Development of Biotic Tools for the Ecological Assessment of Coastal Lagoon Ecosystems

DEVELOPMENT OF BIOTIC TOOLS FOR THE ECOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT OF COASTAL LAGOON ECOSYSTEMS DAVID CABANA PERMUY Athens 2016 DOCTORAL THESIS NATIONAL AND KAPODISTRIAN UNIVERSITY OF ATHENS 1 DEVELOPMENT OF BIOTIC TOOLS FOR THE ECOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT OF COASTAL LAGOON ECOSYSTEMS DOCTORAL THESIS NATIONAL AND KAPODISTRIAN UNIVERSITY OF ATHENS SCHOOL OF SCIENCES FACULTY OF BIOLOGY DEPARTMENT OF ZOOLOGY –MARINE BIOLOGY- ATHENS 2016 David Cabana Permuy SUPERVISING COMMITEE EXAMINING COMMITEE Prof. Artemis Nicolaidou Prof. Artemis Nicolaidou Dr Sofia Reizopoulou Dr Sofia Reizopoulou Prof. Alberto Basset Prof. Alberto Basset Prof. Persefoni Megalophonou Prof. Hera Karayanni Dr Nomiki Simboura Dr Salvatrice Vizzini 2 ΑΝΑΠΤΥΞΗ ΒΙΟΛΟΓΙΚΩΝ ΕΡΓΑΛΕΊΩΝ ΓΙΑ ΤΗΝ ΑΞΙΟΛΟΓΗΣΗ ΤΗΣ ΟΙΚΟΛΟΓΙΚΗΣ ΚΑΤΑΣΤΑΣΗΣ ΠΑΡΑΚΤΙΩΝ ΛΙΜΝΟΘΑΛΑΣΣΩΝ ΔΙΔΑΚΤΟΡΙΚΗ ΔΙΑΤΡΙΒΗ ΕΘΝΙΚΟ ΚΑΙ ΚΑΠΟΔΙΣΤΡΙΑΚΟ ΠΑΝΕΠΙΣΤΗΜΙΟ ΑΘΗΝΩΝ ΣΧΟΛΗ ΘΕΤΙΚΩΝ ΕΠΙΣΤΗΜΩΝ ΤΜΗΜΑ ΒΙΟΛΟΓΙΑΣ ΤΟΜΕΑΣ ΖΩΟΛΟΓΙΑΣ-ΘΑΛΑΣΣΙΑΣ ΒΙΟΛΟΓΙΑΣ ΑΘΗΝΑ 2016 David Cabana Permuy ΣΥΜΒΟΥΛΕΥΤΙΚΗ ΕΠΙΤΡΟΠΗ ΕΞΕΤΑΣΤΙΚΗ ΕΠΙΤΡΟΠΗ Καθ. Α. Νικολαΐδου, ΕΚΠΑ Καθ. Α. Νικολαΐδου ΕΚΠΑ Δρ Σ. Ρειζοπούλου ΕΛΚΕΘΕ Δρ Σ. Ρειζοπούλου EΛΚΕΘΕ Prof A. Basset Παν. Salento Prof. Α. Basset Παν. Salento Αν. Καθ.Π. Μεγαλοφώνου, ΕΚΠΑ Επ. Καθ. Η. Καραγιάννη, Παν Ιωαννίνων Δρ Ν. Σύμπουρα EΛΚΕΘΕ Dr S.Vizzini Παν. Palermo 3 Table of Contents 1 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 8 1.1 Mediterranean lagoonal ecosystems ............................................................................................. 8 1.1.1 The physical environment ..................................................................................................... 9 1.1.2 The biotic environment ......................................................................................................... 9 1.2 Humans and Mediterranean coastal lagoons ............................................................................... 10 1.3 Thesis Outline ............................................................................................................................. 11 2 Towards the implementation of the Water Framework Directive in Mediterranean transitional waters. The use of macroinvertebrates as biological quality element ..................................................................... 13 2.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 14 2.2 Lagoon typology ......................................................................................................................... 15 2.3 Macroinvertebrate indices ........................................................................................................... 17 2.3.1 Taxonomy based indices ..................................................................................................... 17 2.3.2 Functional and body size based indices .............................................................................. 21 2.4 Metrics validation. Coping with human impact sources ............................................................. 23 2.4.1 Sources of human impact and indices validation on Mediterranean transitional waters .... 23 2.5 Settling Reference Conditions. Coping with natural stress sources ............................................ 24 2.6 Metrics Intercalibration. Coping with the consistency among member states ............................ 25 2.7 Future research ............................................................................................................................ 26 3 Macrobenthic community structure and Ecological Quality status assessment of the Marine Protected Area of Messolonghi lagoon, Greece .......................................................................................................... 29 3.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 30 3.2 Material and Methods ................................................................................................................. 31 3.2.1 Study area ............................................................................................................................ 31 3.2.2 Data collection .................................................................................................................... 32 3.2.3 Statistical analysis ............................................................................................................... 32 3.3 Results ......................................................................................................................................... 33 3.3.1 Environmental conditions ................................................................................................... 33 3.3.2 General characterization of the macroinvertebrate communities ........................................ 36 3.3.3 General distribution patterns ............................................................................................... 36 3.3.4 General diversity seasonal patterns ..................................................................................... 37 4 3.3.5 Macroinvertebrate assemblages; structure and distribution. ............................................... 39 3.3.6 Ecological Quality Status .................................................................................................... 42 3.4 Discussion ................................................................................................................................... 45 3.4.1 Physicochemical characteristics .......................................................................................... 45 3.4.2 Macroinvertebrate communities.......................................................................................... 46 3.4.3 Ecological Quality Status .................................................................................................... 48 3.5 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................. 49 4 Multi-scale functional and taxonomic β-diversity of the macroinvertebrate communities in a Mediterranean coastal lagoon ..................................................................................................................... 50 4.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 51 4.2 Methods ....................................................................................................................................... 52 4.2.1 Study area ............................................................................................................................ 52 4.2.2 Data collection .................................................................................................................... 53 4.2.3 Analysis of biological traits ................................................................................................ 53 4.3 Data analysis ............................................................................................................................... 54 4.4 Results ......................................................................................................................................... 55 4.4.1 Physicochemical descriptors ............................................................................................... 55 4.4.2 Benthic macroinvertebrate communities ............................................................................. 56 4.4.3 Beta diversity ...................................................................................................................... 58 4.5 Discussion ................................................................................................................................... 61 4.5.1 Benthic macroinvertebrate communities ............................................................................. 61 4.5.2 Beta diversity ...................................................................................................................... 62 4.6 Conclusions ................................................................................................................................. 64 5 Habitat complexity modulates macroinvertebrates body length and community structure in a lagoonal ecosystem .................................................................................................................................................... 66 5.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 67 5.2 Material and methods .................................................................................................................. 69 5.2.1 Study area ............................................................................................................................ 69 5.2.2 Sampling plan and data collection ...................................................................................... 69 5.2.3 Complexity measurements .................................................................................................. 70 5.2.4 Complexity at phytal species level (dp and da) .................................................................. 70 5.2.5 Complexity

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