Thedeepoceanisbyfartheplanet’slargestbiomeandholdsawealthofpotentialnaturalassets.Humanexploitationofthedeepoceanisrapidlyincreasingwhilstbecomingmorevisibletomanythroughthepopularmedia,particularlyfilmandtelevision.Thescientificliteratureofdeep-seaexploitationanditseffectshasalsorapidlyexpandedasadirectfunctionofthisincreasednationalandglobalinterestinexploitationofdeep-searesources,bothbiological(e.g.fisheries,geneticresources)andnon-biological(e.g.minerals,oil,gas,methanehydrate).Atthesametimethereisagrowinginterestindeep-seacontamination(includingplastics),withmanysuchstudiesfeaturedinhighprofilescientificjournalsandcoveredbyglobalmediaoutlets.However,thereiscurrentlynocomprehensiveintegrationofthisinformationinanyformandthesetopicsareonlysuperficiallycoveredinclassictextbooksondeep-seabiology.Thisconciseandaccessibleworkprovidesanunderstandingoftherelationshipsbetweenbiodiversityandecosystemfunctioning,bothattheseafloorandinthewatercolumn,andhowthesemightbeaffectedasaresultofhumaninteraction,exploitationand,ultimately,environmentalchange.Itfollowsalogicalprogressionfromgeologicalandphysicalprocesses,ecology,biology,andbiogeography,toexploitation,management,andconservation.NaturalCapitalandExploitationoftheDeepOceanisaimedatmarinebiologistsandecologists,oceanographers,fisheriesscientistsandmanagers,fishbiologists,environmentalscientists,andconservationbiologists.Itwillalsobeofrelevanceandusetoamulti-disciplinaryaudienceoffishandwildlifeagencies,NGOs,andgovernmentdepartmentsinvolvedindeep-seaconservationandmanagement.
NGOs NATURAL gas OIL BIOLOGICAL BIOLOGY
