1. Methane‐derived authigenic carbonate (MDAC) is a biogenic rocky substrate formed by microbial assemblages below the seabed. It performs important ecosystem functions, including the provision of reef‐like habitats on soft sediments and the sequestration of carbon.
2. The protection of MDAC is limited at the global scale; however, 27 marine protected areas (MPAs) have been designated in European waters for ‘cold seep’ MDAC, mainly in shallow waters (<200 m). Few studies have been conducted on these habitats from a conservation perspective.
3. The effective management of MDAC structures requires an understanding of their ecology and physical characteristics in a healthy condition. This is best achieved using a multidisciplinary approach to provide evidence on predefined aspects of MDAC structures, termed feature attributes, which can be assessed to determine habitat condition over time.
4. This article presents the first UK effort to develop a multidisciplinary approach to monitoring shallow MDAC feature attributes, using the Croker Carbonate Slabs Special Area of Conservation (SAC) as a case study. A range of remote and physical survey methods were used to characterize the MDAC and associated relatively unimpacted and healthy biological communities.
5. The data confirm that the SAC contains the largest known area of shallow MDAC in European waters, that methane release is ongoing, and that MDAC is still likely to be forming. Specialized chemoautotrophic fauna were not recorded, possibly due to the dominance of fauna that derive carbon (ultimately) from photosynthesis. Five epifaunal taxa were found to be associated with MDAC, but not with the surrounding sediments.
6. The broad multidisciplinary survey allowed a detailed characterization of shallow MDAC but was resource intensive. We recommend a low‐resource monitoring strategy to deliver cost‐effective and robust evidence for condition assessment and suggest further studies to contextualize future interpretations of change.

中文翻译：

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监测源自甲烷的浅甲烷自生碳酸盐：英国海洋保护区的见解

1. 甲烷源自生碳酸盐（MDAC）是由海床下的微生物组合形成的生物岩石基质。它具有重要的生态系统功能，包括在软沉积物上提供类似礁石的栖息地以及固碳。
2. MDAC的保护在全球范围内受到限制；但是，欧洲水域已指定27个海洋保护区（MPA）为“冷渗漏” MDAC，主要是在浅水区（<200 m）。从保护的角度来看，对这些栖息地的研究很少。
3. MDAC结构的有效管理要求在健康条件下了解其生态和物理特征。使用多学科方法最好地提供有关MDAC结构的预定义方面（称为特征属性）的证据，可以对其进行评估以确定一段时间内的栖息地条件。
4. 本文介绍了英国的第一项工作，以“克罗克碳酸盐平板保护区”（SAC）为例，开发了一种多学科方法来监测浅层MDAC特征属性。一系列远程和物理调查方法用于表征MDAC和相关的相对不受影响的健康生物群落。
5. 数据证实，SAC包含欧洲水域中已知最大的浅MDAC区域，甲烷排放仍在继续，并且MDAC仍可能形成。没有记录专门的化学自养动物，可能是由于从光合作用中（最终）获得碳的动物占主导地位。发现有五个表生类群与MDAC有关，但与周围的沉积物无关。
6. 广泛的多学科调查可以对浅层MDAC进行详细描述，但需要大量资源。我们建议使用低资源的监视策略，以提供具有成本效益的可靠证据进行状态评估，并建议进行进一步的研究，以对未来的变化解释进行背景分析。