Coastal armouring affects intertidal biodiversity across the Alboran Sea (Western Mediterranean Sea)

2021 ◽  
Vol 171 ◽  
pp. 105475
Author(s):  
F. Sedano ◽  
A. Pavón-Paneque ◽  
C. Navarro-Barranco ◽  
J.M. Guerra-García ◽  
M. Digenis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Western Mediterranean ◽  
Alboran Sea ◽  
Western Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Alborán Sea

Effects of mechanized dredging targeting Chamelea gallina, striped venus clams, on the associated discards in the northern Alboran Sea (Western Mediterranean Sea)

2018 ◽  
Vol 99 (3) ◽  
pp. 575-585
Author(s):  
Javier Urra ◽  
Teresa García ◽  
Estefanía León ◽  
Helena Gallardo-Roldán ◽  
Matías Lozano ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Management Plan ◽  
Western Mediterranean ◽  
Alboran Sea ◽  
Severe Damage ◽  
Damage Level ◽  
Biological Communities ◽  
Western Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Chamelea Gallina ◽  
Alborán Sea

Mechanized dredging impact on discards was assessed along the northern Alboran Sea (W Mediterranean Sea). Data from 101 dredging operations were analysed for contrasting spatial and seasonal variability of damage, with the use of a three-level damage scale. 4.5% of discarded individuals displayed intermediate damage, whereas 11.3% displayed severe damage. Echinoderms displayed the highest level of damage (~75% of total collected individuals) and Echinocardium cf. mediterraneum was the most susceptible discarded species (85% with severe damage), followed by bivalves (7.3%) and crustaceans (3.3%). The target Chamelea gallina showed a low proportion of damaged individuals, probably due to their thick protective shell, which promotes the survival of discarded undersized target individuals. Spatial differences in damage level on discards were linked to some gear characteristics, to the higher amount of gravels and to longer tow durations, whereas damage was generally higher in cold months and partly related to higher quantities of hard shelled molluscs, in both cases increasing the abrasion and damage to retained organisms. Data suggest that dredges with a lower number of narrower iron teeth and towed for a shorter time could decrease the damage rate in discards of this fishery. A spatial management plan based on the type of grounds would be useful in order to improve efficiency of these fisheries and minimize their impact to soft bottoms with different commercial catches and biological communities.

scholarly journals Development of coccolithophore-based transfer functions in the Western Mediterranean Sea: a sea surface salinity reconstruction for the last 15.5 kyr

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 3759-3798
Author(s):  
B. Ausín ◽  
I. Hernández-Almeida ◽  
J.-A. Flores ◽  
F.-J. Sierro ◽  
M. Grosjean ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Transfer Function ◽  
Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Western Mediterranean ◽  
Sea Surface ◽  
Sea Surface Salinity ◽  
Weighted Averaging ◽  
Alboran Sea ◽  
Surface Salinity ◽  
Western Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Alborán Sea

Abstract. A new dataset of 88 marine surface sediment samples and related oceanic environmental variables (temperature, salinity, chlorophyll a, oxygen, etc.) was studied to quantify the relationship between assemblages of coccolithophore species and modern environmental conditions in the Western Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, west of the Strait of Gibraltar. Multivariate statistical analyses revealed that coccolithophore species were primarily related to the sea surface salinity (SSS) gradient, which explains an independent and significant proportion of variance in the coccolithophore data. A quantitative coccolithophore-based transfer function to estimate SSS was developed using the Modern Analog Technique (MAT) and weighted-averaging partial-least square regression (WA-PLS). The bootstrapped regression coefficient (R2boot) was 0.85MAT and 0.80WA-PLS, with root-mean square error of prediction (RMSEP) of 0.29MAT and 0.30WA-PLS (psu). The resulting transfer function was applied to fossil coccolithophore assemblages in the highly resolved (∼ 65 yr) sediment core CEUTA10PC08 from the Alboran Sea (Western Mediterranean) in order to reconstruct SSS for the last 25 kyr. The reliability of the reconstruction was evaluated by assessing the degree of similarity between fossil and modern coccolithophore assemblage, and comparison of reconstruction with fossil ordination scores. Analogs were poor for the stadials associated with Heinrich Event 2 and 1 and part of the Last Glacial Maximum. Good analogs indicate more reliable reconstruction of the SSS for the last 15.5 kyr. During this period, several millennial and centennial SSS changes were observed and associated with variations in the Atlantic Water entering the Alboran Sea, sea-level oscillations, and arid or humid atmospheric conditions in the Western Mediterranean.

Cold-Water Coral Colonization of Alboran Sea Knolls, Western Mediterranean Sea

2012 ◽  
pp. 819-829 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben De Mol ◽  
David Amblas ◽  
Antonio Calafat ◽  
Miquel Canals ◽  
Ruth Duran ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Cold Water ◽  
Western Mediterranean ◽  
Alboran Sea ◽  
Western Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Alborán Sea ◽  
Water Coral

First records of Asbestopluma hypogea Vacelet and Boury-Esnault, 1996 (Porifera, Demospongiae Cladorhizidae) on seamounts and in bathyal settings of the Mediterranean Sea

Zootaxa ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 2925 (1) ◽  
pp. 33 ◽  
Author(s):  
RICARDO AGUILAR ◽  
MATTHIAS LÓPEZ CORREA ◽  
BARBARA CALCINAI ◽  
XAVIER PASTOR ◽  
ANA DE LA TORRIENTE ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Deep Sea ◽  
Western Mediterranean ◽  
Alboran Sea ◽  
Strait Of Sicily ◽  
Western Mediterranean Sea ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
Submarine Caves ◽  
Alborán Sea

The carnivorous sponge Asbestopluma hypogea, was known only from shallow submarine caves (-15 to -26 m) in the Western Mediterranean Sea and the Adriatic. Herein A. hypogea is reported from outside of caves, on seamounts in the Alboran Sea (-167 m), off the Balearics (-100 m) and north off Sicily (-660 m), and along steep bathyal escarpments in the Strait of Sicily (~700 m). These deeper ROV-based findings of A. hypogea are conform to the typical deep-sea occurrence of the Cladorhizidae.

scholarly journals The tropical African hermit crab Pagurus mbizi (Crustacea, Decapoda, Paguridae) in the Western Mediterranean Sea: a new alien species or filling gaps in the knowledge of the distribution?

2013 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 172 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. E. GARCIA RASO ◽  
F. SALMERON ◽  
J. BARO ◽  
P. MARINA ◽  
P. ABELLO
Keyword(s):  
Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Hermit Crab ◽  
Geographic Area ◽  
Western Mediterranean ◽  
Marine Biodiversity ◽  
Alboran Sea ◽  
Western Mediterranean Sea ◽  
First Occurrence ◽  
Established Population ◽  
Alborán Sea

We report the first occurrence in the European Mediterranean Sea of a tropical Atlantic hermit crab, Pagurus mbizi (Forest, 1955), based on the capture of twenty specimens (all sizes and ovigerous females) collected along the northern shores of the Alboran Sea, which proof the existence of a well-established population of this species, and the importance of this geographic area as a transitional and settlement zone for Atlantic species, which makes the Alboran Sea one of the richest marine biodiversity areas in the Mediterranean Sea. Some morphological comparative data with the closely related hermit crab Pagurus pubescentulus are given. In addition, data on its habitat and geographical distribution, as well as the probable pathways of introduction, are commented.

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