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Diversity
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Biodiversity in Mediterranean Sea Ecosystems
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Biodiversity in Mediterranean Sea Ecosystems

A special issue of Diversity (ISSN 1424-2818). This special issue belongs to the section "Marine Diversity".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 March 2023) | Viewed by 14715

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Valentina Tirelli

E-Mail Website1 Website2
Guest Editor
Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e di Geofisica Sperimentale, Sgonico, Italy
Interests: zooplankton ecology; biological oceanography; invasive species; gelatinous zooplankton; small pelagic fish
Dr. Sergio Stefanni

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, 80122 Naples, Italy
Interests: omics sensor technologies; microfluidic sampling
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Maria Cristina Gambi

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
National Institute of Oceanography and Applied Geophysics, OGS, 34010 Trieste, Italy
Interests: coastal benthic ecology; ocean acidification; climate change effects; plant-animal relationships; polychaete taxonomy and ecology; seagrass ecology; alien species

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The Mediterranean Sea, hosting 7%–10% of the world’s marine biodiversity, is unanimously acknowledged as a biodiversity hotspot. This high level of biodiversity is the result of its dynamic geological history and intense climate fluctuations. Though the Mediterranean only covers less than 1% of the world's ocean, it is one of the major reservoirs of marine and coastal biodiversity, with about one third of its species being endemic, 7.5% of the world's marine fauna, and 18% of the world’s marine flora. The Mediterranean ecosystems also support important services that bring direct benefits to human society. Part of these services include food provision, lifecycle maintenance, and recreation. On the other hand, this unique region is critically endangered, and its biodiversity is affected by different pressures, mainly driven by human activities (climate change and bioinvasion, among others). The direct consequences of these pressures affect the phenology, physiology, and ecological interactions of key species, triggering shifts in their distributions, and modifying community composition, structure, and dynamics. This Special Issue provides an opportunity to improve the current knowledge of marine biodiversity in the Mediterranean Sea, by including studies carried out at different levels of biological organization, from the species level to community composition, structure, and dynamics.  Moreover, it will provide a platform for further discussions about novel approaches and new techniques to monitor Mediterranean marine biodiversity and strategies for its conservation and management, following the ecosystem-based approach.

Dr. Valentina Tirelli
Dr. Sergio Stefanni
Dr. Maria Cristina Gambi
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2100 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Global change
  • Nonindigenous species
  • Genetic and morpho-functional diversity
  • Ecology and regional diversity
  • Ecosystem functioning
  • Policies and management

