
M.C. BakerUniversity of Southampton · National Oceanography Centre Southampton (NOCS)
M.C. Baker
PhD
Executive Director of the Deep-Ocean Stewardship Initiative - Advancing Science in Policy
About
60
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Introduction
Education
January 1997 - January 2000
January 1997 - January 2000
September 1993 - May 1996
Publications
Publications (60)
Life in the deep ocean (200 meters or more below the surface) plays a central role in the marine carbon cycle by fixing, transferring, storing, and sequestering carbon from surface waters, forming the largest carbon reservoir on the planet. These processes have allowed the ocean to absorb 90% of excess heat and 25% of CO2 released into the atmosphe...
Deep-Ocean Stewardship Initiative Policy Brief for the negotioations for a global Plastics Treaty
This chapter deploys assemblage theory and thinking to bring together a unique set of insights on the seabed ranging from the ecological, to legal, practice to theoretical. It does so with a particular aim in mind: to integrate debates pertinent to understanding the frontier space of the sea floor. Whilst there are increasing calls for interdiscipl...
Evidence of hydrothermal venting on the ultra-slow spreading Gakkel Ridge in the Central Arctic Ocean has been available since 2001, with first visual evidence of black smokers on the Aurora Vent Field obtained in 2014. But it was not until 2021 that the first ever remotely operated vehicle (ROV) dives to hydrothermal vents under permanent ice cove...
Ecosystem services are benefits that people derive from nature.
● The deep ocean provides many critical ecosystem services, such as
fish and shellfish for food; products from organisms that can be used
for medicines; climate regulation; and historical, cultural, social,
educational, and scientific value for people worldwide.
● Human activities can...
Despite the wealth of expert fisheries scientists in Namibia, the lack of deep-sea benthic (seafloor) ecologists and taxonomists poses a problem in meeting requirements for monitoring current and proposed impacts in the deep-water environment of Namibia’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). In light of this issue, a collaboration between benthic ecologi...
Key Messages:
1. Chemosynthetic ecosystems can influence the function and health of our ocean.
2. It is necessary to broaden the definition of chemosynthetic ecosystems (hydrothermal
vents and hydrocarbon seeps) to include their zone of influence and expand perception
of these systems as broad habitat areas rather than isolated islands in the deep...
The United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development presents an exceptional opportunity to effect positive change in ocean use. We outline what is required of the deep-sea research community to achieve these ambitious objectives.
The ocean plays a crucial role in the functioning of the Earth System and in the provision of vital goods and services. The United Nations (UN) declared 2021–2030 as the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development. The Roadmap for the Ocean Decade aims to achieve six critical societal outcomes (SOs) by 2030, through the pursuit of four o...
There has never been a time like the present when there is so much media, scientific, and economic interest in the deep waters of the world ocean and the animals that live there. It is increasingly important for students and new researchers, as well as experienced scientists, to understand how their research can help to address pressing societal ch...
Healthy oceans are essential to maintain a healthy planet, but the ocean is facing many challenges that need urgent attention. Robust scientific data and innovative technological, policy, and industrial solutions are essential to support sound management of the deep-ocean natural capital, both within and beyond national jurisdiction, to ensure futu...
The deep ocean is, by far, the planet’s largest biome and holds a wealth of potential natural assets. Most of the ocean lies beyond national jurisdiction and hence is the responsibility of us all. Human exploitation of the deep ocean is rapidly increasing, becoming more visible to many through the popular media. The scientific literature of deep-se...
br/>Motivation
Traits are increasingly being used to quantify global biodiversity patterns, with trait databases growing in size and number, across diverse taxa. Despite growing interest in a trait‐based approach to the biodiversity of the deep sea, where the impacts of human activities (including seabed mining) accelerate, there is no single repo...
Careful definition and illustrative case studies are fundamental work in developing a Blue Economy. As blue research expands with the world increasingly understanding its importance, policy makers and research institutions worldwide concerned with ocean and coastal regions are demanding further and improved analysis of the Blue Economy. Particularl...
