Working Group 47: Ecology of Seamounts
Merits
  • Application of concepts developed by WG-32 on how to undertake ecological research, including predictive modelling, related to unique and abundant ecosystems in the North Pacific Ocean.

  • New and readily available data from PICES countries can be integrated to better understand factors that influence the distribution and trends in seamount biodiversity, including those related to oceanic fronts and eddies and to future climate-change scenarios, and test key questions about the interactions among taxa that differ in life history (e.g. plankton, filter feeders, fish, mammals).

  • The gathering of knowledge, assessing the distribution of biodiversity, identifying indicators to monitor change, and developing hypotheses to forecast responses to multiple stressors is aligned with the spirit of FUTURE. Moreover, the key outputs of this working group (e.g. maps of the distribution of pelagic, demersal, and benthic biodiversity and its indicators) would be of broad interest outside of PICES.

  • The Working Group would address a set of targeted ecological questions that can lead to scientific products within a period of 3 years.

  • This is a new research avenue for PICES with clear linkages to the activities of other PICES expert groups, including BIO Committee, FIS Committee, and the Joint PICES-NPFC SG which prepared the Framework for Enhanced Scientific Collaboration in the North Pacific Ocean (where NPFC = North Pacific Fisheries Commission). This proposal is also aligned with the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science, which promotes learning about our marine ecosystems to inform sustainable development in the oceans.
Terms of Reference and Workplan
Year 1
  • Gather data on the distribution and life history of pelagic, demersal, and benthic taxa, including fish and invertebrate assemblages associated with seamounts in the North Pacific Ocean and facilitate their submission to appropriate biodiversity databases, e.g., Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS).

  • Gather data on key environmental variables (e.g. temperature, depth, steepness, substratum, current velocity, isolation, ocean acidification) hypothesized to influence the distribution and diversity of species associated with seamounts.

  • Convene a 2-day workshop on “Distributions of pelagic, demersal, and benthic species associated with seamounts in the North Pacific Ocean and factors influencing their distributions”.

  • Annual WG business meeting, in association with the PICES Annual Meeting.

Year 2
  • Identify environmental and ecological predictors of patterns in the distribution and biodiversity of pelagic, demersal, and benthic taxa associated with seamounts in the North Pacific Ocean.

  • Apply one or more modeling approaches (e.g. MaxEnt, Boosted Regression Trees, or high-resolution bathymetry-based models) to predict the distribution of pelagic, demersal, and benthic biodiversity associated with seamounts in the North Pacific Ocean.

  • Use available data to predict climate induced changes in the distributions of seamount fauna.

  • Convene a topic session on the pelagic, demersal, and benthic species associated with seamounts at the PICES Annual Meeting.

  • Annual WG business meeting, in association with the PICES Annual Meeting.

Year 3
  • Identify potential indicators for assessing and monitoring the biodiversity of pelagic demersal, and benthic taxa associated with seamounts.

  • Use cluster analysis and/or association analysis to review and document ecological interactions among seamount taxa.

  • Prepare scientific reports for dissemination of results.

  • Annual WG business meeting, in association with the PICES Annual Meeting.

Key scientific outputs
In addition to its PICES reports, the proposed Working Group on Ecology of Seamounts is anticipated to produce scientific papers for publication in the primary literature as well as work closely with the PICES Secretariat and BIO Committee to develop outreach deliverables to communicate its activities and findings to the general public as well as NPFC:
  • A primary paper that provides technical guidance on the application of predictive modeling approaches for seamount biodiversity and reviews this WG’s improved understanding of the oceanographic factors that influence seamount biodiversity.

  • A primary paper that produces maps of the known and predicted distribution and abundance of pelagic, demersal, and benthic biodiversity associated with seamounts in the North Pacific Ocean.

  • A primary paper that reviews this WG’s understanding of interspecific interactions among seamount taxa.

  • A primary paper that identifies indicators of seamount biodiversity for assessment and monitoring.

  • A media outreach article for dissemination of the WG’s activities and findings to the general public.

  • Annual presentations about the WG’s activities and research findings to NPFC’s Scientific Committee.

