Environmental drivers of distribution and reef development of the Mediterranean coral Cladocora caespitosa

Detalhes bibliográficos
Autor(a) principal: Chefaoui, Rosa
Data de Publicação: 2017
Outros Autores: Casado-Amezua, Pilar, Templado, Jose
Tipo de documento: Artigo
Idioma: eng
Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.1/12914
Resumo: Cladocora caespitosa is the only Mediterranean scleractinian similar to tropical reef-building corals. While this species is part of the recent fossil history of the Mediterranean Sea, it is currently considered endangered due to its decline during the last decades. Environmental factors affecting the distribution and persistence of extensive bank reefs of this endemic species across its whole geographic range are poorly understood. In this study, we examined the environmental response of C. caespitosa and its main types of assemblages using ecological niche modeling and ordination analysis. We also predicted other suitable areas for the occurrence of the species and assessed the conservation effectiveness of Mediterranean marine protected areas (MPAs) for this coral. We found that phosphate concentration and wave height were factors affecting both the occurrence of this versatile species and the distribution of its extensive bioconstructions in the Mediterranean Sea. A set of factors (diffuse attenuation coefficient, calcite and nitrate concentrations, mean wave height, sea surface temperature, and shape of the coast) likely act as environmental barriers preventing the species from expansion to the Atlantic Ocean and the Black Sea. Uncertainties in our large-scale statistical results and departures from previous physiological and ecological studies are also discussed under an integrative perspective. This study reveals that Mediterranean MPAs encompass eight of the ten banks and 16 of the 21 beds of C. caespitosa. Preservation of water clarity by avoiding phosphate discharges may improve the protection of this emblematic species.
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spelling Environmental drivers of distribution and reef development of the Mediterranean coral Cladocora caespitosaAdriatic SeaMass-mortalityHabitat useTemperateScleractiniaAnthozoaGrowthBanksCalcificationHeterotrophyCladocora caespitosa is the only Mediterranean scleractinian similar to tropical reef-building corals. While this species is part of the recent fossil history of the Mediterranean Sea, it is currently considered endangered due to its decline during the last decades. Environmental factors affecting the distribution and persistence of extensive bank reefs of this endemic species across its whole geographic range are poorly understood. In this study, we examined the environmental response of C. caespitosa and its main types of assemblages using ecological niche modeling and ordination analysis. We also predicted other suitable areas for the occurrence of the species and assessed the conservation effectiveness of Mediterranean marine protected areas (MPAs) for this coral. We found that phosphate concentration and wave height were factors affecting both the occurrence of this versatile species and the distribution of its extensive bioconstructions in the Mediterranean Sea. A set of factors (diffuse attenuation coefficient, calcite and nitrate concentrations, mean wave height, sea surface temperature, and shape of the coast) likely act as environmental barriers preventing the species from expansion to the Atlantic Ocean and the Black Sea. Uncertainties in our large-scale statistical results and departures from previous physiological and ecological studies are also discussed under an integrative perspective. This study reveals that Mediterranean MPAs encompass eight of the ten banks and 16 of the 21 beds of C. caespitosa. Preservation of water clarity by avoiding phosphate discharges may improve the protection of this emblematic species.Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness [CTM2014-57949-R]SpringerSapientiaChefaoui, RosaCasado-Amezua, PilarTemplado, Jose2019-11-20T15:07:10Z2017-122017-12-01T00:00:00Zinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersioninfo:eu-repo/semantics/articleapplication/pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/10400.1/12914eng0722-402810.1007/s00338-017-1611-8info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessreponame:Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)instname:Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informaçãoinstacron:RCAAP2023-07-24T10:24:53Zoai:sapientia.ualg.pt:10400.1/12914Portal AgregadorONGhttps://www.rcaap.pt/oai/openaireopendoar:71602024-03-19T20:04:08.978231Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) - Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informaçãofalse
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Environmental drivers of distribution and reef development of the Mediterranean coral Cladocora caespitosa
title Environmental drivers of distribution and reef development of the Mediterranean coral Cladocora caespitosa
spellingShingle Environmental drivers of distribution and reef development of the Mediterranean coral Cladocora caespitosa
Chefaoui, Rosa
Adriatic Sea
Mass-mortality
Habitat use
Temperate
Scleractinia
Anthozoa
Growth
Banks
Calcification
Heterotrophy
title_short Environmental drivers of distribution and reef development of the Mediterranean coral Cladocora caespitosa
title_full Environmental drivers of distribution and reef development of the Mediterranean coral Cladocora caespitosa
title_fullStr Environmental drivers of distribution and reef development of the Mediterranean coral Cladocora caespitosa
title_full_unstemmed Environmental drivers of distribution and reef development of the Mediterranean coral Cladocora caespitosa
title_sort Environmental drivers of distribution and reef development of the Mediterranean coral Cladocora caespitosa
author Chefaoui, Rosa
author_facet Chefaoui, Rosa
Casado-Amezua, Pilar
Templado, Jose
author_role author
author2 Casado-Amezua, Pilar
Templado, Jose
author2_role author
author
dc.contributor.none.fl_str_mv Sapientia
dc.contributor.author.fl_str_mv Chefaoui, Rosa
Casado-Amezua, Pilar
Templado, Jose
dc.subject.por.fl_str_mv Adriatic Sea
Mass-mortality
Habitat use
Temperate
Scleractinia
Anthozoa
Growth
Banks
Calcification
Heterotrophy
topic Adriatic Sea
Mass-mortality
Habitat use
Temperate
Scleractinia
Anthozoa
Growth
Banks
Calcification
Heterotrophy
description Cladocora caespitosa is the only Mediterranean scleractinian similar to tropical reef-building corals. While this species is part of the recent fossil history of the Mediterranean Sea, it is currently considered endangered due to its decline during the last decades. Environmental factors affecting the distribution and persistence of extensive bank reefs of this endemic species across its whole geographic range are poorly understood. In this study, we examined the environmental response of C. caespitosa and its main types of assemblages using ecological niche modeling and ordination analysis. We also predicted other suitable areas for the occurrence of the species and assessed the conservation effectiveness of Mediterranean marine protected areas (MPAs) for this coral. We found that phosphate concentration and wave height were factors affecting both the occurrence of this versatile species and the distribution of its extensive bioconstructions in the Mediterranean Sea. A set of factors (diffuse attenuation coefficient, calcite and nitrate concentrations, mean wave height, sea surface temperature, and shape of the coast) likely act as environmental barriers preventing the species from expansion to the Atlantic Ocean and the Black Sea. Uncertainties in our large-scale statistical results and departures from previous physiological and ecological studies are also discussed under an integrative perspective. This study reveals that Mediterranean MPAs encompass eight of the ten banks and 16 of the 21 beds of C. caespitosa. Preservation of water clarity by avoiding phosphate discharges may improve the protection of this emblematic species.
publishDate 2017
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2017-12
2017-12-01T00:00:00Z
2019-11-20T15:07:10Z
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dc.language.iso.fl_str_mv eng
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10.1007/s00338-017-1611-8
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