Long-term decline of the populations of Fucales (Cystoseira spp. and Sargassum spp.) in the Albères coast (France, North-western Mediterranean)

Thibaut, Thierry; Pinedo, Susana; Torras, Xavier; Ballesteros, Enric

doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2005.06.014

Cited by 291 publications

(305 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…This is especially true for large perennial algae as are species of the order Fucales and Laminariales (Lüning, 1990;Arevalo et al, 2007). These communities are known to host a large variety of algal and animal epiphytes, and provide shelter, food and nursery grounds for numerous fish and invertebrate species (Lüning, 1990;Thibaut et al, 2005). Coastal macroalgae have been estimated to contribute to about one tenth of the world's marine primary production (Charpy-Roubaud & Sournia, 1990).…”

Section: Mediterranean and Pontic Communities Of Infralittoral Algae mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Mechanical disturbance, i.e. human trampling in shallow and crowded coastal areas, collection of specimens for scientific purposes, and net fishing in deeper zones can be particularly destructive, especially so for those algal species with long life spans, low recruitment levels, and low growth rates (Thibaut et al, 2005 and references therein). Destructive fishing practices, such as date mussel (Lithophaga lithophaga) harvesting (conducted by breaking rocky substrata with sledgehammers), cause direct damages to benthic assemblages by eradicating sessile animals and algae, alter biotic interactions, and favour the persistence of rocky barrens (Parravicini et al, 2010a;Guidetti, 2011).…”

Section: Mediterranean and Pontic Communities Of Infralittoral Algae mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Assessment of goods and services, vulnerability, and conservation status of European seabed biotopes: a stepping stone towards ecosystem-based marine spatial management

et al. 2012

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The goal of ecosystem-based marine spatial management is to maintain marine ecosystems in a healthy, productive and resilient condition; hence, they can sustainably provide the needed goods and services for human welfare. However, the increasing pressures upon the marine realm threaten marine ecosystems, especially seabed biotopes, and thus a well-planned approach of managing use of marine space is essential to achieve sustainability. The relative value of seabed biotopes, evaluated on the basis of goods and services, is an important starting point for the spatial management of marine areas. Herein, 56 types of European seabed biotopes and their related goods, services, sensitivity issues, and conservation status were compiled, the latter referring to management and protection tools which currently apply for these biotopes at European or international level. Fishing activities, especially by benthic trawls, and marine pollution are the main threats to European seabed biotopes. Increased seawater turbidity, dredged sediment disposal, coastal constructions, biological invasions, mining, extraction of raw materials, shipping-related activities, tourism, hydrocarbon exploration, and even some practices of scientific research, also exert substantial pressure. Although some first steps have been taken to protect the European sea beds through international agreements and European and national legislation, a finer scale of classification and assessment of marine biotopes is considered crucial in shaping sound priorities and management guidelines towards the effective conservation and sustainability of European marine resources.

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Section: Mediterranean and Pontic Communities Of Infralittoral Algae mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Mediterranean and Pontic Communities Of Infralittoral Algae mentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of goods and services, vulnerability, and conservation status of European seabed biotopes: a stepping stone towards ecosystem-based marine spatial management

et al. 2012

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“…Cystoseira spp. ), the restoration of their populations would not be possible if the remaining natural populations were far away (Bellgrove et al, 1997;Thibaut et al, 2005). In this study, the main difference between the reference vegetation and the slightly degraded communities was the absence of Bifurcaria bifurcata and Cystoseira tamariscifolia in the latter.…”

Section: Recovery Stagesmentioning

confidence: 61%

“…The decline of large perennial algae under the effect of pollution has been extensively reported, e.g. for several species of kelps (Burrows & Pybus, 1971;Borowitzka, 1972;Littler & Murray, 1975), Cystoseira (Golubic, 1970;Munda, 1980Munda, , 1993Sfriso, 1987;Rodrı´guez-Prieto & Polo, 1996;Cormaci & Furnari, 1999;Benedetti-Cecchi et al, 2001;Thibaut et al, 2005;Pinedo et al, 2007), Fucus (Russell, 1974;Vogt & Schramm, 1991;Bonk et al, 1992;Kautsky, H. et al, 1992;Eriksson et al, 2002), Sargassum (Hirose, 1978;Munda, 1993;Thibaut et al, 2005), Ascophyllum (Rueness, 1973;Bonk & Lein, 1978), Hormosira (Brown et al, 1990) or Gelidium sesquipedale (Gorostiaga & Dı´ez, 1996;Dı´ez et al, 2003). These species are good competitors in habitats with low stress and disturbance, but are progressively replaced by stress-tolerant species when pollutants are introduced into the environment.…”

