Strong upwelling conditions drive differences in species abundance and community composition along the Atlantic coasts of Morocco and Western Sahara

Lourenço, Carla R.; Nicastro, Katy R.; McQuaid, Christopher D.; Krug, Lilian Anne; Zardi, Gerardo I.

doi:10.1007/s12526-019-01032-z

Cited by 17 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 82 publications

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“…1 ). The northernmost site is very close to its poleward range limit and the southernmost site is relatively close to the known equatorward range limit in Morocco 66 . We focused on females, which are more sensitive to environmental stressors than males due to the higher energetic cost in producing eggs compared to sperm 20 , although the latter are also sensitive to abiotic factors 67 .…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 60%

Environmental optima for an ecosystem engineer: a multidisciplinary trait-based approach

Curd

Boyé

Cordier

et al. 2021

Sci Rep

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A complex interplay of biotic and abiotic factors underpins the distribution of species and operates across different levels of biological organization and life history stages. Understanding ecosystem engineer reproductive traits is critical for comprehending and managing the biodiversity-rich habitats they create. Little is known about how the reproduction of the reef-forming worm, Sabellaria alveolata, varies across environmental gradients. By integrating broad-scale environmental data with in-situ physiological data in the form of biochemical traits, we identified and ranked the drivers of intraspecific reproductive trait variability (ITV). ITV was highest in locations with variable environmental conditions, subjected to fluctuating temperature and hydrodynamic conditions. Our trait selection pointed to poleward sites being the most physiologically stressful, with low numbers of irregularly shaped eggs suggesting potentially reduced reproductive success. Centre-range individuals allocated the most energy to reproduction, with the highest number of intermediate-sized eggs, whilst equatorward sites were the least physiologically stressful, thus confirming the warm-adapted nature of our model organism. Variation in total egg diameter and relative fecundity were influenced by a combination of environmental conditions, which changed depending on the trait and sampling period. An integrated approach involving biochemical and reproductive traits is essential for understanding macro-scale patterns in the face of anthropogenic-induced climate change across environmental and latitudinal gradients.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 60%

Environmental optima for an ecosystem engineer: a multidisciplinary trait-based approach

Curd

Boyé

Cordier

et al. 2021

Sci Rep

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“…Northern hemisphere a-diversity displayed a distinct mid-latitude peak, a pattern also reported for open water biodiversity [7]. The cause behind this remains elusive but hypotheses include a middominance effect where high-and low-latitude species ranges overlap [47] [55]. This disproportionate sampling pattern is also present in other marine habitats, where sampling intensity is highest at mid-latitudes in the northern hemisphere [48].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 80%

Global gradients in intertidal species richness and functional groups

Thyrring

Peck

2020

Preprint

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Whether global latitudinal diversity gradients exist in rocky intertidal α-diversity and across functional groups remains unknown. Using literature data from 433 intertidal sites, we investigated α-diversity patterns across 155° of latitude, and whether local-scale or global-scale structuring processes control α-diversity. We, furthermore, investigated how the relative composition of functional groups (algae, grazers, predators and suspension-feeders) changes with latitude. α-diversity differed among hemispheres with a mid-latitudinal peak in the north, and a non-significant unimodal pattern in the south, but there was no support for a latitudinal diversity gradient. Although global-scale drivers had no discernible effect, the local-scale drivers significantly affected α-diversity, and our results reveal that latitudinal diversity gradients are outweighed by local-processes. In three functional groups: predators, grazers and suspension-feeders diversity declined with latitude, coinciding with an inverse gradient in algae. Overall, we propose more studies are needed on the magnitude and influence of physical and biotic drivers across multiple scales.

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“…On the contrary, despite their slow and terrestrial activities, only two reptiles were killed on five occasions. Perhaps the low abundance of reptiles in Moroccan Sahara (Bouazza & Rihane, 2021; Lourenço et al, 2020) explains the low mortality in this Class.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wildlife‐vehicle collisions in Moroccan Atlantic Sahara: Impact on resident species and Afro‐Palearctic birds for conservation purposes

Mansouri¹,

Dakki

Squalli³

et al. 2022

Afr J Ecol

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In this study, we described the temporal and spatial patterns of wildlife‐vehicle collisions in Dakhla‐Laayoune regions, using counts from cars for two years (2018–2021). A total of 462 roadkills were documented (monthly average of 0.075 roadkills/km), comprising 16 species, including mammals (residents), reptiles (residents), and birds (residents and migrants). Seasonal abundance and diversity of roadkills revealed a high peak during breeding and migration periods for all species. The generalised linear mixed models indicated that wildlife‐vehicle accidents have a higher probability of occurrence close to breeding and feeding sites and road sections with increased vegetation cover. Similarly, road collisions were higher close to migration routes and during breeding periods. Our study provides the first and only detailed results on wildlife road collisions in Morocco. Data gathered from this study provide valuable information for conservation measures of the most affected Moroccan species and Palearctic migrant birds which are crossing between Europe and Africa. Moreover, our data provide a new window of large‐scale comparative studies addressing the impacts of the infrastructures on biodiversity in the entire Atlantic coasts of Northwest Africa. Detailed studies on the local population dynamics of highly affected species are urgently needed to conclude whether these levels of road mortality are supportable.

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Strong upwelling conditions drive differences in species abundance and community composition along the Atlantic coasts of Morocco and Western Sahara

Cited by 17 publications

References 82 publications

Environmental optima for an ecosystem engineer: a multidisciplinary trait-based approach

Environmental optima for an ecosystem engineer: a multidisciplinary trait-based approach

Global gradients in intertidal species richness and functional groups

Wildlife‐vehicle collisions in Moroccan Atlantic Sahara: Impact on resident species and Afro‐Palearctic birds for conservation purposes

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