Shipwreck ecology: Understanding the function and processes from microbes to megafauna.
Avery B Paxton, Christopher McGonigle, Melanie Damour, Georgia Holly, Alicia Caporaso, Peter B Campbell, Kirstin S Meyer-Kaiser, Leila J Hamdan, Calvin H Mires, J Christopher Taylor
Author Information
Avery B Paxton: National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, National Ocean Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Beaufort, North Carolina, United States. ORCID
Christopher McGonigle: School of Geography and Environmental Science, Ulster University, Coleraine, Northern Ireland. ORCID
Melanie Damour: Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. ORCID
Georgia Holly: Edinburgh Marine Archaeology, School of History, Classics, and Archaeology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom. ORCID
Alicia Caporaso: Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. ORCID
Peter B Campbell: Cranfield Forensic Institute, Cranfield University, Defence Academy of the United Kingdom, Shrivenham, England, United Kingdom. ORCID
Kirstin S Meyer-Kaiser: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, United States. ORCID
Leila J Hamdan: School of Ocean Science and Engineering, University of Southern Mississippi, Ocean Springs, Mississippi, United States.
Calvin H Mires: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, United States. ORCID
J Christopher Taylor: National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, National Ocean Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Beaufort, North Carolina, United States.
An estimated three million shipwrecks exist worldwide and are recognized as cultural resources and foci of archaeological investigations. Shipwrecks also support ecological resources by providing underwater habitats that can be colonized by diverse organisms ranging from microbes to megafauna. In the present article, we review the emerging ecological subdiscipline of shipwreck ecology, which aims to understand ecological functions and processes that occur on shipwrecks. We synthesize how shipwrecks create habitat for biota across multiple trophic levels and then describe how fundamental ecological functions and processes, including succession, zonation, connectivity, energy flow, disturbance, and habitat degradation, manifest on shipwrecks. We highlight future directions in shipwreck ecology that are ripe for exploration, placing a particular emphasis on how shipwrecks may serve as experimental networks to address long-standing ecological questions.
