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Sponge Grounds as Key Marine Habitats: A Synthetic Review of Types, Structure, Functional Roles, and Conservation Concerns

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Marine Animal Forests

Abstract

This chapter reviews the major known monospecific and multispecific sponge aggregations in the world’s oceans. They are shown to occur from the intertidal to abyssal depths, in tropical, temperate, and high latitudes and sometimes to create spectacular formations, such as glass sponge reefs, lithistid reef-like fields, and carnivorous sponge grounds. Sponge aggregations are recognized as singular vulnerable habitats that deserve special research attention and legal protection. However, this review reveals that there is only a poor and fragmentary understanding of the main biological, environmental, and geochemical factors that favor and maintain these systems, including the food supply, which is fundamental knowledge. There is also a particular lack of information regarding reproductive biology, growth rates, life spans, and the main factors causing mortality, all crucial drivers for understanding population and community dynamics and for developing conservation strategies. The sponge aggregations have been shown to increase the structural complexity of the habitats, attracting a larger variety of organisms and locally enhancing biodiversity. From the very few cases in which sponge biomass and sponge physiology have been reliably approached jointly, phenomenal fluxes of matter and energy have been inferred. Through their benthic-pelagic coupling, some of the densest sponge aggregations have a significant local or regional impact on major biogeochemical cycles and food webs. Physical damage and habitat destruction derived from man-driven activities along with epidemic diseases facilitated by global environmental alterations emerge as major threats to the future of the sponge aggregations.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank colleagues and institutions for kind picture contributions: Kevin Coate (Fig. 1a), Tracey Bates (Fig. 3c–e), Chip Clark (Fig. 3a, b), and Carla Piantoni (Fig. 3c), Institute of Marine Research (Figs. 1b, c and 4b), Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (Fig. 6c, d), National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) of New Zealand (Figs. 6d and 7a, b), and Neptune Minerals Inc. (Fig. 7d, e), and Alfred Wegener Institute/Marum, University of Bremen, Germany (Fig. 8a, 8d-g). This study has benefitted from funding by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (CTM2012-37787) to MM; from the Caribbean Coral Reef Ecosystems Program and the National Museum of Natural History, Washington to KR, CD, and MM (Contribution Number 986); from Stiftung Drittes Millennium, Fundación Biodiversidad, and the Ministerio de Agricultura, Alimentación y Medio Ambiente to Oceana and RA; from NIWA, New Zealand Foundation for Research, Science and Technology, and CSIRO’s Division of Marine and Atmospheric Research to MK; the Natural Sciences and Engineering Council of Canada for Discovery and Ship Time grants to SPL; from the Norwegian Research Council to RJB and HTR; from The Norwegian Oil and Gas and the Norwegian Biodiversity Information Centre to HTR; and from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Council of Canada for Discovery and Ship Time grants to SPL.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Advanced Studies of Blanes (CEAB-CSIC), Acceso Cala Sant Francesc 13, Blanes, 17300, Girona, Spain

    Manuel Maldonado

  2. Oceana, Leganitos 47, 28013, Madrid, Spain

    Ricardo Aguilar

  3. Institute of Marine Research, Nordnesgaten 50, 5817, Bergen, Norway

    Raymond J. Bannister

  4. Victoria University of Wellington, New Kirk Building, 6012, Wellington, New Zealand

    James J. Bell

  5. Geological Survey of Canada, Pacific Geoscience Centre, P.O. Box6000, V8L4B2, Sidney, BC, Canada

    Kim W. Conway

  6. University of California, San Diego, mail code 0227, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA

    Paul K. Dayton

  7. Museo Marino de Margarita, Bulevard El Paseo, 6304, Boca de Rio, Nueva Esparta, Venezuela

    Cristina Díaz

  8. Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Alfred Wegener Institute, Am Alten Hafen 26, 27568, Bremerhaven, Germany

    Julian Gutt

  9. National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA), 41 Market Place, 1010, Auckland Central, Auckland, New Zealand

    Michelle Kelly

  10. Bedford Institute of Oceanography, 1 Challenger Drive, B2Y 4A2, Dartmouth, NS, Canada

    Ellen L. R. Kenchington

  11. University of Alberta, 11455 Saskatchewan Drive, T6G 2E9, Edmonton, AB, Canada

    Sally P. Leys

  12. Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, Florida Atlantic University, 5600 U.S. 1 North, Fort Pierce, FL, 34946, USA

    Shirley A. Pomponi

  13. University of Bergen, Thormøhlensgt. 53 A, 5020, Bergen, Norway

    Hans Tore Rapp

  14. National Museum of Natural History (NMNH), Smithsonian Institution, 1000 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC, 20013-7012, USA

    Klaus Rützler

  15. Natural History Museum of Denmark, Universitetsparken 15, Ø2100, København, Denmark

    Ole S. Tendal

  16. Institut Méditerranéen de Biodiversité et d’Ecologie marine et continentale, Rue Batterie des Lions, 13007, Marseille, France

    Jean Vacelet

  17. Oregon Institute of Marine Biology (OIMB-UO), 63466 Boat Basin Road, Coos Bay, Charleston, OR, 97420, USA

    Craig M. Young

Authors
  1. Manuel Maldonado
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  2. Ricardo Aguilar
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  3. Raymond J. Bannister
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  4. James J. Bell
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  5. Kim W. Conway
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  6. Paul K. Dayton
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  7. Cristina Díaz
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  8. Julian Gutt
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  9. Michelle Kelly
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  10. Ellen L. R. Kenchington
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  12. Shirley A. Pomponi
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  13. Hans Tore Rapp
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  14. Klaus Rützler
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  15. Ole S. Tendal
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  16. Jean Vacelet
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  17. Craig M. Young
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Manuel Maldonado .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Spain

    Sergio Rossi

  2. Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Univ Paris 06, CNRS, Laboratoire d’Ecogéochimie des Environnements Benthiques (LECOB) Observatoire Océanologique, Banyuls/Mer, France

    Lorenzo Bramanti

  3. Departament d’Ecologia, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

    Andrea Gori

  4. Instituto Español de Oceanografía, Centro Oceanográfico de Baleares, Palma, Mallorca, Spain

    Covadonga Orejas

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Maldonado, M. et al. (2017). Sponge Grounds as Key Marine Habitats: A Synthetic Review of Types, Structure, Functional Roles, and Conservation Concerns. In: Rossi, S., Bramanti, L., Gori, A., Orejas , C. (eds) Marine Animal Forests. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-21012-4_24

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