3 results
Essence of the patterns of cover and richness of intertidal hard bottom communities: a pan-European study
- Jonne Kotta, Helen Orav-Kotta, Holger Jänes, Herman Hummel, Christos Arvanitidis, Pim Van Avesaath, Guy Bachelet, Lisandro Benedetti-Cecchi, Natalia Bojanić, Serena Como, Stefania Coppa, Jennifer Coughlan, Tasman Crowe, Martina Dal Bello, Steven Degraer, Jose Antonio Juanes De La Pena, Valentina Kirienko Fernandes De Matos, Free Espinosa, Sarah Faulwetter, Matt Frost, Xabier Guinda, Emilia Jankowska, Jérôme Jourde, Francis Kerckhof, Nicolas Lavesque, Jean-Charles Leclerc, Paolo Magni, Christina Pavloudi, Maria Luiza Pedrotti, Ohad Peleg, Angel Pérez-Ruzafa, Araceli Puente, Pedro Ribeiro, Gil Rilov, Maria Rousou, Tomas Ruginis, Teresa Silva, Nathalie Simon, Isabel Sousa-Pinto, Jesús Troncoso, Jan Warzocha, Jan Marcin Weslawski
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- Journal:
- Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom / Volume 97 / Issue 3 / May 2017
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 04 October 2016, pp. 525-538
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Coastal ecosystems are highly complex and driven by multiple environmental factors. To date we lack scientific evidence for the relative contribution of natural and anthropogenic drivers for the majority of marine habitats in order to adequately assess the role of different stressors across the European seas. Such relationship can be investigated by analysing the correlation between environmental variables and biotic patterns in multivariate space and taking into account non-linearities. Within the framework of the EMBOS (European Marine Biodiversity Observatory System) programme, hard bottom intertidal communities were sampled in a standardized way across European seas. Links between key natural and anthropogenic drivers and hard bottom communities were analysed using Boosted Regression Trees modelling. The study identified strong interregional variability and showed that patterns of hard bottom macroalgal and invertebrate communities were primarily a function of tidal regime, nutrient loading and water temperature (anomalies). The strength and shape of functional form relationships varied widely however among types of organisms (understorey algae composing mostly filamentous species, canopy-forming algae or sessile invertebrates) and aggregated community variables (cover or richness). Tidal regime significantly modulated the effect of nutrient load on the cover and richness of understorey algae and sessile invertebrates. In contrast, hydroclimate was more important for canopy algae and temperature anomalies and hydroclimate separately or interactively contributed to the observed patterns. The analyses also suggested that climate-induced shifts in weather patterns may result in the loss of algal richness and thereby in the loss of functional diversity in European hard bottom intertidal areas.
Geographic patterns of biodiversity in European coastal marine benthos
- Herman Hummel, Pim Van Avesaath, Sander Wijnhoven, Loran Kleine-Schaars, Steven Degraer, Francis Kerckhof, Natalia Bojanic, Sanda Skejic, Olja Vidjak, Maria Rousou, Helen Orav-Kotta, Jonne Kotta, Jérôme Jourde, Maria Luiza Pedrotti, Jean-Charles Leclerc, Nathalie Simon, Fabienne Rigaut-Jalabert, Guy Bachelet, Nicolas Lavesque, Christos Arvanitidis, Christina Pavloudi, Sarah Faulwetter, Tasman Crowe, Jennifer Coughlan, Lisandro Benedetti-Cecchi, Martina Dal Bello, Paolo Magni, Serena Como, Stefania Coppa, Anda Ikauniece, Tomas Ruginis, Emilia Jankowska, Jan Marcin Weslawski, Jan Warzocha, Sławomira Gromisz, Bartosz Witalis, Teresa Silva, Pedro Ribeiro, Valentina Kirienko Fernandes De Matos, Isabel Sousa-Pinto, Puri Veiga, Jesús Troncoso, Xabier Guinda, Jose Antonio Juanes De La Pena, Araceli Puente, Free Espinosa, Angel Pérez-Ruzafa, Matt Frost, Caroline Louise Mcneill, Ohad Peleg, Gil Rilov
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- Journal:
- Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom / Volume 97 / Issue 3 / May 2017
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 14 September 2016, pp. 507-523
