Autecology of Shallow-Water Octocorallia from Mediterranean Rocky Substrata, I. The Banyuls Area

Weinberg, Steven

doi:10.1163/26660644-04901001

Cited by 41 publications

(44 citation statements)

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“…). At a comparable depth range (<50 m), highly variable densities have also been noted for other Mediterranean gorgonians such as Eunicella singularis (0.73–84+ colonies·m −2 , Weinberg ; Linares et al . ), Eunicella cavolini (8–180 colonies·m −2 , Weinbauer & Velimirov ; authors’ unpublished data) and Corallium rubrum (47–130 colonies·m −2 , Tsounis et al .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 64%

Population structure and conservation status of the red gorgonian Paramuricea clavata (Risso, 1826) in the Eastern Adriatic Sea

Kipson

Linares

Čižmek³

et al. 2014

Marine Ecology

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Gorgonians are important structuring species of the Mediterranean hard‐bottom communities that are threatened by disturbances such as increasing seawater temperature, mucilaginous events and destructive fishing, among others. In this study we assessed for the first time the population structure and conservation status of one of the most common gorgonians in the Eastern Adriatic Sea, the red gorgonian Paramuricea clavata. During late spring 2009, nine populations dwelling between 30 and 50 m depth were examined by SCUBA diving along 200 km of the Croatian coastline. The density ranged between 7 and 20 colonies·m−2. The mean and maximum colony heights were 31.2 ± 22.7 cm (±SD) and 138 cm, respectively. Two main patterns of P. clavata size frequency distributions were observed: the first one with a higher proportion of juveniles (~30%) observed mostly in the northernmost populations, and the second one with a higher proportion of larger colonies (>25% of colonies >40 cm in height). Regarding the disturbance impact level, the proportion of healthy colonies (with <10% of injured surface) was high in almost all of the studied populations (>60%) and the mean extent of injury (i.e. denuded axis or epibiosis) was 9.7 ± 4% (±SD), indicating low impacts. Contrasting population size structures with high recruitment in mature populations provides new insights into the demographic structure of the Mediterranean gorgonian forests dwelling in their upper bathymetric range (<50 m depth). Furthermore, these size structures and the low impact levels suggest a current favorable conservation status of the studied populations in the Eastern Adriatic Sea and provide a baseline for their monitoring in the future.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 64%

Population structure and conservation status of the red gorgonian Paramuricea clavata (Risso, 1826) in the Eastern Adriatic Sea

Kipson

Linares

Čižmek³

et al. 2014

Marine Ecology

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“…This would be in accordance with previous studies that characterized the environmental framework in which both species dwell. P. clavata populations dwell in a narrow band of light conditions (irradiance values ranging between 0·12 and 27·6% of surface values, mean 7·6%) and typically in a vertical surface (although they can be found on other slope types with sediment‐free bottoms; Weinberg 1975, 1979, 1980). In contrast, E. singularis is a species found commonly on horizontal or sloping sediment‐covered bottoms subjected to irradiance conditions that range between 3 and 44% of surface values (mean 18·6%; Weinberg 1975, 1979, 1980).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Changes in the limits of distribution of different NW Mediterranean benthic communities have been related previously to differences in factors such as light, temperature and hydrodynamism along a comparable spatial scale (Zabala & Ballesteros 1989). This spatial variation of abiotic factors and their relationship with the distribution of the species (Weinberg 1975, 1980) may determine the existence of areas where the depth range of distribution is compressed.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Size distribution, density and disturbance in two Mediterranean gorgonians: Paramuricea clavata and Eunicella singularis

Linares

Coma

Garrabou

et al. 2007

Journal of Applied Ecology

164

199

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Summary 1.Gorgonians are long-lived engineering species and their conservation is crucial to maintaining the biodiversity of marine communities. The slow dynamics displayed by these species make them especially vulnerable when faced with increasing disturbances. 2. The sessile nature and structural role of gorgonians provide several ecological similarities with trees, allowing the application of different approaches developed by forest ecology studies to overcome the constraint of long time-scales to collect valuable dynamic data. Using these approaches, we examined the distribution and demography of two representative Mediterranean gorgonian species, Paramuricea clavata and Eunicella singularis , along a regional spatial scale as well as their response to disturbances. 3. The regular spatial distribution and the upper distribution limit of E. singularis suggest that this species is more tolerant to a wide range of environmental conditions than P. clavata , which exhibited a more asymmetrical spatial distribution and variation in the upper distribution limit on the latitudinal scale. 4. Size distributions of both species showed contrasting population dynamics. The size distribution of E. singularis was characterized by initial stages of populations (0-10 cm) in contrast to the scarcity of this stage displayed by P. clavata . This suggests differences in recruitment between species. Furthermore, only P. clavata populations displayed a strong negative correlation between density and biomass with a slope close to -3/2, indicating a self-thinning mechanism and therefore the existence of a carrying capacity. This result and the trajectories of disturbed populations below the self-thinning line revealed this approach as a useful method to identify the effects of biological or physical disturbance. 5. Synthesis and applications . The approaches used in this study provide insights into management needs in face of the difficulty of having to deal with the population dynamics of very slow-growing threatened species. In particular, gorgonian populations can be used as an indicator of the effects of climatic anomalies on the coralligenous community.

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“…Dense, patchy populations oiP. clavata have been reported in the Banyuls area (Weinberg, 1979), around the PortCros marine park (Harmelin & Marinopoulos, 1994), in the Medes Island (Coma et al, 1994), and at the northern entrance to the Strait of Messina (Mistri, 1994), where the population, which thrives on a shoal called «La Montagna», has been under observation by us since 1991.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of a mucilage event on the Mediterranean gorgonianParamuricea clavata. II ‐ Population recovery after two years

Mistri¹,

Ceccherelli

1996

Italian Journal of Zoology

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A population of the Mediterranean gorgonian Paramuricea clavata was heavily damaged by a mucilage coverage of colonies at the end of summer 1993, and suffered a relatively high mortality. Gorgonian population structure before (summer 1992), and two years after (summer 1995) the mucilage event was compared in order to assess the recovery of the population. Despite gorgonian mean density being practically identical on both dates, suggesting that the local population had fully recovered its effectives, the demographic structure of the P. clavata population showed changes from one sampling date to the other. The most striking effect of disturbance due to mucilage was the rejuvenation of the population: in 1995, juveniles constituted 26.1% of the population, while in 1992 they were only 4.2%.

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Autecology of Shallow-Water Octocorallia from Mediterranean Rocky Substrata, I. The Banyuls Area

Cited by 41 publications

References 0 publications

Population structure and conservation status of the red gorgonian Paramuricea clavata (Risso, 1826) in the Eastern Adriatic Sea

Population structure and conservation status of the red gorgonian Paramuricea clavata (Risso, 1826) in the Eastern Adriatic Sea

Size distribution, density and disturbance in two Mediterranean gorgonians: Paramuricea clavata and Eunicella singularis

Effects of a mucilage event on the Mediterranean gorgonianParamuricea clavata. II ‐ Population recovery after two years

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