Vegetated marine and freshwater habitats are being increasingly lost around the world. Habitat restoration is a critical step for conserving these valuable habitats, but new approaches are needed to increase restoration success and ensure their survival. We investigated interactions between plants and bivalves through a review and analysis of 491 studies, determined the effects, mechanisms and key environmental variables involved in and driving positive and negative interactions, and produced guidelines for integrating positive interactions into restoration efforts in different habitats. Fifty per cent of all interactions (both correlative and experimental studies) were positive. These were predominant between epifaunal bivalves and plants in all habitats, and between infaunal bivalves and plants in subtidal habitats. Plants primarily promoted bivalve survival and abundance by providing substrate and shelter, while bivalves promoted plant growth and survival by stabilizing and fertilizing the sediment, and reducing water turbidity. The prevalence of positive interactions increased with water temperature in subtidal habitats, but decreased with water temperature in intertidal habitats. The subset of studies conducted in a restoration context also showed mostly positive interactions. Twenty‐five per cent of all interactions were negative, and these were predominant between plants and infaunal bivalves in intertidal habitats, except sulphide‐metabolizing bivalves, which facilitated plant survival. Interactions involving non‐native species were also mostly negative. Synthesis and applications. Promoting facilitative interactions through plant–bivalve co‐restoration can increase restoration success. The prevalence of positive interactions depends on habitat and environmental conditions such as temperature, and was especially important in subtidal habitats (involving both infaunal and epifaunal bivalves) and in intertidal habitats (involving only epifaunal bivalves). Thus sites and species for co‐restoration must be carefully chosen to maximize the chances of success. If done properly, co‐restoration could increase initial survival, persistence and resilience of foundation species, and promote the recovery of associated biodiversity and ecosystem services.

To understand the restoration potential of degraded habitats, it is important to know the key processes and habitat features that allow for recovery after disturbance. As part of the EU (Horizon 2020) funded MERCES project, a group of European experts compiled and assessed current knowledge, from both past and ongoing restoration efforts, within the Mediterranean Sea, the Baltic Sea, and the NorthEast Atlantic Ocean. The aim was to provide an expert judgment of how different habitat features could impact restoration success and enhance the recovery of marine habitats. A set of biological and ecological features (i.e., life-history traits, population connectivity, spatial distribution, structural complexity, and the potential for regime shifts) were identified and scored according to their contribution to the successful accomplishment of habitat restoration for five habitats: seagrass meadows, kelp forests, Cystoseira macroalgal beds, coralligenous assemblages and cold-water coral habitats. The expert group concluded that most of the kelp forests features facilitate successful restoration, while the features for the coralligenous assemblages and the cold-water coral habitat did not promote successful restoration. For the other habitats the conclusions were much more variable. The lack of knowledge on the relationship between acting pressures and resulting changes in the ecological state of habitats is a major challenge for implementing restoration actions. This paper provides an overview of essential features that can affect restoration success in marine habitats of key importance for valuable ecosystem services.

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Shortfin mako, Isurus oxyrinchus Rafinesque, 1810, is one of the commercially and recreationally important shark species in the world. Still knowledge on its biology and status is limited in the eastern Mediterranean. Three individuals were caught from Turkish waters. Two individuals (one female and one male) stomach contents, morphological measurements and female' gonad histology were studied. According to the results from macroscopic examination and gonad histology, the female was a Stage 1-immature, and smallest female ever recorded from Turkish waters. In addition, phylogenetic network of mitochondrial haplotypes was constructed for all three individuals. The phylogenetic network analysis supported that the species having a metapopulation as mentioned in previous studies. Since every information is critical for development of conservation actions aiming endangered species, we believe that our study will contribute to the limited knowledge on I. oxyrinchus biology and reproduction habits in Eastern Mediterranean

The length and weight relationships (LWRs) of goldband goatfish found in the coasts of Cyprus was studied, and both prediction capacity of the model as well as a regional prediction capacity by testing developed models from the Mediterranean basin were evaluated. A total of 219 individuals were obtained monthly between November 2017-April 2018. LWR models taken from total length and fork length measurements were developed for female and male samples and combined with a maximum 36% error in estimations. Results indicated that LWR modelling based on sexes does not provide any improvement for uncertainty in the estimations. Evaluations of previously developed models indicate that the majority share a similar performance regarding the distribution of error in estimations. In conclusion, the population of this species shows that there are similar growth properties in both sexes throughout the eastern Mediterranean. Using the same TLWR model for all individuals is therefore applicable for the purpose of further modelling within the Mediterranean basin-scale.