Heated settlement plates (HSPl) in global experimentation: Experiences, research questions, future applications and collaborations

Abstract

Predicting how benthic assemblages respond to ocean warming remains a central challenge in marine ecology. Artificial units of habitat such as settlement plates have long been used to study marine lithophilic assemblage dynamics under natural and experimental conditions. Recently, heated settlement plate (HSPl) experiments have been deployed in polar and temperate seas to simulate likely near-future thermal regimes in situ. We convened a one-day hybrid workshop bringing together researchers who pioneered HSPl approaches with a broader international community of benthic researchers including project managers, senior scientists and early career researchers. The workshop aimed to: i) share experiences and outcomes from existing HSPl deployments; ii) identify technical and logistical challenges; iii) prioritise emerging research questions and applications; and iv) scope pathways for future collaborations and funding. Participants outlined desirable minimum standards for imaging and metadata in HSPl photosampling, compared design choices and replication strategies; and highlighted context-specific considerations for polar vs. temperate sites (e.g. ice scouring, permitting frameworks, diver safety considerations). A preliminary research agenda was developed spanning community assembly processes, trait-mediated responses, priority effects under warming and the integration of HSPl imagery with automated pipelines for analysis and data FAIRness. The workshop represents a first step towards building a cohesive global network to coordinate cross-site experiments, promote open protocols and data sharing and enable meta-analyses that will strengthen the understanding of how marine environmental change affects lithophilic assemblages across ecosystems.