Global Change Effects on Marine Benthos

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2019) | Viewed by 7428

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Instituto Universitario en Acuicultura Sostenible y Ecosistemas Marinos (IU-ECOAQUA), Marine Scientific and Technological Park, Universidadde Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Crta, Taliarte s/n, 35214 Telde, Spain
Interests: marine biodiversity; conservation; ecology; interactions
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In recent decades, the signals of environmental changes derived from anthropogenic activities have accelerated around the world, with many challenges and impacts reported in the scientific literature. Our understanding of the drivers and effects in the marine realm are increasing; robust science is produced with the identification of diverse environmental problems as well as future scenarios being published.

Our Blue Planet and coastlines are keystone elements for life on Earth, with a constant need to advance scientific knowledge about the drivers, effects and impacts of global change on marine Biota. The span of this Special Issue will cover a range of disciplines associated with marine bentos and how their are affected by global change. The ecological effects of temperature rise, acidification, eutrophication, increase of storminess and disturbances, as well as their relationship with species phenology, reproduction, and range shift, invasive species, endangered species and habitat losses, changes in the structure and/or composition of benthic communities, as well as on benthic trophic chain modifications are clear examples of potential subjects considered for publishing.

Our aim is to highlight new research and promote the publication of the most relevant worldwide scientific knowledge dealing with human-caused global changes on benthic species, communities, and ecosystems. In this sense, this Special Issue will help to fill the scientific gap on global change topics affecting marine benthos and, consequently, provides an important contribution for sustainability and developing much demanded real case solutions to mitigate those effects in the marine realm. 

Prof. Ricardo Haroun
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • Climate
  • Species
  • Habitats
  • Benthic ecosystems
  • Temperature
  • pH rise
  • Disturbances
  • Coastal human activities
  • Trophic chains
  • Benthic ecology

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 3529 KiB  
Article
Geographical Range Extension of the Spotfin burrfish, Chilomycterus reticulatus (L. 1758), in the Canary Islands: A Response to Ocean Warming?
by Fernando Espino, Fernando Tuya, Armando del Rosario, Néstor E. Bosch, Josep Coca, Antonio J. González-Ramos, Francisco del Rosario, Francisco J. Otero-Ferrer, Ángel C. Moreno and Ricardo Haroun
Diversity 2019, 11(12), 230; https://doi.org/10.3390/d11120230 - 29 Nov 2019
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 3599
Abstract
In recent decades, numerous marine species have changed their distribution ranges due to ocean warming. The Spotfin burrfish, Chilomycterus reticulatus, is a reef fish with a global distribution along tropical, subtropical and warm-temperate areas of the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic oceans. In [...] Read more.
In recent decades, numerous marine species have changed their distribution ranges due to ocean warming. The Spotfin burrfish, Chilomycterus reticulatus, is a reef fish with a global distribution along tropical, subtropical and warm-temperate areas of the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic oceans. In this work, we analyzed the presence of this species, between 1990 and 2019, at two islands of the Canarian Archipelago under varying oceanographic conditions: El Hierro (the westernmost island, under more tropical conditions) and Gran Canaria (a central-east island, under more cooler conditions). We expected that, under increased ocean temperatures in recent decades, the number of sightings has increased in Gran Canaria relative to El Hierro. We compiled information from different sources, including interviews and local citizenship databases. A total of 534 sightings were reported: 38.58% from El Hierro and 61.43% from Gran Canaria. The number of sightings on Gran Canaria has significantly increased through time, at a rate of 0.1 sightings per year; at El Hierro, however, the number of sightings has not significantly changed over time. Sea Surface Temperature has linearly increased in both El Hierro and Gran Canaria islands over the last three decades. Positive Sea Surface Temperature anomalies, particularly in 1998 and 2010, including high winter minimum temperatures, provide an ideal oceanographic context to favour the arrival of new individuals and, consequently, the increase in the number of sightings in Gran Canaria. Still, potential donor areas of fish recruits remain unknown. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Global Change Effects on Marine Benthos)
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13 pages, 2476 KiB  
Article
Abrupt Change in a Subtidal Rocky Reef Community Coincided with a Rapid Acceleration of Sea Water Warming
by Carlo Nike Bianchi, Annalisa Azzola, Valeriano Parravicini, Andrea Peirano, Carla Morri and Monica Montefalcone
Diversity 2019, 11(11), 215; https://doi.org/10.3390/d11110215 - 13 Nov 2019
Cited by 15 | Viewed by 3428
Abstract
Seawater warming is impacting marine ecosystems, but proper evaluation of change requires the availability of long-term biological data series. Mesco Reef (Ligurian Sea, Italy) offers one of the longest Mediterranean data series on sessile epibenthic communities, based on underwater photographic surveys. Photographs taken [...] Read more.
Seawater warming is impacting marine ecosystems, but proper evaluation of change requires the availability of long-term biological data series. Mesco Reef (Ligurian Sea, Italy) offers one of the longest Mediterranean data series on sessile epibenthic communities, based on underwater photographic surveys. Photographs taken in four stations between 20 m and 40 m depth allowed calculating the percent cover of conspicuous species in 1961, 1990, 1996, 2008, and 2017. Multivariate analysis evidenced an abrupt compositional change between 1990 and 1996. A parallel change was observed in Ligurian Sea temperatures. Two invasive macroalgae (Caulerpa cylindracea and Womersleyella setacea) became dominant after 1996. Community diversity was low in 1961 to 1996, rapidly increased between 1996 and 2008, and exhibited distinctly higher values in 2008–2017. A novel community emerged from the climate shift of the 1990s, with many once characteristic species lost, reduced complexity, biotic homogenization, greater diversity and domination by aliens. Only continued monitoring will help envisage the possibility for a reversal of the present phase shift or for further transformations driven by global change. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Global Change Effects on Marine Benthos)
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