Coralligenous assemblages along their geographical distribution: Testing of concepts and implications for management
Articles > Article · 2020
Authors: Melih Ertan ÇINAR, Jean-Pierre Feral, Christos Arvanitidis, Romain David, Ergun Taskin, Maria Sini, Thanos Dailianis, Alper DOĞAN, Vasilis Gerovasileiou, Alper Evcen, Anne Chenuil, Ertan DAĞLI, Veysel Aysel, Yannis Issaris, Ahmet Kerem BAKIR, Melina Nalmpanti, Stephane Sartoretto, Maria Salomidi, Anastasia Sapouna, Sermin Acik, Charalampos Dimitriadis, Drosos Koutsoubas, TUNCER KATAĞAN, Bilal ÖZTÜRK, Ferah Kocak, Deniz Erdogan-Dereli, Senem Onen, Ozge Ozgen, Neslihan Turkcu, Fevzi KIRKIM, Mesut ÖNEN
AQUATIC CONSERVATION-MARINE AND FRESHWATER ECOSYSTEMS, Journal Indexed in SCI Expanded, International, 2020, vol 30, pp 1578-1594
DOI: 10.1002/aqc.3365
Summary
The coralligenous habitat was studied at the large Mediterranean scale, by applying a standardized, non-destructive photo-sampling protocol, developed in the framework of the CIGESMED project. The results provided evidence to support the following statements: (a) the assemblage pattern is not homogeneously distributed across the four Mediterranean ecoregions studied (biotic gradients hypothesis); and (b) the assemblage pattern does not change significantly when the information is aggregated to higher taxonomic levels (taxonomic sufficiency hypothesis). Surrogate taxonomic categories higher than species, such as genus and family, can be used to reveal the multivariate pattern of the coralligenous assemblages. Although preliminary at the pan-Mediterranean scale, these outcomes set the scene for future comparisons as more data sets become available but also for comparisons between taxonomic and functional patterns. 1.2.3.4.