Article
Biology
Carl J. Reddin, Priscilla Decottignies, Lise Bacouillard, Laurent Barille, Stanislas F. Dubois, Caroline Echappe, Pierre Gernez, Bruno Jesus, Vona Meleder, Paulina S. Naetscher, Vincent Turpin, Daniela Zeppilli, Nadescha Zwerschke, Anik Brind'Amour, Bruno Cognie
Summary: A spatial analysis of the mudflat community before and after experimental oyster reef removal in Bourgneuf Bay, France reveals that oyster reefs influence the distribution of microphytobenthos through predator facilitation. Oyster reefs play an important role in shaping ecosystem processes, and their expansion can potentially affect the sustainability of local fisheries and bird conservation.
COMMUNICATIONS BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Janne Nauta, Marjolijn J. A. Christianen, Ralph J. M. Temmink, Gregory S. S. Fivash, Beatriz Marin-Diaz, Valerie C. Reijers, Karin Didderen, Emma Penning, Annieke C. W. Borst, Jannes H. T. Heusinkveld, Maarten Zwarts, Peter M. J. M. Cruijsen, Nadia Hijner, Wouter Lengkeek, Leon P. M. Lamers, Tjisse van Der Heide, Tjeerd J. J. Bouma, Daphne van Der Wal, Han Olff, Laura L. L. Govers
Summary: Reef-forming species are degrading rapidly worldwide, and restoration efforts using artificial reefs are becoming popular. This study assesses the effectiveness of biodegradable artificial reefs as habitat for reef-forming species through food web network analysis.
JOURNAL OF APPLIED ECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Benjamin Weitzman, Brenda Konar, Katrin Iken, Heather Coletti, Daniel Monson, Robert Suryan, Thomas Dean, Dominic Hondolero, Mandy Lindeberg
Summary: Research showed that the Pacific Marine Heatwave had impacts on rocky intertidal community structures across four regions in Alaska. Before the heatwave, there were significant differences in community structures among regions; however, during and after the heatwave, similarities in community structures increased, leading to greater homogenization of these communities.
FRONTIERS IN MARINE SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Eugenio Di Franco, Antonio Di Franco, Antonio Calo, Manfredi Di Lorenzo, Luisa Mangialajo, Simona Bussotti, Carlo Nike Bianchi, Paolo Guidetti
Summary: The study assessed the impacts of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) on benthic assemblages, habitat complexity, and fish populations, showing that protection did not significantly affect overall benthic assemblages but helped protect important erect algae species. Additionally, the research found that protection positively influenced fish biomass independently of habitat complexity.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Antonio Romano, Giacomo Rosa, Sebastiano Salvidio, Riccardo Novaga, Andrea Costa
Summary: Dealing with observational data, it is possible to separate the effects of landscape structure and biological interactions on the local abundance of a Mediterranean reptile community using community N-mixture models. Different species showed varying responses to landscape predictors, with positive interaction between two lizard species and negative interaction between lizard and snake species.
Article
Ecology
Griffin Srednick, Alyssa Cohen, Olivia Diehl, Kaela Tyler, Stephen E. Swearer
Summary: Understanding spatiotemporal variation in species abundance is crucial for understanding ecosystem resilience. This study investigates how habitat attributes mediate the effects of herbivory on tropical marine macroalgal communities and influence community assembly at different scales. The results show that reduced accessibility and detectability of habitat attributes can lead to variable trajectories and community structures in algal communities. This suggests that habitat attributes play a significant role in consumer-resource interactions, which ultimately affect species diversity, succession, and stability in algal metacommunities.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Zachary W. Towne, Michael L. Judge, Nancy J. O'Connor
Summary: Habitat complexity can affect the population density of both native and non-native prey species by providing protection from predators. This study specifically examined the influence of habitat complexity on the density of the Asian shore crab, Hemigrapsus sanguineus. The results showed that crab density increased with increasing habitat complexity, but short-term behavior was not significantly influenced by complexity.
