Mediterranean Deep-Sea Ecosystems: Biodiversity, Functioning and Vulnerability”
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MEDITERRANEAN DEEP -SEA ECOSYSTEMS : BIODIVERSITY , FUNCTIONING AND VULNERABILITY ECOSISTÈMES PROFUNDS DE LA MEDITERRÀNIA : BIODIVERSITAT , FUNCIONAMENT I VULNERABILITAT Samuele Tecchio Memòria presentada per a optar al grau de Doctor per la Universitat de Barcelona Programa de Doctorat en Biodiversitat Directors: Dr. Francisco Sardà Amills Dra. Eva Zoe Ramírez Llodra Dept. de Recursos Marins Renovables Dept. de Recursos Marins Renovables Institut de Ciències del Mar (CSIC) Institut de Ciències del Mar (CSIC) Tutor: Dra. Creu Palacín Cabañas Dept. de Biologia Animal 2012 “Mediterranean deep-sea ecosystems: biodiversity, functioning and vulnerability” The author has been financed by a JAE pre-doctoral grant from the Spanish Research Council (CSIC), from December 2008 to November 2012. This work has been carried out in the framework of the following research projects: - BIOFUN (CTM2007-28739-E), from the European Science Foundation (ESF); - PROMETEO (CTM2007-66316-C02/MAR), from the CYCIT, Spain; - HERMIONE (G.A. 226354), from the European Union. Preface: three paths In offering this book to the public the writer uses no sophistry as an excuse for its existence. The hypocritical cant of reformed (?) gamblers, or whining, mealymouthed pretensions of piety, are not foisted as a justification for imparting the knowledge it contains. […] It may caution the unwary who are innocent of guile, and it may inspire the crafty by enlightenment on artifice. […] But it will not make the innocent vicious, or transform the pastime player into a professional; or make the fool wise, or surtail thae annual crop of suckers, but whatever the result may be, if it sells it will accomplish the primary motive of its author, as he needs the money. - S. W. Erdnase , The Expert at the Card Table (1902) As I write this, I am staring at the twilight sun, inexorably approaching the silvered coat of our sea for one time more. In front of me, behind the blinking lights of the port, and hidden somewhere behind the horizon, stand the coasts of my home country. How did I get here? Many paths led to this particular conclusion. I will talk about three of them. First, there is the path of discovery. Science, at least the healthy one, revolves around discoveries. Sometimes the discovery is just a small, although worthy, step towards a better understanding. Sometimes the discovery is considerable, and makes a quantum leap in how we understand a particular topic. As Erdnase expressed in his citation above, this book will not transform a layman into a deep-sea ecologist, nor will radically change the vision we have of those fascinating, obscure expanses. But indeed, there is discovery, and there is understanding. Then, there is the path of trial and error. And hope. During my years as an undergraduate student in Padova, I had the unlucky idea of getting in love with science, and at the same time, the lucky occasion of being negatively selected. That environment attempted to quell i me down to their standards, and failed miserably. But at one go, it taught me those directions in research one should not pursue. Fortunately, genuine isles do remain. And resist. And this gives me hope about the future of marine research in my home country. The third path is one of motivation and purpose. One that is hardly fulfilled by choosing to work on the deep sea. This branch of ecology is mainly vocational: the good-willing student who is searching for achievement in a plethora of data points will have to look elsewhere. I found my motivation in distilling a handful of samples into the highest number of drops possible. Four of them are included here, with my great satisfaction, for the reader to appreciate. But even greater satisfaction, and of course conscience of purpose, came from the smile and laughs with my colleagues, shoulder to shoulder in the cramped lunch room of the ship, after a successful sampling day. As always, you get the most from the people nearest to you. Which leaves me with the unavoidable but entertaining task of acknowledging them. A rather large list of people who, willing or unwilling, have contributed to the work you have in your hands. I would like to start by Saša Raicevich and Federico Lauro, known as the initiators . Their timely suggestions and support were those which, back in 2007, sparked my decision of having a peek at the world outside. I want to warmly thank Antonio Zuccaro, Martina Zancan, Marie Le Guitton, Michele Grego, Francesco Cozzoli, Alessia Moneta, Lara Pozzato, Ricardo Amoroso, Krista Greer, Lisa Boonzaier, and Laurenne Schiller, known as the outside supporters , who made me feel at home in any part of this planet I did land on. I will also share an enormous hug with the whole De Kêête family, remembering their wonderful and warm applauses after my card magic performances. The completion of this thesis has been, of course, made possible by all my colleagues during these years, who I will call the main actors . Thus, at the Institute of Marine Sciences in Barcelona I had the luck of working alongside David Costalago, Ulla Fernández de Arcaya, Samuel Koenig, Valerio Sbragaglia, Noelia Díaz, Àngel López, Ariadna Mechó, Jacopo Aguzzi, Joan Navarro, Marta Coll, and Isabel Palomera. During my frequent stays at the NIOZ in Yerseke, the Netherlands, I was kindly helped and supervised by Leon Moodley, Karline Soetaert, Dick van Oevelen, and Peter van Breugel. Prof Villy Christensen of the UBC Fisheries Centre in Vancouver, Canada, has been a great host and his help on ecosystem modelling was invaluable. I will also thank Deng Palomares and Shawn Booth, with whom I had interesting conversations on the model details. ii My two promoters . Before starting this adventure, I had a vague idea of what a thesis supervisor would be and luckily, I was wrong. They inspired me with their enthusiasm, passion for discovery, and attention to detail. They gave me ideas, they gave me smiles. And as I acknowledge their momentous duality, a vivid image comes to my mind. The moment when we knew I would be the new Ph.D. student for the project, they shouted: Eva: “ Tenim becari! ” Siscu: “ Pobret! ” Turned out that both of you were right. Thank you Eva, thank you Siscu, for helping me shape my future in such an amazing way. A special mention will go to Joan B. Company. All the great and enlightening conversations we had in these years can be condensed into one single conclusion, a rather flamboyant one, but one that he would appreciate nonetheless: While everybody was dressing me up with every kind of possible neckties, he taught me how to tie the knot. Thank you, Batis. Last, but certainly not the least, come the cornerstones . Those who more than any other deserve an acknowledgement for having supported me throughout these years, and in ultimate instance, made this book possible. To Fulvio, for sharing with me all those joyful chats on physics, and all those glasses of wine. To Monica, for helping me see the life of the emigrant in a different way. To my great friend Fabio, for the countless conversations, the numerous hugs during difficult moments, and for forgiving me. To my mother and to my father, for teaching me to be a good person, to be curious, to always pose questions, to strive for more. To Sandra, my beloved wife, for being “life, rarer than a quark and unpredictable beyond the dreams of Heisenberg; the clay in which the forces that shape all things leave their fingerprints most clearly”. These were my great inspirations along the three paths. Some of them conveniently unmentioned, some of them were luckily left behind. But to each and every one of them goes my greatest acknowledgement for having shaped my last four years, with the hope that in a not so distant future, our lives may cross again. Samuele Tecchio iii iv Index Preface: three paths ................................................................................................................................. i Index......................................................................................................................................................... v Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 1 Environmental characteristics ......................................................................................................... 3 The Mediterranean deep-sea habitat ............................................................................................... 5 The research framework ................................................................................................................... 8 OBJECTIVES .................................................................................................................................. 11 Materials and methods ........................................................................................................................ 13 Benthic trawling in the Mediterranean ......................................................................................... 15 Study areas and cruises ................................................................................................................... 16 Complementarity of the two trawl samplers ............................................................................... 18 Biodiversity measures ...................................................................................................................... 20 Future directions in deep-sea exploration