scholarly journals Harbour type and use destination shape fouling community and non-indigenous species assemblage: A study of three northern Tyrrhenian port systems (Mediterranean Sea)

2022 ◽  
Vol 174 ◽  
pp. 113191
Author(s):  
Jonathan Tempesti ◽  
Joachim Langeneck ◽  
Luigi Romani ◽  
Marie Garrido ◽  
Claudio Lardicci ◽  
...  
NeoBiota ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 70 ◽  
pp. 151-165
Author(s):  
Francesco Zangaro ◽  
Benedetta Saccomanno ◽  
Eftychia Tzafesta ◽  
Fabio Bozzeda ◽  
Valeria Specchia ◽  
...  

The biodiversity of the Mediterranean Sea is currently threatened by the introduction of Non-Indigenous Species (NIS). Therefore, monitoring the distribution of NIS is of utmost importance to preserve the ecosystems. A promising approach for the identification of species and the assessment of biodiversity is the use of DNA barcoding, as well as DNA and eDNA metabarcoding. Currently, the main limitation in the use of genomic data for species identification is the incompleteness of the DNA barcode databases. In this research, we assessed the availability of DNA barcodes in the main reference libraries for the most updated inventory of 665 confirmed NIS in the Mediterranean Sea, with a special focus on the cytochrome oxidase I (COI) barcode and primers. The results of this study show that there are no barcodes for 33.18% of the species in question, and that 45.30% of the 382 species with COI barcode, have no primers publicly available. This highlights the importance of directing scientific efforts to fill the barcode gap of specific taxonomic groups in order to help in the effective application of the eDNA technique for investigating the occurrence and the distribution of NIS in the Mediterranean Sea.


2015 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 43-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bella Galil ◽  
Ferdinando Boero ◽  
Simona Fraschetti ◽  
Stefano Piraino ◽  
Marnie Campbell ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Carlo Nike Bianchi ◽  
Francesco Caroli ◽  
Paolo Guidetti ◽  
Carla Morri

Global warming is facilitating the poleward range expansion of plant and animal species. In the Mediterranean Sea, the concurrent temperature increase and abundance of (sub)tropical non-indigenous species (NIS) is leading to the so-called ‘tropicalization’ of the Mediterranean Sea, which is dramatically evident in the south-eastern sectors of the basin. At the same time, the colder north-western sectors of the basin have been said to undergo a process of ‘meridionalization’, that is the establishment of warm-water native species (WWN) previously restricted to the southern sectors. The Gulf of Genoa (Ligurian Sea) is the north-western reach for southern species of whatever origin in the Mediterranean. Recent (up to 2015) observations of NIS and WWN by diving have been collated to update previous similar inventories. In addition, the relative occurrences of both groups of southern species have been monitored by snorkelling between 2009 and 2015 in shallow rocky reefs at Genoa, and compared with the trend in air and sea surface temperatures. A total of 20 southern species (11 NIS and 9 WWN) was found. Two WWN (the zebra seabream Diplodus cervinus and the parrotfish Sparisoma cretense) and three NIS (the SW Atlantic sponge Paraleucilla magna, the Red Sea polychaete Branchiomma luctuosum, and the amphi-American and amphi-Atlantic crab Percnon gibbesi) are new records for the Ligurian Sea, whereas juveniles of the Indo-Pacific bluespotted cornetfish Fistularia commersonii have been found for the first time. While temperature has kept on increasing for the whole period, with 2014 and 2015 being the warmest years since at least 1950, the number of WWN increased linearly, that of NIS increased exponentially, contradicting the idea of meridionalization and supporting that of tropicalization even in the northern sectors of the Mediterranean basin.


2016 ◽  
Vol 120 ◽  
pp. 182-190 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martina Marić ◽  
Marleen De Troch ◽  
Anna Occhipinti-Ambrogi ◽  
Sergej Olenin

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Tamburini ◽  
Erica Keppel ◽  
Agnese Marchini ◽  
Michele F. Repetto ◽  
Gregory M. Ruiz ◽  
...  

Baseline port monitoring for fouling communities is an essential tool to assess non-indigenous species (NIS) introduction and spread, but a standardized and coordinated method among Mediterranean and European countries has not yet been adopted. In this context, it is important to test monitoring protocols that allow for the collection of standardized and directly comparable data, replicated across time and space. Here, for the first time in the Mediterranean Sea, we tested a standardized protocol developed by the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) and used now in several countries. The 3-year monitoring survey (2018–2020) was conducted in the Gulf of La Spezia (Ligurian Sea, Italy), with the deployment of a total of 50 PVC panels per year in five different sites (a commercial harbor, three marinas and a site in the proximity of a shellfish farm). A total of 79 taxa were identified, including 11 NIS, ranging from zero to seven NIS for each panel. In comparison with previous surveys, new NIS arrivals were observed in the Gulf of La Spezia: Botrylloides cf. niger, Branchiomma sp., Branchiomma luctuosum, Paraleucilla magna, and Watersipora arcuata. At the end of the 3-year monitoring, mean richness? and percent cover of NIS were measured, and both measures differed across the monitoring sites, with higher values in two marinas and in the commercial harbor. Among years, richness of NIS was relatively stable at each monitoring site. The structure of the fouling was influenced more by native and cryptogenic species than by NIS. Moreover, among the monitoring sites, the density of artificial structures was not a reliable predictor or proxy for local NIS abundance. This first application of the SERC method in the Mediterranean Sea, demonstrates both pros and cons, including the detection of new NIS reported here. Further direct comparisons with other NIS monitoring tools are recommended, and additional tests to assess its effectiveness in this biogeographical area are encouraged. A broader application of this and other standard methods across temporal and spatial scales in the Mediterranean basin should be implemented, providing critical data needed to assess changes in the structure of fouling communities.


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