Section: Recovery Stagesmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…In general, studies on phytobenthic communities subject to pollution have documented a reduction in species richness (Brown et al, 1990;Munda, 1993;Dı´ez et al, 1999), a decline in large perennial algae (Eriksson et al, 2002;Thibaut et al, 2005), and an increase in turf-forming algae (Gorgula & Connell, 2004) and ephemeral species Eriksson et al, 2002). It might be expected that all these responses in community structure would reverse as pollution decreases, but the recovery processes of benthic assemblages are poorly documented (Hardy et al, 1993;Bonk et al, 1996;Gorostiaga & Dı´ez, 1996;Archambault et al, 2001;Soltan et al, 2001).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Recovery stages over long-term monitoring of the intertidal vegetation in the ‘Abra de Bilbao’ area and on the adjacent coast (N. Spain)

Díez

Santolaria

Secilla

et al. 2009

European Journal of Phycology

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Few studies have documented the recovery of phytobenthic marine assemblages following the reduction of long-standing sewage discharges. This paper reports on the main changes in intertidal macroalgal communities after the gradual application from 1984 to 2006 of a sewerage plan for the metropolitan area of Bilbao. Sampling sites along a pollution gradient were surveyed eight times during the course of the above period. Improvements in water quality were followed by noticeable changes in species composition and vegetation structure. Species richness significantly increased throughout the study area, while algal cover only increased at the most degraded sites. Pollution removal promoted the development of morphologically more complex species. Intertidal vegetation at the degraded sites became progressively more similar to that at the reference site. Five recovery stages discriminated by different species (SIMPER routine) were characterized from ordination (MDS) analyses: (i) extremely degraded -Gelidium pusillum is the most abundant species which is accompanied by Bachelotia antillarum at the low intertidal level (0.75 m); (ii) heavily degraded -Gelidium pusillum remains dominant and accompanied by Caulacanthus ustulatus at the high intertidal level (1.4 m); (iii) moderately degraded -Corallina elongata becomes dominant, C. ustulatus remains abundant at the high level; (iv) slightly degraded -C. elongata remains dominant in both tidal levels, Chondracanthus acicularis and Lithophyllum incrustans are abundant at the high level, whereas the latter, Pterosiphonia complanata and Stypocaulon scoparium become abundant at the low level; (v) reference stage -Lithophyllum incrustans and Laurencia obtusa are abundant together with C. elongata at the high level, whereas Stypocaulon scoparium dominates the low level, with Bifurcaria bifurcata, Jania rubens and Cystoseira tamariscifolia as abundant species. Thus, this study reveals that phytobenthic communities are useful indicators of water quality and provide real data that contribute to the assessment of the ecological status of rocky open shores on the Basque coast.

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Conservation of Mediterranean habitats and biodiversity countdowns: what information do we really need?

Fraschetti

Guarnieri

Bevilacqua

et al. 2011

Aquatic Conservation

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ABSTRACT1. The relentless increase in both human activities and exploitation of marine resources is a threat to marine habitats and species.2. For marine systems, several protection initiatives have been outlined over the past decade to significantly reduce the current rate of biodiversity loss at global, regional, and national levels, and to establish representative networks of marine protected areas with the aim of protecting 10-30% of marine habitats.3. Reliable estimates of the total area occupied by each habitat are crucial to set adequate protection initiatives. Habitat mapping requires a sound habitat classification. Many classification schemes have been developed in different areas of the world, sometimes based on questionable criteria.4. A critical analysis of the most recent marine habitat classification list produced for the Mediterranean Sea from the Regional Activity Centre for Specially Protected Areas (RAC/SPA) showed that (i) 39% of habitats and associated species considered in the list are scarcely covered by scientific knowledge from Web-based resources; (ii) 62% of the species/genera included in the list are primary producers; (iii) quantitative information about the geographical distribution of selected habitats and associated species is scant; and (iv) when available, information is largely unbalanced and biased towards the shallow western Mediterranean Sea.5. Improved inventories of marine habitats are needed to support accurate and consistent mapping activities. The combination of large-scale mapping and sound habitat classifications will allow better estimates of biodiversity distribution, to reverse regional/global habitat loss rates through the achievement of conservation targets and deadlines that, for the moment, are systematically not met.

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Long-term decline of the populations of Fucales (Cystoseira spp. and Sargassum spp.) in the Albères coast (France, North-western Mediterranean)

Cited by 291 publications

References 20 publications

Assessment of goods and services, vulnerability, and conservation status of European seabed biotopes: a stepping stone towards ecosystem-based marine spatial management

Assessment of goods and services, vulnerability, and conservation status of European seabed biotopes: a stepping stone towards ecosystem-based marine spatial management

Recovery stages over long-term monitoring of the intertidal vegetation in the ‘Abra de Bilbao’ area and on the adjacent coast (N. Spain)

Conservation of Mediterranean habitats and biodiversity countdowns: what information do we really need?

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