Oases of biodiversity, seamounts are among the least known habitats on Earth. Human impact is rapidly extending with major threats on marine vertebrates so species may disappear from seamounts without realizing it. SEAMOUNTS proposes to illuminate the 3-dimensional distribution of vertebrate diversity and abundance on New Caledonian seamounts combining environmental DNA metabarcoding, seascape genomics, machine learning and baited video. The overreaching goal is to better understand the influence of human, environmental and geomorphological variables on seamounts fauna to inform conservation and management. SEAMOUNTS will be articulated around four hypotheses: (H1) benthic-pelagic coupling promotes biodiversity on seamounts, (H2) vertebrates find refuge in the deepest part of their range, (H3) residual populations of the most threatened vertebrate species (e.g. sharks) are present even close to humans, (H4) seamounts are key to connect remote wilderness reefs to more impacted reefs.

SEAMOUNTS will tackle the challenge of illuminating the 3-dimensional distribution of vertebrate species diversity and abundance across 12 seamounts and 4 coastal reefs of the New-Caledonian archipelago to ultimately (i) better understand the influence of their human, environmental, geomorphological and ecological drivers, (ii) test hypotheses about the role of seamounts as oases of biodiversity, refuges for endangered species and stepping stone habitats, and (iii) inform decision makers about their conservation priority, if any.