Myriam Lacharité

• PhD
• Marine Spatial Analyst at University of Tasmania

Benthic habitats on deep continental margins (> 1000 m) are now considered heterogeneous – in particular because of the occasional presence of hard substrate in a matrix of sand and mud – influencing the distribution of megafauna which can thrive on both sedimented and rocky substrates. At these depths, optical imagery captured with high-definition...

Communities of benthic megafauna in the deep waters of continental shelves (> 100 m) are important components of marine ecosystems. In high-latitude ecosystems, this fauna is increasingly impacted by human activities and climate variability. In this study, we provide baseline knowledge on the oceanographic conditions affecting its distribution in t...

Autonomous and remotely operated underwater vehicles equipped with high-definition video and photographic cameras are used to perform benthic surveys. These devices record fine-scale (< 1 m) seafloor features (seafloor complexity) and their local (10–100s m) variability (seafloor heterogeneity). Here, we introduce a methodology to efficiently proce...

Multiple ocean sectors compete for space and resources, creating conflicts but also opportunities to plan for synergistic outcomes that benefit multiple sectors. Planning and management are increasingly informed by qualitative and quantitative methods for assessing multi-sector interactions to identify trade-offs and synergies among sectors and wit...

Dense aggregations of horse mussels exist in the Bay of Fundy and are thought to be associated with high biodiversity compared to surrounding habitats. Previous research show correlations between these aggregations and long narrow flow-parallel bedforms. In this study, high resolution seafloor photographs were compared to multibeam echosounder data...

Legacy seabed mapping datasets are increasingly common as the need for detailed seabed information is recognized. Acoustic backscatter data from multibeam echosounders can be a useful surrogate for seabed properties and is commonly used for benthic habitat mapping. Legacy backscatter data, however, are often uncalibrated, rendering measurements rel...

The development of multibeam echosounders (MBES) as a seabed mapping tool has resulted in the widespread uptake of backscatter intensity as an indicator of seabed substrate properties. Though increasingly common, the lack of standard calibration and the characteristics of individual sonars generally produce backscatter measurements that are relativ...

The Laurentian Channel is a deep glacial trough located in Atlantic Canada, extending from the St. Lawrence Estuary to the shelf edge between Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. The outer Laurentian Channel close to its entrance at the shelf edge has been designated as an Area of Interest for the establishment of a Marine Protected Area, but baseline inf...

The Eastern Canyons Area (ECA) was announced in March 2018 as a potential location for a deep-sea closure under Canada’s Fisheries Act. The ECA is located along the edge of the Eastern Scotian Shelf in the Scotian Shelf Bioregion (Maritimes Region, Atlantic Canada), and generally covers the deep waters seaward of the continental shelf. Here, a rati...

• The designation of marine protected areas (MPAs) requires the development of a monitoring design to assess the effectiveness of the closure in meeting its conservation objectives. Natural variability should be considered in the design, ideally determined using baseline information collected at the scale of the closure. • Monitoring benthos inform...

Deep-water corals are significant ecosystem engineers that provide habitat complexity in the deep sea. They are indicator species of vulnerable marine ecosystems because of their slow growth and longevity, characteristics that can prolong recovery from disturbances such as fishing. For populations with discontinuous distributions, such as aggregati...

In the last two decades the use of species distribution modeling (SDM) for the study and management of marine species has increased dramatically. The availability of predictor variables on a global scale and the ease of use of SDM techniques have resulted in a proliferation of research on the topic of species distribution in the deep sea. Translati...

The establishment of multibeam echosounders (MBES) as a mainstream tool in ocean mapping has facilitated integrative approaches towards nautical charting, benthic habitat mapping, and seafloor geotechnical surveys. The bathymetric and backscatter information generated by MBES enables marine scientists to present highly accurate bathymetric data wit...

A core objective of marine protected areas (MPA) is to conserve regions of high biodiversity. Establishing biodiversity baselines – e.g. local species richness and community structure – is necessary to monitor change within MPAs, but such knowledge is often lacking in offshore marine ecosystems. Here, we focus on the benthos and demonstrate how exp...

A core objective of marine protected areas (MPA) is to conserve regions of high biodiversity. Establishing biodiversity baselines – e.g. local species richness and community structure – is necessary to monitor change within MPAs, but such knowledge is often lacking in offshore marine ecosystems. Here, we focus on the benthos and demonstrate how exp...

Evaluating the role of abiotic factors in influencing the distribution of deep-water (>75–100 m depth) epibenthic megafaunal communities at mid-to-high latitudes is needed to estimate effects of environmental change, and support marine spatial planning since these factors can be effectively mapped. Given the disparity in scales at which these facto...

Megafaunal diversity in the deep sea shows a parabolic pattern with depth. It can be affected by factors such as low oxygen concentration, which suppresses diversity, or the presence of submarine canyons, which enhances it. Barkley Canyon, located off the west coast of British Columbia, Canada, is a submarine canyon that extends from the continenta...

The paucity of data on colonization of benthic invertebrates in the deep sea can severely inhibit our ability to predict the potential for recovery of these vulnerable ecosystems from anthropogenic disturbances, such as deep sea mining and trawling. In this study, we measured abundance and family richness of benthic invertebrate colonists on 2 type...

Deep-water gorgonian corals are long-lived organisms found worldwide off continental margins and seamounts, usually occurring at depths of ∼200-1,000 m. Most corals undergo sexual reproduction by releasing a planktonic larval stage that disperses; however, recruitment rates and the environmental and biological factors influencing recruitment in dee...

An invasive Eurasian fish, the round goby Neogobius melanostomus, has recently spread from the Great Lakes into the St. Lawrence River. We quantified prey preferences of this benthivore and determined whether its predatory impacts on molluscs in the river are similar to those in the Great Lakes. We measured the size structure of gastropods and drei...