Mineral exploitation has spread from land to shallow coastal waters and is now planned for the offshore, deep seabed. Large seafloor areas are being approved for exploration for seafloor mineral deposits, creating an urgent need for regional environmental management plans. Networks of areas where mining and mining impacts are prohibited are key elements of these plans. We adapt marine reserve design principles to the distinctive biophysical environment of mid-ocean ridges, offer a framework for design and evaluation of these networks to support conservation of benthic ecosystems on mid-ocean ridges, and introduce projected climate-induced changes in the deep sea to the evaluation of reserve design. We enumerate a suite of metrics to measure network performance against conservation targets and network design criteria promulgated by the Convention on Biological Diversity. We apply these metrics to network scenarios on the northern and equatorial Mid-Atlantic Ridge, where contractors are exploring for seafloor massive sulfide (SMS) deposits. A latitudinally distributed network of areas performs well at (i) capturing ecologically important areas and 30 to 50% of the spreading ridge areas, (ii) replicating representative areas, (iii) maintaining along-ridge population connectivity, and (iv) protecting areas potentially less affected by climate-related changes. Critically, the network design is adaptive, allowing for refinement based on new knowledge and the location of mining sites, provided that design principles and conservation targets are maintained. This framework can be applied along the global mid-ocean ridge system as a precautionary measure to protect biodiversity and ecosystem function from impacts of SMS mining.

中文翻译：

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深海采矿中海脊生物多样性保护战略。

矿产开采已从陆地扩展到沿海浅水区，现在正计划在深海海域进行开采。大型海底区域已获准用于勘探海底矿物沉积物，因此迫切需要区域环境管理计划。这些计划的关键要素是禁止采矿和采矿影响的区域网络。我们将海洋保护区设计原则适应中海脊独特的生物物理环境，为这些网络的设计和评估提供框架，以支持中海脊底栖生态系统的保护，并介绍预计的气候引起的深海变化评估储层设计。我们列举了一套衡量指标，以对照《生物多样性公约》颁布的保护目标和网络设计标准来衡量网络性能。我们将这些指标应用于北部和赤道中大西洋海岭的网络场景，承包商正在那里探索海底块状硫化物（SMS）矿床。纬度分布的区域网络在（i）捕获具有生态重要性的区域和30％到50％的分布脊区域，（ii）复制代表性区域，（iii）保持沿山脊人口的连通性以及（iv）保护区域方面表现良好可能较少受到与气候相关的变化的影响。至关重要的是，网络设计是自适应的，可以根据新知识和采矿地点的位置进行优化，只要保持设计原则和保护目标。该框架可以在全球中海脊系统中应用，作为一项预防措施，可以保护生物多样性和生态系统功能不受SMS采矿的影响。