Products
Annual Meetings

Reports

2024, 2023, 2022, 2021

Session and Workshop Summaries

W1, Distributions of pelagic, demersal, and benthic species associated with seamounts in the North Pacific Ocean and factors influencing their distributions

PICES Press

TBA

PICES Scientific Reports
TBA
Primary Journals
TBA
Related Materials
TBA
Other Publications
TBA
PICES Members as of Nov 2025
Janelle Curtis
WG-47 Co-Chair
Fisheries and Oceans Canada
Pacific Biological Station
3190 Hammond Bay Rd.
Nanaimo, Canada V9T 6N7
janelle.curtis@dfo-mpo.gc.ca

Anders Knudby
Department of Geography, Environment and Geomatics
University of Ottawa
75 Laurier Ave. E
Ottawa, ON
Canada K1N6N5
aknudby@uottawa.ca

Chris Rooper
Pacific Biological Station
Fisheries and Oceans Canada
3190 Hammond Bay Road
Nanaimo, BC
Canada V9T6N7
chris.rooper@dfo-mpo.gc.ca

Kuidong Xu
Laboratory of Marine organism Taxonomy and Phylogeny
Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
7 Nanhai Rd.
Qingdao, China, PR 266071
kxu@qdio.ac.cn

Zijun Xu
North China Sea Ecological Center, Ministry of Natural Resources
22 Fushun Rd.
Qingdao, Shandong
China, PR 266033
zjxu@sohu.com

Satoi Arai
Fisheries Resources Institute (FRI)
Japan Fisheries Research and Education Agency (FRA)
2-12-4 Fukuura, Kanazawa-ku
Yokohama, Kanagawa
Japan 36-86482
arai_satoi36@fra.go.jp

Mai Miyamoto
WG-47 Co-Chair
Environmental Consulting Depertment
JAPAN NUS CO., LTD
Nishi-Sinjuku Prime Square 5F 7-5-25 Nishi-Sinjuku, Shinjuku-ku
Tokyo, Japan 160-0023
miyamoto-mi@janus.co.jp

Kota Sawada
Oceanic Resources Group, Highly Migratory Resources Division
Fisheries Resources Institute, Japan Fisheries Research and Education Agency
2-12-4 Fukuura, Kanazawa-ku
Yokohama, Kanagawa
Japan 236-8648
+81457887505
sawada_kota27@fra.go.jp

Kenji Taki
Fisheries Resources Institute
Japan Fisheries Research and Education Agency (FRA)
2-12-4, Fukuura, Kanazawa-ku
Yokohama, Kanagawa
Japan 236-8648
takisan@fra.affrc.go.jp

Sung Yong Kim
Environmental Fluid Mechanics Laboratory (EFML)
Department of Mechanical Engineering, KAIST
291 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu
Daejeon, Korea, R 34141
syongkim@kaist.ac.kr

Hye-Won Moon
Department of Taxonomy and Systematics
National Marine Biodiversity Institute of Korea
Jangsan-ro 101-75, Janghang-eup
Seocheon, Korea, R 33663
hwmoon@mabik.re.kr

Seonock Woo
Marine Biotechnology Research Center
Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology (KIOST)
Youngdo-gu, Haeyangro 385
Busan, Korea, R 49111
cwoo@kiost.ac.kr

Tatiana N. Dautova
National Scientific Center of Marine Biology, FEB RAS, FEFU
17 Palchevskogo St.
Vladivostok, Russia 690041
tndaut@mail.ru

Alexei M. Orlov
Laboratory of Oceanic Ichthyofauna
Shirshov Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IO RAS)
32, Nakhimovsky Prospekt
Moscow, Russia 117997
orlov.am@ocean.ru

Amy Baco-Taylor
Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences
Florida State University
1011 Academic Way
Tallahassee, FL
U.S.A. 32306
abacotaylor@fsu.edu

Samuel E. Georgian
Marine Conservation Institute
736 N 104th Street Seattle, WA 98133
Seattle, WA
U.S.A. 98103
samuelgeorgian@gmail.com

Les Watling
School of Life Sciences
University of Hawaii at Manoa
St. John 001
Honolulu, HI
U.S.A. 96822
watling@hawaii.edu