Children's book on deep seabed mining issues. Commissioned by Commonwealth Secretariat, London
This publication presents the outcome of a meeting between the FAO/UNEP ABNJ Deep-seas and Biodiversity project and the Deep Ocean Stewardship Initiative. It
focuses on the impacts of climatic changes on demersal fisheries, and the interactions of these fisheries with other species and vulnerable marine ecosystems. Regional fisheries management or...
Deep-sea tailings disposal (DSTD) and its shallow water counterpart, submarine tailings disposal (STD), are practiced in many areas of the world, whereby mining industries discharge processed mud- and rock-waste slurries (tailings) directly into the marine environment. Pipeline discharges and other land-based sources of marine pollution fall beyond...
https://web.whoi.edu/cbe6/wp-content/uploads/sites/84/2017/08/46Chapman.pdf
The oceans were observed to be deep during the great age of exploration in the early to mid-nineteenth century. Subsequent exploration demonstrated that the ocean was bisected by underwater mountain ranges and dotted with abyssal hills. With the advent of the echosounder and latterly multichannel swath bathymetry, we now know that the deep ocean ha...
Covering more than half the planet, the deep ocean sequesters atmospheric CO2 and recycles major nutrients; is predicted to hold millions of yet-to-be-described species; and stores mind-boggling quantities of untapped energy resources, precious metals, and minerals (1). It is an immense, remote biome, critical to the health of the planet and human...
The ChEss project of the Census of Marine Life (2002-2010) helped foster internationally-coordinated studies worldwide focusing on exploration for, and characterization of new deep-sea chemosynthetic ecosystem sites. That work advanced our understanding of the nature of factors controlling the biogeography and biodiversity of these ecosystems in fo...
The ChEss project of the Census of Marine Life (2002-2010) helped foster internationally-coordinated studies worldwide focusing on exploration for, and characterization of new deep-sea chemosynthetic ecosystem sites. This work has advanced our understanding of the nature and factors controlling the biogeography and biodiversity of these ecosystems...
Expert assessment of past human impacts on the deep sea. Impacts have been classified from very negative (5) to neutral (0) for each habitat considered. In some cases we have designated no evidence available and an unlikely impact (NA), while in other cases, no evidence is available and potential impact is unknown (?). The total and mean impacts ar...
Expert assessment of estimated future human impacts on the deep sea. For detailed legend see Table S1.
(XLS)
Expert assessment of present human impacts on the deep sea. For detailed legend see Table S1.
(XLS)
The deep sea, the largest ecosystem on Earth and one of the least studied, harbours high biodiversity and provides a wealth of resources. Although humans have used the oceans for millennia, technological developments now allow exploitation of fisheries resources, hydrocarbons and minerals below 2000 m depth. The remoteness of the deep seafloor has...
Life Based on Energy of the DeepFinding New Pieces of the Puzzle (2002–2010)Limits to KnowledgeHuman Footprints in Deep-Water Chemosynthetic EcosystemsConclusions
AcknowledgmentsReferences
The gametogenic biology is described for seven species of gastropod from hydrothermal vents in the East Pacific and from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Species of the limpet genus Lepetodrilus (Family Lepetodrilidae) had a maximum unfertilized oocyte size of <90 μm and there was no evidence of reproductive periodicity or spatial variation in reproductive...
The gametogenic periodicity of the cold seep mussel “Bathymodiolus” childressi was analysed from a time series of samples from depths of ∼650m surrounding the Brine Pool cold seep on the continental
slope of the northern Gulf of Mexico. Occasional samples were retrieved from Bush Hill and GC 234 for comparison. At the Brine
Pool, both females and m...
A series of laboratory experiments was conducted to determine fertilization success in the commercial abalone Haliotis tuberculata I,. Fertilization success is a function of sperm dilution, sperm-egg ratio, gamete age and the amount of time sperm and eggs are in contact. Sperm density required for optimum fertilization success in vivo, using 10 mi...