Dataset Information

Distribution and Characterization of Deep Rhodolith Beds off the Campania coast (SW Italy, Mediterranean Sea).

ABSTRACT: Rhodolith beds (RBs) are bioconstructions characterized by coralline algae, which provide habitat for several associated species. Mediterranean RBs are usually located in the mesophotic zone (below 40 m), and thus are frequently remote and unexplored. Recently, the importance and vulnerability of these habitats have been recognized by the European Community and more attention has been drawn to their investigation and conservation. This study reports the results of an extensive monitoring program, carried out within the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (2008/56/EC), in six sites off the Campania coast (Italy, Mediterranean Sea). New insights were given into the distribution, cover, vitality (i.e., live/dead rhodolith ratio), structural complexity, and coralline algae composition of RBs. Remotely operated vehicles (ROV) investigations allowed the description of several RBs, and the discovery of a RB with rhodolith cover >65% offshore the Capri Island. Only two sites (Secchitiello and Punta Campanella) showed a very low mean cover of live rhodoliths (<10%); hence, not being classifiable as RBs. The collected rhodoliths were mostly small pralines (~2 cm), spheroidal to ellipsoidal, with growth-forms ranging from encrusting/warty to fruticose/lumpy. Coralline algae identification revealed a high diversity within each bed, with a total of 13 identified taxa. The genus Lithothamnion dominated all sites, and Phymatolithon calcareum and Lithothamnion corallioides, protected by the Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC), were detected in all RBs.

SUBMITTER: Rendina F

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7463569 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Distribution and Characterization of Deep Rhodolith Beds off the Campania coast (SW Italy, Mediterranean Sea).

Rendina Francesco F Kaleb Sara S Caragnano Annalisa A Ferrigno Federica F Appolloni Luca L Donnarumma Luigia L Russo Giovanni Fulvio GF Sandulli Roberto R Roviello Valentina V Falace Annalisa A

Plants (Basel, Switzerland) 20200804 8

Rhodolith beds (RBs) are bioconstructions characterized by coralline algae, which provide habitat for several associated species. Mediterranean RBs are usually located in the mesophotic zone (below 40 m), and thus are frequently remote and unexplored. Recently, the importance and vulnerability of these habitats have been recognized by the European Community and more attention has been drawn to their investigation and conservation. This study reports the results of an extensive monitoring program ...[more]

PMID: 32759681

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Project description:Rhodoliths are free-living and morphologically diverse marine calcareous algae commonly distributed over the continental shelf seafloor. They increase the seabed structural complexity and are of potential value as feeding and reproductive grounds for a myriad of marine fauna. The higher structural seabed complexity within rhodolith beds may also increase benthic diversity by creating microhabitats, but this relationship has been rarely explored within rhodolith beds worldwide. Here we compared benthic macrofaunal (>500 µm) structure on rhodolith beds (nodule epifauna) and within unconsolidated sediments (sediment infauna) under high and low-density beds to test whether rhodolith bed density and nodule morphology influenced macrofaunal assemblages. We observed that macrofaunal density on nodules (2538 ± 288.7 ind·m-2) was 15-fold higher when compared to sediments under those beds (166 ± 38.8 ind·m-2). Rhodolith bed density was positively related to macrofaunal density, composition, and functional diversity on the rhodoliths. Low-density beds (61 ± 27.1 nodules·m-2) with discoid-shape nodules were dominated by peracarid crustaceans whereas high-density beds (204 ± 18.7 nodules·m-2) with spheroidal nodules were dominated by Annelid polychaetes. The sediment macrofauna was also positively influenced by the density of rhodolith nodules, which increased sediment carbonate and organic quality (protein and lipids) under high-density beds. Macrofaunal functional diversity was generally higher on rhodoliths, with low similarity (low nestedness) and high taxa turnover between macrofaunal assemblages of rhodoliths and sediments. These findings indicate that rhodolith beds provide an unique habitat for benthic macrofaunal communities, with exclusive functional and taxonomic richness that are likely not typical in the unconsolidated sediment below these beds in SE Brazil. This study highlights the importance of protecting rhodolith beds from multiple sources of anthropogenic disturbance and exploration on continental shelves.

Dataset Information

Distribution and Characterization of Deep Rhodolith Beds off the Campania coast (SW Italy, Mediterranean Sea).

Publications

Distribution and Characterization of Deep Rhodolith Beds off the Campania coast (SW Italy, Mediterranean Sea).

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