Zoobenthos associated with the invasive red alga Womersleyella setacea (Rhodomelacea) in the northern Aegean Sea

Author(s):  
Chryssanthi Antoniadou ◽  
Chariton Chintiroglou

The spatial and temporal structure of the zoobenthos associated with the invasive red alga Womersleyella setacea was studied in the northern Aegean Sea, Greece. Five replicate quadrats (20×20 cm) were collected, seasonally from July 1997 to August 1998, by SCUBA diving at four sites and two depth levels (15 and 30 m) in the Chalkidiki peninsula. We collected 23,090 specimens representing 278 animal species. Multivariate analysis showed mainly spatial differences in community structure, while the temporal ones were minimal. The ordination of sites showed a clear zonation pattern according to the different algal forms that cover the rocky substrate, with inclination the only environmental factor involved. The epifauna associated with the invasive alga was differently structured compared with three native seaweeds, showing increased species richness and abundance. The filamentous alga W. setacea was dominant in all seasons and depth levels, creating a stable habitat that contributed to the loss of seasonality in zoobenthic community structure.

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 788
Author(s):  
Qiuxuan Wang ◽  
Carlos Duarte ◽  
Li Song ◽  
George Christakos ◽  
Susana Agusti ◽  
...  

Spartina alterniflora has extensively invaded the coastline of China, including in Maoyan Island of Zhejiang Province. Ecological restoration has been conducted using non-native mangrove Kandelia obovata to replace S. alterniflora in an attempt to restore the impacted intertidal zones. To illustrate the ecological effectiveness of the restoration projects, macrobenthos communities were studied among different habitats within the restored areas, including one non-restored S. alterniflora marsh (SA) and three differently-aged restored K. obovata stands planted in 2003, 2009, and 2011 respectively (KF14, KF8, and KF6). Besides, one unvegetated mudflat (MF) adjacent to the non-restored S. alterniflora marsh and one K. obovata forest transplanted in 2006 (RKF) at a previously barren mudflat without invasion history of S. alterniflora were set as reference sites. A total of 69 species of macrobenthos were collected from Maoyan Island, and the species richness was dominated by gastropoda (23 species), polychaeta (18 species), and malacostraca (16 species). There was no significant difference between the six sites in terms of the abundance of macrobenthos, with the average values of abundance peaking in KF6 (734.7 ind m−2) and being lowest in RKF (341.3 ind m−2). The six sites had significant differences in terms of the biomass of macrobenthos. The KF8 site contained the highest average biomass (168.3 g m−2), whereas the MF site had the lowest (54.3 g m−2). The Shannon-Wiener diversity index and Pielou’s evenness index of the macrobenthos did not exhibit significant differences among the six sites. However, the results of permutational multivariate analysis of variance (PERMANOVA) revealed significant spatial differences in the macrobenthos community structure between the sites. Since KF14 shared a similar macrobenthos community structure with RKF, while representing a strikingly different structure from SA, we infer that ecological restoration using K. obovata can restore the macrobenthos community to resemble to a normally planted K. obovata forest about 15 years after restoration.


1989 ◽  
Vol 78 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-106
Author(s):  
R. Schliwa ◽  
Angela Dannewitz ◽  
K. Gilbert ◽  
H. Walter

2020 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 12-23
Author(s):  
Elias da Costa ARAUJO ◽  
Lucas Pereira MARTINS ◽  
Marcelo DUARTE ◽  
Gisele Garcia AZEVEDO

ABSTRACT Rainfall is one of the most influential factors driving insect seasonality in the Amazon region. However, few studies have analyzed the temporal dynamics of fruit-feeding butterflies in the Brazilian Amazon, specially in its eastern portion. Here, we evaluated the diversity patterns and temporal distribution of fruit-feeding butterflies in a remnant of eastern Amazon forest in the Baixada Maranhense, northeastern Brazil. Specifically, we tested whether fruit-feeding butterflies are temporally structured and whether rainfall influences species richness and abundance. Butterflies were collected with baited traps in both the rainy and dry seasons for two consecutive years. In total, we captured 493 butterflies belonging to 28 species, 15 genera and eight tribes. Three species comprised about half of the overall abundance, and Satyrinae was the most representative subfamily. The fruit-feeding butterfly assemblage showed a strong temporal structure during the second year of sampling, but not during the first year. Species composition and richness did not differ between rainy and dry seasons, and neither abundance nor richness was influenced by rainfall. Our results indicate that seasonality is not a strong environmental filter in this region, and that other biotic and abiotic factors are probably driving the community structure. The predominance of palms in the Baixada Maranhense, which are used as host plants by larvae of several lepidopteran species (specially satyrines) and are available year-round, might have contributed to the observed patterns of temporal diversity.