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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19 pages, 2680 KiB  
Article
Marine Noise Effects on Juvenile Sparid Fish Change among Species and Developmental Stages
by Eugenio Di Franco, Francesca Rossi, Lucia Di Iorio, Khalil Sdiri, Antonio Calò, Antonio Di Franco, Mireille Harmelin-Vivien, Guillaume Spennato, Jean-Michel Cottalorda, Benoit Derijard, Simona Bussotti, Patricia Pierson and Paolo Guidetti
Diversity 2023, 15(1), 92; https://doi.org/10.3390/d15010092 - 11 Jan 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2618
Abstract
Marine noise is an emerging pollutant inducing a variety of negative impacts on many animal taxa, including fish. Fish population persistence and dynamics rely on the supply of early life stages, which are often very sensitive to disturbance. Impacts of marine noise pollution [...] Read more.
Marine noise is an emerging pollutant inducing a variety of negative impacts on many animal taxa, including fish. Fish population persistence and dynamics rely on the supply of early life stages, which are often very sensitive to disturbance. Impacts of marine noise pollution (MNP) on juvenile fish have rarely been investigated in temperate regions. This is particularly true for the Mediterranean Sea, which is considered as an MNP hotspot due to intensive maritime traffic. In this study, we investigate the relationship between MNP related to boat traffic and (i) assemblage structure and (ii) the density of juvenile fishes (post-settlers at different stages) belonging to the Sparidae family. We quantified MNP produced by boating at four coastal locations in the French Riviera (NW Mediterranean Sea) by linearly combining five variables into a ‘noise index’ (NI): (i) boat visitation, (ii) number of boat passages/hour, (iii) the instantaneous underwater noise levels of passing boats, (iv) continuous boat underwater noise levels and (v) duration of exposure to boat noise. Then, using the NI, we identified an MNP gradient. By using juvenile fish visual censuses (running a total of 1488 counts), we found that (i) the assemblage structure and (ii) the density patterns of three fish species (i.e., Diplodus sargus, D. puntazzo, D. vulgaris) changed along the MNP gradient. Specifically, the density of early D. sargus post-settlers was negatively related to MNP, while late post-settler densities of D. puntazzo and, less evidently, D. vulgaris tended to decrease more rapidly with decreasing MNP. Our findings suggest the following potential impacts of MNP on juvenile sparids related to coastal boat traffic: (i) idiosyncratic effects on density depending on the species and the developmental stage (early vs. late post-settlers); (ii) negative effects on recruitment, due to possible alteration of late post-settlement movement patterns. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biodiversity in Mediterranean Sea Ecosystems)
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41 pages, 4091 KiB  
Article
Project “Biodiversity MARE Tricase”: A Species Inventory of the Coastal Area of Southeastern Salento (Ionian Sea, Italy)
by Valerio Micaroni, Francesca Strano, Fabio Crocetta, Davide Di Franco, Stefano Piraino, Cinzia Gravili, Fabio Rindi, Marco Bertolino, Gabriele Costa, Joachim Langeneck, Marzia Bo, Federico Betti, Carlo Froglia, Adriana Giangrande, Francesco Tiralongo, Luisa Nicoletti, Pietro Medagli, Stefano Arzeni and Ferdinando Boero
Diversity 2022, 14(11), 904; https://doi.org/10.3390/d14110904 - 26 Oct 2022
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3015
Abstract
Biodiversity is a broad concept that encompasses the diversity of nature, from the genetic to the habitat scale, and ensures the proper functioning of ecosystems. The Mediterranean Sea, one of the world’s most biodiverse marine basins, faces major threats, such as overexploitation of [...] Read more.
Biodiversity is a broad concept that encompasses the diversity of nature, from the genetic to the habitat scale, and ensures the proper functioning of ecosystems. The Mediterranean Sea, one of the world’s most biodiverse marine basins, faces major threats, such as overexploitation of resources, pollution and climate change. Here we provide the first multi-taxa inventory of marine organisms and coastal terrestrial flora recorded in southeastern Salento (Ionian Sea, Italy), realized during the project “Biodiversity MARE Tricase”, which provided the first baseline of species living in the area. Sampling was carried out by SCUBA and free diving, fishing gears, and citizen science from 0 to 70 m. Overall, 697 taxa were found between March 2016 and October 2017, 94% of which were identified to the species level. Of these, 19 taxa represented new records for the Ionian Sea (36 additional new records had been reported in previous publications on specific groups, namely Porifera and Mollusca Heterobranchia), and two findings represented the easternmost records in the Mediterranean Sea (Helicosalpa virgula and Lampea pancerina). For eight other taxa, our findings represented the only locality in the Ionian Sea, besides the Straits of Messina. In addition to the species list, phenological events (e.g., blooms, presence of reproductive traits and behaviour) were also reported, with a focus on gelatinous plankton. Our results reveal that even for a relatively well-known area, current biodiversity knowledge may still be limited, and targeted investigations are needed to fill the gaps. Further research is needed to understand the distribution and temporal trends of Mediterranean biodiversity and to provide baseline data to identify ongoing and future changes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biodiversity in Mediterranean Sea Ecosystems)
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22 pages, 4112 KiB  
Article
Brachiopod Fauna from the Deep Mediterranean Sea: Distribution Patterns and Ecological Preferences
by Margherita Toma, Francesco Enrichetti, Giorgio Bavestrello, Simonepietro Canese, Alessandro Cau, Franco Andaloro, Michela Angiolillo, Silvestro Greco and Marzia Bo
Diversity 2022, 14(9), 753; https://doi.org/10.3390/d14090753 - 12 Sep 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2599
Abstract
Compared to their fossil counterparts, living brachiopods are investigated far less often, due to their occurrence in remote environments such as dark caves or deep environments. Due to the scarcity of studies targeting in situ brachiopods’ populations, large-scale information on their distribution and [...] Read more.
Compared to their fossil counterparts, living brachiopods are investigated far less often, due to their occurrence in remote environments such as dark caves or deep environments. Due to the scarcity of studies targeting in situ brachiopods’ populations, large-scale information on their distribution and ecological preferences is still lacking, especially on hardgrounds. The extensive employment of remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), however, has opened up the chance to better explore this taxon’s diversity and ecology in the mesophotic and bathyal zones. The analysis of over 600 h of video footage collected from 624 sites, from 40 m to 1825 m, located along the Ligurian and Tyrrhenian coasts of Italy and the Sicily Channel, allowed for a large-scale investigation. The four identified species, Novocrania anomala, Gryphus vitreus, Megerlia truncata and Terebratulina retusa, emerged as common macrofaunal components of the explored habitats, especially between 150 m and 250 m, with high occurrences in the northern areas, especially on offshore seamounts. All species can form dense aggregations of individuals, with M. truncata showing the densest populations on steep rocky terraces (up to 773 individuals m−2). Except for G. vitreus, the only species also recorded on soft bottoms, the others were found exclusively on hardgrounds, with N. anomala showing a peculiar ability to exploit anthropogenic substrates such as terracotta amphorae. No stable species-specific associations were noted, even if numerous species were frequently observed together. Although brachiopods do not show the conspicuous tridimensionality of large filter-feeders, their substrate occupancy and their role in pelagic–benthic processes support their importance in deep-sea Mediterranean ecosystems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biodiversity in Mediterranean Sea Ecosystems)
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12 pages, 3969 KiB  
Article
Biometry, Distribution and Genetic Characterization of Blue Jack Mackerel Trachurus picturatus (Bowdich, 1825), a Rare Pelagic Fish Species in the Adriatic Sea
by Barbara Zorica, Ivana Bušelić, Vanja Čikeš Keč, Vedran Vuletin, Ivana Lepen Pleić, Igor Isajlović, Ivana Radonić and Nedo Vrgoč
Diversity 2020, 12(12), 463; https://doi.org/10.3390/d12120463 - 3 Dec 2020
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2505
Abstract
The blue jack mackerel Trachurus picturatus (Bowdich, 1825) specimens (N = 155) were collected during the MEDITS survey, done along the eastern side, precisely, of the Croatian fishing ground in July 2018. Biometrical analysis of ten morphometric and five meristic characters, as well [...] Read more.
The blue jack mackerel Trachurus picturatus (Bowdich, 1825) specimens (N = 155) were collected during the MEDITS survey, done along the eastern side, precisely, of the Croatian fishing ground in July 2018. Biometrical analysis of ten morphometric and five meristic characters, as well as genetic analysis proved that the collected specimens were blue jack mackerel. The total length (TL) and weight (W) of all observed specimens ranged from 9.2 to 33.7 cm (12.15 ± 2.95 cm) and from 5.79 to 384.94 g (17.64 ± 39.42 g), respectively. All calculated length–length relationships were linear (r > 0.923). Sex was determined only on two larger specimens (28 cm < TL < 32.8 cm), which were females. In the length–weight relationship, positive allometry was established (b = 3.1789). Based on 37 partial cytochrome b sequences, the overall haplotype diversity (h) of 0.812 ± 0.048 and nucleotide diversity (π) of 0.0064 ± 0.0007 indicated high levels of haplotype and low nucleotide diversity. The obtained sequences were compared to previously published research within the Northeast Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, confirming the absence of genetic structure among these populations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biodiversity in Mediterranean Sea Ecosystems)
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Other

