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Biodiversity of the Mediterranean Sea: Challenges and Management in a...
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Biodiversity of the Mediterranean Sea: Challenges and Management in a Changing Sea

A special issue of Journal of Marine Science and Engineering (ISSN 2077-1312). This special issue belongs to the section "Marine Biology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 March 2023) | Viewed by 6383

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Francesco Tiralongo

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, University of Catania, Catania, Italy
Interests: ichthyology; biological invasions; fishery biology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Bella Galil

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Steinhardt Museum of Natural History, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
Interests: marine biology; marine bioinvasions; anthropogenic changes in macrobenthos in coastal and deep waters; dynamics/conservation of marine biodiversity; decapod crustacean taxonomy and ecology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The biodiversity of the Mediterranean Sea is changing, and this is mainly due to human activities. Indeed, activities such as the opening of the Suez Canal, shipping, aquarium releases, and aquaculture have reshaped biodiversity and ecosystems, with the introduction of hundreds of alien species. However, other activities such as pollution, habitat destruction and overfishing have also led to changes in local biodiversity, with rarefaction and, in some cases, the local extinction of species. In addition, the warming of marine waters has contributed to species shift and redistribution. In this regard, some species have expanded their range northwards (meridionalization process), sometimes showing invasive behavior and/or representing new opportunities for fishing activities. The purpose of this Special Issue is to publish high quality and impactful research articles with respect to several aspects of challenges and management concerning Mediterranean biodiversity changes due to all aspects related to the phenomena discussed above.

Dr. Francesco Tiralongo
Prof. Dr. Bella Galil
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.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Journal of Marine Science and Engineering is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 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

  • Mediterranean Sea
  • biological invasions
  • alien species
  • invasive species
  • marine biodiversity
  • global change
  • seawater warming
  • fisheries
  • Suez Canal
  • management plans

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 2864 KiB  
Article
Characterization of Intertidal Macrofaunal Communities of Two Sandy Beaches under Different Anthropogenic Pressures
by Cristina Gioia Di Camillo, Giorgia Luzi, Afghan Danial, Luciano Di Florio, Barbara Calcinai, Sabrina Lo Brutto, Jéssica Luana Santana Mendonça de Oliveira, Agnese Fumanti and Carlo Cerrano
J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2022, 10(12), 1976; https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse10121976 - 12 Dec 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2911
Abstract
The macrofauna in the intertidal zone of sandy beaches provides the trophic connectivity between land and sea, by linking microbiome, meiofauna, and megafauna, representing a food source for several terrestrial animals, including shorebirds and mammals. However, the macrozoobenthos in urbanised beaches is subjected [...] Read more.
The macrofauna in the intertidal zone of sandy beaches provides the trophic connectivity between land and sea, by linking microbiome, meiofauna, and megafauna, representing a food source for several terrestrial animals, including shorebirds and mammals. However, the macrozoobenthos in urbanised beaches is subjected to intense disturbances, such as breakwater barriers and tourism, which limit or impede the energy transfer from the marine to the terrestrial habitats. Because the information about diversity and abundance of the macrozoobenthos of the intertidal zone on the Mediterranean sandy coasts is scant, the main objective of this study is to increase the knowledge on the macrofauna living in this habitat and to identify taxa sensitive to cumulative human-induced stresses. To achieve this purpose, the structure and dynamics of macrozoobenthic communities from (1) a highly frequented beach characterized by breakwater barriers and (2) a marine protected area (MPA) in the Adriatic Sea were compared. The hypotheses that macrofauna composition and abundance changed in the two sites and over time were tested. Results highlighted that the macrozoobenthos in the MPA is mainly dominated by juvenile bivalves, which peaked from autumn to winter, and to a lesser extent by ostracods and mysids. Conversely, ostracods and the bivalve Lentidium mediterraneum (O. G. Costa, 1830) are particularly abundant in the highly disturbed beach, while the gastropod Tritia neritea (Linnaeus, 1758) increased only during summer. A possible combined effect of breakwater barriers and intense trampling has been theorized to explain the main differences between the two sites especially in the summer. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biodiversity of the Mediterranean Sea: Challenges and Management in a Changing Sea)
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19 pages, 1723 KiB  
Article
Characterization of the Coralligenous Formations from the Marine Protected Area of Karaburun-Sazan, Albania
by Guadalupe Gimenez, Giuseppe Corriero, Sajmir Beqiraj, Lorela Lazaj, Tamara Lazic, Caterina Longo, Maria Mercurio, Carlotta Nonnis Marzano, Massimo Zuccaro, Violeta Zuna and Cataldo Pierri
J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2022, 10(10), 1458; https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse10101458 - 9 Oct 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2563
Abstract
Coralligenous bioconstructions are one of the Mediterranean’s most distinctive and biodiverse marine habitats. This research aimed to provide a preliminary characterization of macrobenthic coralligenous assemblages at four sites located in the Marine National Park of Karaburun-Sazan in Albania. We analyzed images obtained from [...] Read more.
Coralligenous bioconstructions are one of the Mediterranean’s most distinctive and biodiverse marine habitats. This research aimed to provide a preliminary characterization of macrobenthic coralligenous assemblages at four sites located in the Marine National Park of Karaburun-Sazan in Albania. We analyzed images obtained from videos recorded along underwater transects at two different depths. Over a total of 61 taxa (3 Rhodophyta, 2 Ochrophyta, 6 Chlorophyta, 30 Porifera, 5 Cnidaria, 3 Mollusca, 2 Annelida, 1 Arthropoda, 4 Bryozoa, 4 Echinodermata, and 1 Chordata), 53 were identified at the species level using taxonomic and semi-quantitative video image analysis, thus allowing an update to the Albanian coralligenous species list with 34 new species. This study revealed differences in species richness and composition among the investigated sites and between depths, with a high number of taxa exclusive to one site and a few taxa common to all sites. Seven taxa are protected by law, among which are the echinoderm Centrostephanus longispinus, included in the Bern (Annex II) and Barcelona (Annex II) Conventions and Habitat Directive (92/43 EEC) (Annex IV), and the sponges Spongia (Spongia) officinalis and S. (S.) lamella, included in Annex III of the Bern Convention. Only the alga Caulerpa cylindracea can be considered an alien species. Although preliminary, the present research indicated the occurrence of rich and diversified macrobenthic assemblages in the study area. Moreover, it has been demonstrated that video analysis can provide a biodiversity baseline within MPAs, where traditional methods involving invasive sampling cannot be applied, particularly in areas such as the Albanian coasts, where anthropogenic impacts have been historically significant. Finally, this work provides a first estimate of the structural biodiversity in a recently established marine protected area, thus representing the basis for subsequent monitoring. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biodiversity of the Mediterranean Sea: Challenges and Management in a Changing Sea)
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