Abstract

Large gaps in reef distribution may hinder the dispersal of marine organisms, interrupting processes vital to the maintenance of biodiversity. Here we show the presence and location of extensive reef habitats on the continental shelf between the Amazon Reef System (ARS) and the Eastern Brazilian Reef System (ERS), two reef complexes off eastern South America. Formations located 20–50 m deep include both biogenic and geogenic structures. The presence of diverse reef assemblages suggests the widespread occurrence of rocky substrates below 50 m. These habitats represent an expansion of both the ARS and ERS and the closure of the only remaining large-scale gap (~ 1000 km) among West Atlantic reef environments. This indicates that the SW Atlantic harbors a single, yet heterogeneous, reef system that stretches for about 4000 km, and thus, represents one of the largest semi-continuous tropical marine ecosystems in the world.

Details

Title
Interconnected marine habitats form a single continental-scale reef system in South America
Author
Carneiro, Pedro B. M. 1 ; Ximenes Neto, Antônio R. 2 ; Jucá-Queiroz, Bruno 3 ; Teixeira, Carlos E. P. 4 ; Feitosa, Caroline V. 4 ; Barroso, Cristiane X. 3 ; Matthews-Cascon, Helena 3 ; de Morais, Jader O. 5 ; Freitas, João E. P. 4 ; Santander-Neto, Jones 6 ; de Araújo, Jorge T. 4 ; Monteiro, Leonardo H. U. 7 ; Pinheiro, Lidriana S. 8 ; Braga, Marcus D. A. 9 ; Cordeiro, Ralf T. S. 10 ; Rossi, Sergio 8 ; Bejarano, Sonia 11 ; Salani, Sula 12 ; Garcia, Tatiane M. 4 ; Lotufo, Tito M. C. 13 ; Smith, Tyler B. 14 ; Faria, Vicente V. 3 ; Soares, Marcelo O. 15 

 Universidade Federal do Delta do Parnaíba, Parnaíba, Brazil (GRID:grid.513247.6) 
 LGCO, Universidade Estadual do Ceará, Fortaleza, Brazil (GRID:grid.412327.1) (ISNI:0000 0000 9141 3257); Universidade Federal do Ceará, Instituto de Ciências do Mar (LABOMAR), Fortaleza, Brazil (GRID:grid.8395.7) (ISNI:0000 0001 2160 0329) 
 Universidade Federal do Ceará, Departamento de Biologia, Fortaleza, Brazil (GRID:grid.8395.7) (ISNI:0000 0001 2160 0329) 
 Universidade Federal do Ceará, Instituto de Ciências do Mar (LABOMAR), Fortaleza, Brazil (GRID:grid.8395.7) (ISNI:0000 0001 2160 0329) 
 LGCO, Universidade Estadual do Ceará, Fortaleza, Brazil (GRID:grid.412327.1) (ISNI:0000 0000 9141 3257) 
 Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia do Espírito Santo, Piúma, Brazil (GRID:grid.454108.c) (ISNI:0000 0004 0417 8332) 
 IVIG, COPPE, Universidade Federal Do Rio de Janeiro, Cidade Universitária, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (GRID:grid.8536.8) (ISNI:0000 0001 2294 473X); Grupo Sandmine & Inframar, Fortaleza, Brazil (GRID:grid.8536.8) 
 Universidade Federal do Ceará, Instituto de Ciências do Mar (LABOMAR), Fortaleza, Brazil (GRID:grid.8395.7) (ISNI:0000 0001 2160 0329); University of Salento, Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Biologiche e Ambientali, Lecce, Italy (GRID:grid.9906.6) (ISNI:0000 0001 2289 7785) 
 Mar do Ceará, LTDA., Fortaleza, Brazil (GRID:grid.9906.6) 
10  Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, Departamento de Biologia, Recife, Brazil (GRID:grid.411177.5) (ISNI:0000 0001 2111 0565) 
11  Leibniz Center for Tropical Marine Research, Reef Systems Research Group, Ecology Department, Bremen, Germany (GRID:grid.461729.f) (ISNI:0000 0001 0215 3324) 
12  Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, TAXPO-Museu Nacional, Departamento de Invertebrados, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (GRID:grid.8536.8) (ISNI:0000 0001 2294 473X); Universidade de Brasília, Laboratório de Bentos, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Brasília, Brazil (GRID:grid.7632.0) (ISNI:0000 0001 2238 5157) 
13  Universidade de São Paulo, Laboratório de Biologia Recifal, Instituto Oceanográfico, São Paulo, Brazil (GRID:grid.11899.38) (ISNI:0000 0004 1937 0722) 
14  University of the Virgin Islands, Center for Marine and Environmental Studies, St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands (GRID:grid.11899.38) 
15  Universidade Federal do Ceará, Instituto de Ciências do Mar (LABOMAR), Fortaleza, Brazil (GRID:grid.8395.7) (ISNI:0000 0001 2160 0329); Leibniz Center for Tropical Marine Research, Reef Systems Research Group, Ecology Department, Bremen, Germany (GRID:grid.461729.f) (ISNI:0000 0001 0215 3324) 
Publication year
2022
Publication date
2022
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
e-ISSN
20452322
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2725459220
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2022. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.