Seagrass meadows (Posidonia oceanica) distribution and trajectories of change

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Abstract

Posidonia oceanica meadows are declining at alarming rates due to climate change and human activities. Although P. oceanica is considered the most important and well-studied seagrass species of the Mediterranean Sea, to date there has been a limited effort to combine all the spatial information available and provide a complete distribution of meadows across the basin. The aim of this work is to provide a fine-scale assessment of (i) the current and historical known distribution of P. oceanica, (ii) the total area of meadows and (iii) the magnitude of regressive phenomena in the last decades. The outcomes showed the current spatial distribution of P. oceanica, covering a known area of 1,224,707 ha, and highlighted the lack of relevant data in part of the basin (21,471 linear km of coastline). The estimated regression of meadows amounted to 34% in the last 50 years, showing that this generalised phenomenon had to be mainly ascribed to cumulative effects of multiple local stressors. Our results highlighted the importance of enforcing surveys to assess the status and prioritize areas where cost-effective schemes for threats reduction, capable of reversing present patterns of change and ensuring P. oceanica persistence at Mediterranean scale, could be implemented.

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Scientific Foundations for an IUCN Red List of Ecosystems

David A. Keith, Jon Rodríguez, Kathryn M. Rodríguez-Clark … (2013)

An understanding of risks to biodiversity is needed for planning action to slow current rates of decline and secure ecosystem services for future human use. Although the IUCN Red List criteria provide an effective assessment protocol for species, a standard global assessment of risks to higher levels of biodiversity is currently limited. In 2008, IUCN initiated development of risk assessment criteria to support a global Red List of ecosystems. We present a new conceptual model for ecosystem risk assessment founded on a synthesis of relevant ecological theories. To support the model, we review key elements of ecosystem definition and introduce the concept of ecosystem collapse, an analogue of species extinction. The model identifies four distributional and functional symptoms of ecosystem risk as a basis for assessment criteria: A) rates of decline in ecosystem distribution; B) restricted distributions with continuing declines or threats; C) rates of environmental (abiotic) degradation; and D) rates of disruption to biotic processes. A fifth criterion, E) quantitative estimates of the risk of ecosystem collapse, enables integrated assessment of multiple processes and provides a conceptual anchor for the other criteria. We present the theoretical rationale for the construction and interpretation of each criterion. The assessment protocol and threat categories mirror those of the IUCN Red List of species. A trial of the protocol on terrestrial, subterranean, freshwater and marine ecosystems from around the world shows that its concepts are workable and its outcomes are robust, that required data are available, and that results are consistent with assessments carried out by local experts and authorities. The new protocol provides a consistent, practical and theoretically grounded framework for establishing a systematic Red List of the world’s ecosystems. This will complement the Red List of species and strengthen global capacity to report on and monitor the status of biodiversity

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Implications of Extreme Life Span in Clonal Organisms: Millenary Clones in Meadows of the Threatened Seagrass Posidonia oceanica

Sophie Arnaud-Haond, Otto Carlos M. B. Duarte, Elena Diaz-Almela … (2012)

The maximum size and age that clonal organisms can reach remains poorly known, although we do know that the largest natural clones can extend over hundreds or thousands of metres and potentially live for centuries. We made a review of findings to date, which reveal that the maximum clone age and size estimates reported in the literature are typically limited by the scale of sampling, and may grossly underestimate the maximum age and size of clonal organisms. A case study presented here shows the occurrence of clones of slow-growing marine angiosperm Posidonia oceanica at spatial scales ranging from metres to hundreds of kilometres, using microsatellites on 1544 sampling units from a total of 40 locations across the Mediterranean Sea. This analysis revealed the presence, with a prevalence of 3.5 to 8.9%, of very large clones spreading over one to several (up to 15) kilometres at the different locations. Using estimates from field studies and models of the clonal growth of P. oceanica, we estimated these large clones to be hundreds to thousands of years old, suggesting the evolution of general purpose genotypes with large phenotypic plasticity in this species. These results, obtained combining genetics, demography and model-based calculations, question present knowledge and understanding of the spreading capacity and life span of plant clones. These findings call for further research on these life history traits associated with clonality, considering their possible ecological and evolutionary implications.