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7 pages, 4340 KiB  
Interesting Images
Circular Bedforms Due to Pit Foraging of Greater Flamingo Phoenicopterus roseus in a Back-Barrier Intertidal Habitat
by Paolo Salvador, Annelore Bezzi, Davide Martinucci, Stefano Sponza and Giorgio Fontolan
Diversity 2022, 14(10), 788; https://doi.org/10.3390/d14100788 - 23 Sep 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2271
Abstract
The Greater Flamingo Phoenicopterus roseus is known as an ecosystem engineer, rearranging sediment in peculiar bedforms as a consequence of its filter-feeding behaviour. In recent decades, the populations of the Greater Flamingo have notably increased, and now the species is one of the [...] Read more.
The Greater Flamingo Phoenicopterus roseus is known as an ecosystem engineer, rearranging sediment in peculiar bedforms as a consequence of its filter-feeding behaviour. In recent decades, the populations of the Greater Flamingo have notably increased, and now the species is one of the most abundant waterbirds in Mediterranean wetlands. Owing to its range expansion, it inhabits and exploits new and suitable foraging sites detectable by foraging structures left on the sediment. There are few images of the foraging morphologies in the literature, possibly due to their ephemeral nature and difficulty in detecting them. In this manuscript, we present a very detailed UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) image of an aggregate of pit foraging structures of Greater Flamingo discovered on a back-barrier washover fan in the Marano and Grado Lagoon (Northern Adriatic, Italy). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biodiversity in Mediterranean Sea Ecosystems)
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