Characterizing deep-sea coral biodiversity is essential to evaluate the current state of deep-sea ecosystems and to assess vulnerability to anthropogenic threats such as offshore drilling and ocean acidification. Thousands of deep-sea coral records from the past 6 decades are compiled in the publicly accessible NOAA database, but few large-scale analyses of deep-sea coral biodiversity through time have been conducted. This study provides the longest temporal analysis of deep-sea coral generic biodiversity (58 yr), and the first such study for US waters. To mitigate missing temporal and spatial data, a machine learning model was employed to simulate deep-sea coral occurrences. Patterns of deep-sea coral generic biodiversity were calculated for observed and simulated data from 1960 to 2018 in the US marine ecoregions of the Gulf Stream Slope, Carolinian Atlantic Shelf and Slope, South Florida/Bahamian Atlantic Shelf and Slope, and Northern Gulf of Mexico (NGOM) Shelf and Slope. There were statistically significant decreases in deep-sea coral generic biodiversity for all ecoregion/depth pairs in simulated data and most ecoregion/depth pairs in observed data. There was relative stability in biodiversity from 1960 to the mid-2000s, followed by generally rapid decreases between 2007 and 2011. Biodiversity stabilized after 2011, though it remains at the lowest average level in the past 58 yr. Most ecoregions and depths show the lowest generic richness during the most recent time interval (2010–2018) compared to the preceding 5 decades. The most persistent deep-sea coral genera from 1960 to 2018 vary based on ecoregion and depth. Rapid decreases in biodiversity support previous work showing deep-sea corals can undergo biodiversity loss in less than 4 yr, which is alarming given their slow growth and decadal recovery times. This analysis provides a robust temporal framework for future researchers to evaluate casual mechanisms affecting deep-sea coral biodiversity and inform on conservation strategies.

中文翻译：

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深海珊瑚生物多样性、墨西哥湾和美国西大西洋的稳定和下降

表征深海珊瑚生物多样性对于评估深海生态系统的现状和评估对近海钻探和海洋酸化等人为威胁的脆弱性至关重要。过去 6 年的数以千计的深海珊瑚记录被编入可公开访问的 NOAA 数据库中，但很少有对深海珊瑚生物多样性随时间进行的大规模分析。这项研究提供了对深海珊瑚一般生物多样性的最长时间分析（58 年），也是第一次针对美国水域的此类研究。为了减少丢失的时间和空间数据，使用机器学习模型来模拟深海珊瑚的发生。根据 1960 年至 2018 年美国墨西哥湾流坡海洋生态区的观测和模拟数据计算了深海珊瑚一般生物多样性的模式，卡罗莱纳大西洋大陆架和斜坡、南佛罗里达/巴哈马大西洋大陆架和斜坡以及北墨西哥湾 (NGOM) 大陆架和斜坡。对于模拟数据中的所有生态区/深度对和观测数据中的大多数生态区/深度对，深海珊瑚一般生物多样性在统计上显着减少。1960 年至 2000 年代中期生物多样性相对稳定，2007 年至 2011 年间普遍快速下降。生物多样性在 2011 年后趋于稳定，但仍处于过去 58 年的最低平均水平。与前 5 个十年相比，大多数生态区和深度在最近的时间间隔（2010-2018 年）中表现出最低的一般丰富度。1960 年至 2018 年间最持久的深海珊瑚属因生态区和深度而异。生物多样性的迅速减少支持先前的工作，表明深海珊瑚可以在不到 4 年的时间内遭受生物多样性的丧失，鉴于它们的缓慢生长和十年的恢复时间，这令人震惊。该分析为未来的研究人员评估影响深海珊瑚生物多样性的偶然机制提供了一个强大的时间框架，并为保护策略提供信息。