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Ecoregion-Based Conservation Planning in the Mediterranean: Dealing with Large-Scale Heterogeneity

Sylvaine Giakoumi, Maria Sini, Vasilis Gerovasileiou … (2013)

Spatial priorities for the conservation of three key Mediterranean habitats, i.e. seagrass Posidonia oceanica meadows, coralligenous formations, and marine caves, were determined through a systematic planning approach. Available information on the distribution of these habitats across the entire Mediterranean Sea was compiled to produce basin-scale distribution maps. Conservation targets for each habitat type were set according to European Union guidelines. Surrogates were used to estimate the spatial variation of opportunity cost for commercial, non-commercial fishing, and aquaculture. Marxan conservation planning software was used to evaluate the comparative utility of two planning scenarios: (a) a whole-basin scenario, referring to selection of priority areas across the whole Mediterranean Sea, and (b) an ecoregional scenario, in which priority areas were selected within eight predefined ecoregions. Although both scenarios required approximately the same total area to be protected in order to achieve conservation targets, the opportunity cost differed between them. The whole-basin scenario yielded a lower opportunity cost, but the Alboran Sea ecoregion was not represented and priority areas were predominantly located in the Ionian, Aegean, and Adriatic Seas. In comparison, the ecoregional scenario resulted in a higher representation of ecoregions and a more even distribution of priority areas, albeit with a higher opportunity cost. We suggest that planning at the ecoregional level ensures better representativeness of the selected conservation features and adequate protection of species, functional, and genetic diversity across the basin. While there are several initiatives that identify priority areas in the Mediterranean Sea, our approach is novel as it combines three issues: (a) it is based on the distribution of habitats and not species, which was rarely the case in previous efforts, (b) it considers spatial variability of cost throughout this socioeconomically heterogeneous basin, and (c) it adopts ecoregions as the most appropriate level for large-scale planning.

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Journal ID (nlm-ta): Sci Rep

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Sci Rep

Title: Scientific Reports

Publisher: Nature Publishing Group

ISSN (Electronic): 2045-2322

Publication date (Electronic): 28 July 2015

Publication date Collection: 2015

Volume: 5

Electronic Location Identifier: 12505

Affiliations

[1 ]Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge , Downing Street, CB2 3EQ Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom

[2 ]Department of Environmental Biology, University of Rome “La Sapienza” , 32 Viale dell’Università, 00185 Rome, Italy

[3 ]Institute of Oceanography, Hellenic Centre for Marine Research , PO box 2214, 71003 Heraklion, Crete, Greece

[4 ]Laboratory of Marine Biology, Department of Biological and Environmental Science and Technologies, University of Salento – CoNISMa , 73100 Lecce, Italy

[5 ]CNR-IAMC , Via L. Vaccara 61, 91026 Mazara del Vallo, Italy

[6 ]Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Malta , MSD 2080 Msida, Malta

[7 ]United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre , 219 Huntingdon Road, CB3 0DL Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom

[8 ]Faculty of Sciences University of Corsica , Campus Grimaldi BP 52, 20250 Corte, France

[9 ]CNR-IAMC , Via G. Da Verrazzano 17, 91014 Castellammare del Golfo, Italy

[10 ]Institute of Oceanography, Hellenic Centre for Marine Research , PO box 712, 19013 Anavyssos, Greece

[11 ]Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture, Fisheries Resource Unit, Ministry for Sustainable Development, the Environment and Climate Change (MSDEC-FRU) , Ghammieri, Marsa MRS 3303 (Malta)

Author notes

[a ] lt401@ 123456cam.ac.uk

[b ] andrea.belluscio@ 123456uniroma1.it

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Publisher Item ID: srep12505

DOI: 10.1038/srep12505

PMC ID: 4516961

SO-VID: 7499a21b-440f-4763-aaf3-e5546f53014a

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Seagrass meadows ( Posidonia oceanica) distribution and trajectories of change

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Climate Change: Open Access

Most cited references 8

Scientific Foundations for an IUCN Red List of Ecosystems

Implications of Extreme Life Span in Clonal Organisms: Millenary Clones in Meadows of the Threatened Seagrass Posidonia oceanica

Ecoregion-Based Conservation Planning in the Mediterranean: Dealing with Large-Scale Heterogeneity

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