) was first documented by Louis de Pourtales in the late 1860s. The coral specimens were found in dredge samples collected during U.S. Coast Survey cruises conducted in the Straits of Florida and between the Dry Tortugas and the Campeche Bank (Smith, 1954). An extensive deep-water reef in the GOM was discovered in the 1950s approximately 74 km east of the Mississippi River Delta (Moore and Bullis, 1960). This reef, in water depths of 420-512 m, was reported as being composed largely of L. pertusa with the largest portion of the reef extending to a width of 55 m and length of over 305 m (Moore and Bullis, 1960). These habitats have since been shown to be much more extensive and important to the support of diverse communities of associated fauna than previously known in the GOM. Schroeder (2002) reported observations of L. pertusa on the upper De Soto Slope in the northeastern GOM. Individual colonies measured from a few cm to over 1.5 m in diameter while aggregations of closely associated colonies ranged up to 1.5-2 m in height and width and 3-4 m in length (Schroeder, 2002).