Crustaceana ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 91 (6) ◽  
pp. 641-657 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kosmas Kevrekidis ◽  
Chryssanthi Antoniadou

Abstract The blue crab Callinectes sapidus is an alien decapod established in the Mediterranean Sea. Since 2007, increased abundance has been reported from the northern Aegean Sea sustaining local scale fishery. The present work aims to assess the abundance and population structure of C. sapidus in Thermaikos Gulf using fyke nets. Population abundance, estimated as CPUE, exhibited strong temporal variability with decreased values in the cold season; this pattern was correlated with seawater temperature. Females exhibited also spatial differences with increased abundance close to the Aliakmon estuary. In total, 543 individuals were measured for carapace width. Males prevailed in the population; however, mean size was similar between sexes. Larger individuals were caught from deeper waters and the estuarine areas, whereas mean size decreased temporally. The fyke nets used proved to be size-selective, thus preventing fisheries mortality for juveniles. However, recurrent monitoring is necessary for a sustainable management of blue crab fisheries in the gulf.


<em>Abstract.</em>—Prey selection and diet are highly plastic and can vary with temporal and spatial differences in competition or prey availability. This study investigated the possibility that the trophic position of Smallmouth Bass <em> Micropterus dolomieu </em>might change in response to systematic, hierarchical variation in community structure in stream networks. We hypothesized that a shift toward increased insectivory and decreased piscivory would be observed in smaller streams, resulting in a lower trophic position of Smallmouth Bass and reflecting differences in community structure and prey availability. We applied a combination of diet analyses and stable isotope methods to compare prey selection and trophic position of Smallmouth Bass across a range of stream sizes. Stable isotope analyses indicated that Smallmouth Bass trophic position was slightly elevated in smaller watersheds, contradicting our initial hypothesis. However, differences in average trophic position in watershed size categories were small (ranging from 3.6 to 3.8) and of limited ecological significance. Isotopic niche width did not vary among stream size categories, and gut content analyses revealed no differences in frequency of occurrence of fish, crayfish, or insects (larvae and adults). Collectively these results indicate that trophic position, and perhaps trophic niche, of Smallmouth Bass are consistent across hierarchical variation in stream size and habitat.


1995 ◽  
Vol 2 (3/4) ◽  
pp. 147-157 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. O. Öncel ◽  
Ö. Alptekin ◽  
I. Main

Abstract. Seismically-active fault zones are complex natural systems exhibiting scale-invariant or fractal correlation between earthquakes in space and time, and a power-law scaling of fault length or earthquake source dimension consistent with the exponent b of the Gutenberg-Richter frequency-magnitude relation. The fractal dimension of seismicity is a measure of the degree of both the heterogeneity of the process (whether fixed or self-generated) and the clustering of seismic activity. Temporal variations of the b-value and the two-point fractal (correlation) dimension Dc have been related to the preparation process for natural earthquakes and rock fracture in the laboratory These statistical scaling properties of seismicity may therefore have the potential at least to be sensitive short- term predictors of major earthquakes. The North Anatolian Fault Zone (NAFZ) is a seismicallyactive dextral strike slip fault zone which forms the northern boundary of the westward moving Anatolian plate. It is splayed into three branches at about 31oE and continues westward toward the northern Aegean sea. In this study, we investigate the temporal variation of Dc and the Gutenberg-Richter b-value for seismicity in the western part of the NAFZ (including the northern Aegean sea) for earthquakes of Ms > 4.5 occurring in the period between 1900 and 1992. b ranges from 0.6-1.6 and Dc from 0.6 to 1.4. The b-value is found to be weakly negatively correlated with Dc (r=-0.56). However the (log of) event rate N is positively correlated with b, with a similar degree of statistical significance (r=0.42), and negatively correlated with Dc (r=-0.48). Since N increases dramatically with improved station coverage since 1970, the observed negative correlation between b and Dc is therefore more likely to be due to this effect than any underlying physical process in this case. We present this as an example of how man-made artefacts of recording can have similar statistical effects to underlying processes.


2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 337-353
Author(s):  
Maïa Fourt ◽  
Daniel Faget ◽  
Thierry Pérez

In the first half of the nineteenth century, industrialization increased the demand for sponges extracted by the sponge fishermen of the Dodecanese Archipelago in the Aegean Sea. This had widespread repercussions, leading to increasing numbers of sponge fishermen, the geographical expansion of fishing zones and the evolution and diversification of fishing techniques. In this context, foreign sponge traders imposed the hard-hat diving suit, which enabled divers to remain underwater for several hours without surfacing. It was therefore perceived as being more efficient than traditional skin-diving. But this equipment greatly exacerbated the physical risks faced by the divers, with injuries and fatalities increasing markedly. It also required heavy financial investments that compounded the losses of fishermen and their families. With hindsight, these investments were catalysts of the major socio-economic upheaval that followed. As well as provoking mass revolt among the islanders of the Dodecanese, this entailed modifications in crews and community structure as a nascent model of capitalist organization marked the development of the sponge fishery.


1991 ◽  
Vol 61 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eleni Voultsiadou-Koukoura ◽  
R.W.M. van Soest

A representative of the genus Hemiasterella Carter, 1879 was found for the first time in the Mediterranean Sea during sampling in the shallow waters of the northern Aegean Sea. The new species, H. aristoteliana, is compared with Atlantic Hemiasterella elongata Topsent, 1928. The status of the family Hemiasterellidae is discussed.


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