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Within the COST action EMBOS (European Marine Biodiversity Observatory System) the degree and variation of the diversity and densities of soft-bottom communities from the lower intertidal or the shallow subtidal was measured at 28 marine sites along the European coastline (Baltic, Atlantic, Mediterranean) using jointly agreed and harmonized protocols, tools and indicators. The hypothesis tested was that the diversity for all taxonomic groups would decrease with increasing latitude. The EMBOS system delivered accurate and comparable data on the diversity and densities of the soft sediment macrozoobenthic community over a large-scale gradient along the European coastline. In contrast to general biogeographic theory, species diversity showed no linear relationship with latitude, yet a bell-shaped relation was found. The diversity and densities of benthos were mostly positively correlated with environmental factors such as temperature, salinity, mud and organic matter content in sediment, or wave height, and related with location characteristics such as system type (lagoons, estuaries, open coast) or stratum (intertidal, subtidal). For some relationships, a maximum (e.g. temperature from 15–20°C; mud content of sediment around 40%) or bimodal curve (e.g. salinity) was found. In lagoons the densities were twice higher than in other locations, and at open coasts the diversity was much lower than in other locations. We conclude that latitudinal trends and regional differences in diversity and densities are strongly influenced by, i.e. merely the result of, particular sets and ranges of environmental factors and location characteristics specific to certain areas, such as the Baltic, with typical salinity clines (favouring insects) and the Mediterranean, with higher temperatures (favouring crustaceans). Therefore, eventual trends with latitude are primarily indirect and so can be overcome by local variation of environmental factors.
A comparison of the degree of implementation of marine biodiversity indicators by European countries in relation to the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD)
- Herman Hummel, Matt Frost, José A. Juanes, Judith Kochmann, Carlos F. Castellanos Perez Bolde, Fernando Aneiros, François Vandenbosch, João N. Franco, Beatriz Echavarri, Xabier Guinda, Araceli Puente, Camino Fernández, Cristina Galván, Maria Merino, Elvira Ramos, Paloma Fernández, Valentina Pitacco, Madara Alberte, Dagmara Wojcik, Monika Grabowska, Marlene Jahnke, Fabio Crocetta, Laura Carugati, Simonetta Scorrano, Simonetta Fraschetti, Patricia Pérez García, José Antonio Sanabria Fernández, Artem Poromov, Anna Iurchenko, Artem Isachenko, Alexandra Chava, Christina Pavloudi, François Bordeyne, Simone Fie Andersen, Elizabeth Grace Tunka Eronat, Taylan Cakmak, Paraskevi Louizidou, José Rico, Stela Ruci, David Corta Diego, Sara Mendez, Maria Rousou, Laurence de Clippele, Annukka Eriksson, Winnie van Zanten, Anna Diamant, Valentina Kirienko Fernandes de Matos
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- Journal:
- Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom / Volume 95 / Issue 8 / December 2015
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 23 June 2015, pp. 1519-1531
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The degree of development and operability of the indicators for the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) using Descriptor 1 (D1) Biological Diversity was assessed. To this end, an overview of the relevance and degree of operability of the underlying parameters across 20 European countries was compiled by analysing national directives, legislation, regulations, and publicly available reports. Marked differences were found between countries in the degree of ecological relevance as well as in the degree of implementation and operability of the parameters chosen to indicate biological diversity. The best scoring EU countries were France, Germany, Greece and Spain, while the worst scoring countries were Italy and Slovenia. No country achieved maximum scores for the implementation of MSFD D1. The non-EU countries Norway and Turkey score as highly as the top-scoring EU countries. On the positive side, the chosen parameters for D1 indicators were generally identified as being an ecologically relevant reflection of Biological Diversity. On the negative side however, less than half of the chosen parameters are currently operational. It appears that at a pan-European level, no consistent and harmonized approach currently exists for the description and assessment of marine biological diversity. The implementation of the MSFD Descriptor 1 for Europe as a whole can therefore at best be marked as moderately successful.