Arctic Marine Biodiversity: Indicators for Monitoring Coral and Sponge Megafauna in the Eastern Arctic Biodiversité Marine Arctique: Indicateurs pour un suivi de la mégaufaune de coraux et d'éponges dans l'est de l'Arctique

iv RESUME v INTRODUCTION 1 MARINE BIODIVERSITY INDICATORS FOR MONITORING THE BENTHOS 2 Regional Context 2 Global Context 2 Established Indicators for Monitoring Coral and Sponge 3 State Indicators Developed Through the Arctic Council 3 State Indicators Developed for the Gully MPA 4 Stressor Indicators Developed for the European Commission Marine Framework Strategy Directive 5 Proposed Geospatial Indicators for Monitoring Coral and Sponge Aggregations 6 Other Potential Indicators 7 Information Sources and Limitations 7 EVALUATION OF INDICATORS FOR CORALS AND SPONGES IN THE EASTERN ARCTIC 8 Data Sources 9 Mean Biomass Trends 9 Patch Area and Density 10 Sponge Grounds 10 Sea Pen Fields 12 Large and Small Gorgonian Corals 13 Isolation/Proximity of Sponge Grounds 13 Connectivity of Sponge Grounds 15 Dispersion of Sponge Grounds 15 Dispersion of Sea Pen Fields 16 SAMPLING APPROACHES FOR CORAL AND SPONGE MEGAFAUNA 17 SUMMARY 17 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 21 REFERENCES 22 FIGURES 28