Conservation and restoration of marine forests in the Mediterranean Sea and the potential role of Marine Protected Areas

Gianni, Fabrizio; Bartolini, Fabrizio; Airoldi, Laura; Ballesteros, Enric; Francour, Patrice; Guidetti, Paolo; Meinesz, A.; Thibaut, Thierry; Mangialajo, Luisa

doi:10.1080/19475721.2013.845604

Cited by 60 publications

(81 citation statements)

References 136 publications

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“…This is because of the high ability of brown macroalgae to produce large amounts of spores and gametes with relatively little energetic cost (Schiel & Foster ; Gianni et al . ). Thus, low disturbance frequencies increased C. zosteroides populations’ growth rates due to these compensatory responses.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…; Gianni et al . ). Moreover, the combined effects of mortalities derived from fishing nets and storms reduced the population growth rates of C. zosteroides at lower frequencies than when only affected by extreme disturbances.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…; Gianni et al . ) and in temperate seas world‐wide (Airoldi & Beck ; Strain et al . ; Mineur et al .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Unravelling the natural dynamics and resilience patterns of underwater Mediterranean forests: insights from the demography of the brown alga Cystoseira zosteroides

et al. 2016

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Summary Despite being among the most important habitat‐forming organisms in temperate seas almost nothing is known about the demography of many algal species. This limits our ability to understand the effects of global and local stressors and to predict future trends under ongoing environmental change, which in turn hinders conservation actions. Cystoseira species develop important forest‐like assemblages along the sublittoral zone in the Mediterranean Sea. In this study we investigated the natural population dynamics and resilience patterns of a deep‐water brown and canopy‐forming macroalga, Cystoseira zosteroides. We used density‐dependent and stochastic matrix models to estimate its basic life‐history and compare it with other relevant habitat‐forming marine (brown algae) and terrestrial (plants) species. We also evaluated the consequences of increasing the disturbances caused by storms and the impact of lost fishing gear, and their interaction, on C. zosteroides population dynamics. The population dynamics of C. zosteroides showed similar patterns to terrestrial long‐lived species such as shrubs and trees, with high survival due to their investment in structural biomass. Our data and models suggest that this species is able to buffer mortality pulses by increasing the number of recruits (and probably recruit survival) due to the new space liberated and, therefore, lower intraspecific competition. Nevertheless, when storm disturbances were more frequent than once every 50 years, their populations collapsed, and this effect worsened when several stressors acted simultaneously. Our results improve our understanding about the demography of algal forests, and highlight the fact that increases in local and global stressors may erode the resilience of macroalgae, resulting in a loss of structural complexity in the benthic communities of temperate seas. Synthesis. Our findings reveal that deep‐water C. zosteroides forests display slow population dynamics, similar to terrestrial perennials and trees. The increase in disturbance frequencies due to global and local stressors and their interaction will cause the decline of underwater macroalgal forests and may induce profound changes in their population and community dynamics.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

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Unravelling the natural dynamics and resilience patterns of underwater Mediterranean forests: insights from the demography of the brown alga Cystoseira zosteroides

et al. 2016

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“…; Gianni et al . ), as this would positively cascade down the food web, ultimately facilitating canopy‐forming algae. Ecologically sound management of human access and use should, therefore, be considered as one important green engineering tool.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The overlooked role of biotic factors in controlling the ecological performance of artificial marine habitats

Ferrario

Iveša

Jaklin

et al. 2015

Journal of Applied Ecology

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Summary Artificial structures are sprawling in marine seascapes as a result of burgeoning coastal populations, increasing development and energy demand, and greater risks from climate change, storm surges and sea level rise. Interest in designing marine developments that maintain vital ecosystems and critical services is growing, but progress requires understanding the factors that influence the ecological performance of these novel artificial habitats. We combined field observations and experiments along 500 km of the North Adriatic coastline to analyse the performance of artificial substrata as habitats to support canopy‐forming algae belonging to the genus Cystoseira, among the most ecologically relevant foundation species along rocky Mediterranean coastlines. We aimed to: clarify the underlying factors controlling the growth of Cystoseira in the artificial habitat; contrast the relative importance of these factors between artificial and natural habitats; and test the generality of the results across different sites and species of Cystoseira. We found that: (i) the growth of canopy algae was significantly lower on artificial structures compared to rocky reefs; (ii) such lower growth of canopy algae was not related to less favourable abiotic conditions but to higher biotic disturbance from both consumptive and nonconsumptive interactions on the artificial structures compared to the natural reef; and iii) this was consistent across different study sites and canopy‐forming species. We conclude that biological factors influencing the growth of canopy algae, such as herbivory or other nonconsumptive disturbances, can differ substantially between artificial and natural habitats. The unusually large and previously unreported biotic pressure characterizing many artificial structures can negatively affect their performance as habitats to support ecologically relevant, foundation species. Synthesis and applications. While nearly all considerations to improve the ecological performance of hard marine infrastructures focus on abiotic factors (e.g. construction materials, surface texture, habitat complexity or water quality), careful consideration of critical biotic factors is also needed to further progress the green engineering of sprawling marine infrastructures.

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“…Even if these algae are particularly sensitive to variations of environmental factors (Thibaut et al 2005;Mangialajo et al 2008;Sales et al 2011;Gianni et al 2013), there are only a few studies dealing with variations of their phenolic content in relation to environmental changes (Abdala-Díaz et al 2006;Plouguerné et al 2006;Kamiya et al 2010;Le Lann, Connan, et al 2012;Le Lann, Ferret, et al 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of temperature on total phenolic compounds inCystoseira amentacea(C. Agardh) Bory (Fucales, Phaeophyceae) from southern Mediterranean Sea

Mannino

Vaglica

Cammarata

et al. 2015

Plant Biosystems - An International Journal Dealing with all As

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The aim of this study was to test the effects of temperature on phenolic content of the brown seaweed Cystoseira amentacea. Phenolic compounds are secondary metabolites involved in different protection mechanisms as, for example, against grazers, epiphytes and UV radiation. Seasonal variations of phenolic content in C. amentacea were analysed and laboratory experiments, in which C. amentacea was exposed to an increase of temperature (258C and 308C), were performed. Total phenolic content (TPC) was determined colorimetrically with the Folin -Ciocalteu reagent. In C. amentacea, a seasonal pattern in TPC was observed, with a maximum value in winter-spring. C. amentacea responded significantly to the temperature treatments with a consistent decrease in TPC after 48 h.

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Conservation and restoration of marine forests in the Mediterranean Sea and the potential role of Marine Protected Areas

Cited by 60 publications

References 136 publications

Unravelling the natural dynamics and resilience patterns of underwater Mediterranean forests: insights from the demography of the brown alga Cystoseira zosteroides

Unravelling the natural dynamics and resilience patterns of underwater Mediterranean forests: insights from the demography of the brown alga Cystoseira zosteroides

The overlooked role of biotic factors in controlling the ecological performance of artificial marine habitats

Effects of temperature on total phenolic compounds inCystoseira amentacea(C. Agardh) Bory (Fucales, Phaeophyceae) from southern Mediterranean Sea

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