Article
Marine & Freshwater Biology
Audrey M. Pruski, Jadwiga Rzeznik-Orignac, Philippe Kerherve, Gilles Vetion, Solveig Bourgeois, Erwan Peru, Pablo Brosset, Flora Toussaint, Christophe Rabouille
Summary: In the oligotrophic environment of the Mediterranean Sea, river inputs of organic matter are an important food source for benthic communities. Benthic communities are impacted by flood events, but show strong resilience in recovering after high-discharge events.
ESTUARINE COASTAL AND SHELF SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Tiffany Monfort, Adrien Cheminee, Olivier Bianchimani, Pierre Drap, Arthur Puzenat, Thierry Thibaut
Summary: This article aimed to compare two methods for quantifying the metrics of the 3D structure of shallow rocky reefs (rugosity) and to quantify the possible links between this habitat structure and fish assemblages. Photogrammetry was found to be the most efficient method in terms of measurement quality and time compared to the chain-and-tape method. 3D habitat descriptors differed significantly between sites and were found to influence fish abundance and species richness.
FRONTIERS IN MARINE SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Mamun Abdullah Al, Aysha Akhtar, Hillol Barua, Abu Hena Mustafa Kamal, Md Shafiqul Islam, Sheikh AftabUddin, Mohd Hanafi Idris, Muyassar H. Abualreesh, Letizia Modeo
Summary: The macroinvertebrate community in the intertidal setup is crucial for the functioning of coastal ecosystems and biogeochemical cycles. This study examines the effects of different land use patterns on the structure, diversity, and composition of macroinvertebrate communities in coastal areas. The results show that the composition and biodiversity of macroinvertebrate communities vary significantly between different land use types and seasons, with sediment properties and stochastic processes playing important roles in shaping community assembly. Land-use changes can alter sediment properties and consequently impact the diversity and distribution of macroinvertebrate communities in the intertidal habitats.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Eliseo Fica-Rojas, Alexis M. Catalan, Bernardo R. Broitman, Alejandro Perez-Matus, Nelson Valdivia
Summary: Ecological stability depends on interactions between different levels of biological organization. Insurance effects occur when increasing species diversity leads to more stable community-level properties. This study investigates how species richness and population-level parameters influence community invariability.
FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2022)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Max L. E. Grafnings, Laura L. Govers, Jannes H. T. Heusinkveld, Brian R. Silliman, Quirin Smeele, Stephanie R. Valdez, Tjisse van der Heide
Summary: The study found that macrozoobenthos can be used as an indicator for seagrass habitat suitability, and can explain the differing seagrass recovery rates between the Northern and Southern regions of the Wadden Sea. Seagrass presence or absence could be reliably predicted with only four variables: chlorophyll a, bivalve, ragworm, and mudsnail biomass. Higher chlorophyll concentrations and ragworm biomass were found in the South compared to the Northern Wadden Sea, suggesting that eutrophication and associated community shifts might still inhibit seagrass recovery in the South.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Michael C. Espriella, Vincent Lecours, Edward V. Camp, H. Andrew Lassiter, Benjamin Wilkinson, Peter C. Frederick, Simon J. Pittman
Summary: Eastern oysters generate structurally complex reef systems that offer diverse ecosystem services. Unmanned Aircraft Systems equipped with optical sensors can rapidly and non-invasively map intertidal oyster reef surfaces, allowing for the assessment of reef structure. Surface complexity metrics derived from digital surface models produced from lidar point clouds provide useful proxies for reef condition.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2023)
Article
Entomology
Victor de Paz, Josep D. Asis, Andrea Holzschuh, Laura Banos-Picon
Summary: Agricultural abandonment is a relevant process in Europe with unclear consequences on biodiversity. This study focused on traditional orchards and analyzed the effects of abandonment and landscape complexity on beneficial arthropods. The results showed that abandoned orchards harbor different arthropod communities, favoring beneficial arthropods in simple landscapes. However, the importance of abandoned orchards decreases as the percentage of semi-natural habitats in the landscape increases.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Hanan Mitwally Mitwally, Amira Mohsen Hamdan
Summary: The study found that meiofauna in sandy beach ecosystems are more resilient to natural factors than human-made stressors. The abundance and temporal variation of meiofauna were low, with a small proportion of the natural variation explained by environmental factors, indicating long-term beach degradation and oligotrophic conditions.
ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING AND ASSESSMENT
(2021)
Article
Oceanography
P. Rumolo, Joan E. Cartes, E. Fanelli, V. Papiol, M. Sprovieri, S. Mirto, S. Gherardi, A. Bonanno
JOURNAL OF OCEANOGRAPHY
(2015)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Gianluca Sara, Tarik C. Gouhier, Daniele Brigolin, Erika M. D. Porporato, Maria Cristina Mangano, Simone Mirto, Antonio Mazzola, Roberto Pastres
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY
(2018)
Article
Fisheries
Giovanni D'Anna, Vincenzo Maximiliano Giacalone, Tomas Vega Fernandez, Antonino Maurizio Vaccaro, Carlo Pipitone, Simone Mirto, Salvatore Mazzola, Fabio Badalamenti
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Simone Mirto, Michele Gristina, Mauro Sinopoli, Giulia Maricchiolo, Lucrezia Genovese, Salvatrice Vizzini, Antonio Mazzola
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2012)
Article
Marine & Freshwater Biology
M. Gristina, F. Fiorentino, V. Gancitano, D. Massi, S. Mirto, G. Garofalo
ESTUARINE COASTAL AND SHELF SCIENCE
(2013)
Article
Marine & Freshwater Biology
A. Rinaldi, V. Montalto, A. Manganaro, A. Mazzola, S. Mirto, M. Sanfilippo, G. Sara
ESTUARINE COASTAL AND SHELF SCIENCE
(2014)
Article
Ecology
Marco Milazzo, Simone Mirto, Paolo Domenici, Michele Gristina
JOURNAL OF ANIMAL ECOLOGY
(2013)
Article
Fisheries
L. Musco, F. Andaloro, B. Mikac, S. Mirto, T. Vega Fernandez, F. Badalamenti
MEDITERRANEAN MARINE SCIENCE
(2014)
Article
Fisheries
S. Mirto, C. Arigo, L. Genovese, A. Pusceddu, C. Gambi, R. Danovaro
AQUACULTURE ENVIRONMENT INTERACTIONS
(2014)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Francesca Ape, Elena Manini, Grazia Marina Quero, Gian Marco Luna, Gianluca Sara, Paolo Vecchio, Pierlorenzo Brignoli, Sante Ansferri, Simone Mirto
Article
Marine & Freshwater Biology
Francesca Ape, Giuseppe Corriero, Simone Mirto, Cataldo Pierri, Tamara Lazic, Michele Gristina
ESTUARINE COASTAL AND SHELF SCIENCE
(2019)
Article
Ecology
Cataldo Pierri, Tamara Lazic, Giuseppe Corriero, Frine Cardone, Senem Onen Tarantini, Andrea Desiderato, Simone Mirto, Michele Gristina
ENVIRONMENTAL BIOLOGY OF FISHES
(2020)
Article
Ecology
A. Deidun, A. Marrone, A. Gauci, J. Galdies, M. Lorenti, M. C. Mangano, Karl Cutajar, S. Mirto, G. Sara
Summary: This study provides new insights into the poorly known maerl beds in the Mediterranean, particularly focusing on the NATURA 2000 protected area in the northwestern bank of Malta. The findings are highly relevant for future management plans and authorities.
REGIONAL STUDIES IN MARINE SCIENCE
(2022)
Review
Environmental Sciences
Maria Cristina Mangano, Bethan C. O'Leary, Simone Mirto, Antonio Mazzola, Gianluca Sara
ENVIRONMENTAL EVIDENCE
(2015)