Biodiversity of Zoobenthic Hard-Substrate Sublittoral Communities in the Eastern Mediterranean (North Aegean Sea)
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 62 (2005) 637–653 www.elsevier.com/locate/ECSS Biodiversity of zoobenthic hard-substrate sublittoral communities in the Eastern Mediterranean (North Aegean Sea) Chryssanthi Antoniadou*, Chariton Chintiroglou Aristotle University, School of Biology, Department of Zoology, P.O. Box 134, Gr-540 06 Thessaloniki, Greece Received 24 May 2004; accepted 27 September 2004 Abstract The spatial dispersion of zoobenthos from sublittoral hard substrate communities in the northern part of the Aegean Sea has been studied during summer 1997 and 1998. Material was collected by SCUBA diving, by totally scraping off five replicate quadrates (400 cm2 each) at three depth levels (15, 30, 40 m) from six sites located in Chalkidiki peninsula, plus one in Kavala Gulf. The examination of the 19,343 living specimens collected revealed the presence of 314 species. Though the multivariate analyses showed high similarity between stations, the structure of this sciaphilic algal community seems to have an increased spatial heterogeneity. Four distinct facies were recorded in accordance with the occurrence of different algal forms, the degree of hard substrate inclination and the water clarity. A short review on the biodiversity of sublittoral communities in the Mediterranean revealed the affinity between the western and the eastern basin and also among the photophilic and the sciaphilic algal communities. Ó 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: biodiversity; zoobenthos; hard substrate; community dynamic; algal forms; Aegean Sea 1. Introduction intermediate, which is dominated by several hydrozoan species; and the lower, where the sciaphilic algae Ecological studies on hard bottom zoobenthos of the community occurs (Bellan-Santini et al., 1994; Antonia- Mediterranean Sea, mostly concern the Western and dou et al., 2004a,b). The lower infralittoral zone is poorly Central basins (Bitar, 1982; Hong, 1982; Richards, 1983; studied, as opposed to the other two layers (Bellan- Bellan-Santini, 1985; Poulicek, 1985; Giangrande, 1988; Santini et al., 1976; Leung Tack Kit, 1976; Fraschetti Cardell and Gili, 1988; Sarda` , 1991; Fraschetti et al., et al., 2002; Karalis et al., 2003; Chintiroglou et al., 2004a) 2001; 2002; Terlizzi et al., 2002, 2003), whereas the and also, to the circalittoral zone, where the coralligenous relevant reports about the Eastern Mediterranean are community has been studied (True, 1970; Hong, 1982; very limited (Chintiroglou and Koukouras, 1992; Chin- Laborel, 1987; Sartoretto, 1998). The quantitative assess- tiroglou, 1996; Ergen and Cinar, 1997; Morri et al., 1999; ment of the zoobenthic biodiversity within the lower Damianidis and Chintiroglou, 2000; Karalis et al., 2003; infralittoral zone is limited to the work of Marinopoulos Antoniadou, 2004; Chintiroglou et al., 2004a,b). (pers. commun.), who conducted research at the French Three different ecological layers can be distinguished coasts of the Mediterranean, with emphasis on the free within the infralittoral hard substratum, i.e. the upper, motile fauna. Apart from this unpublished report, the where the photophilic algae community is found; the relevant information concentrates on specific taxonomic groups (Giangrande et al., 2003; Terlizzi et al., 2003; * Corresponding author. Antoniadou, 2004; Antoniadou et al., 2004a,b). The study E-mail address: [email protected] (C. Antoniadou). 0272-7714/$ - see front matter Ó 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.ecss.2004.09.032 638 C. Antoniadou, C. Chintiroglou / Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 62 (2005) 637–653 of the biodiversity in the Mediterranean has obtained salinity-conductivity-O2 meter and Lovibond Checkit a priority status in environmental management (Costello, (pH meter) micro-electronic equipment. Water clarity 1998; Gaston and Spicer, 1998; Bianchi and Morri, 2000), was measured with the Secchi disc. The inclination of however, it cannot be assessed due to paucity of hard substratum was calculated with a clinometer, quantitative data (Stergiou et al., 1997). while the speed and direction of currents were The present study took place at the lower layer of the recorded with the autographic current meter Sensordata infralittoral zone (below 15 m), where the sciaphilic algal as SD-4. community normally occurs on inclined hard substrate (Pe´re` s, 1982). The aim was to detect (1) the spatial 2.2.2. Data collection variability of zoobenthos and (2) the most critical At each site and depth level, sampling was carried out factors that influence its distributional range, adding by SCUBA diving using a 400 cm2 quadrate sampler, by to the understanding of sublittoral community trends. totally scraping off the substrate, including both sessile and motile species (Leung Tack Kit, 1976; Hong, 1982; Karalis et al., 2003). Five replicates were collected 2. Materials and methods during summer of 1997 and 1998. Overall, 75 samples were obtained. All samples were sieved (0.5 mm) and 2.1. Sampling sites preserved in 10% formalin. After the sorting process, the macrofauna was counted and identified at species Seven coastal stations were selected at different level. Algae were also identified and the dominant spe- locations in the northern part of the Aegean Sea cies were recorded. (Fig. 1). All sites share some common physical char- acteristics, such as hard substrate down to 30–40 m 2.3. Statistics depth and inclination bigger than 50 (Antoniadou et al., 2004a). At each site, one to three depth levels were The analysis of phytobenthos was based on the most set (15, 30 and 40 m) for the bathymetrical study of the dominant species in terms of percent cover, in order to lower infralittoral zone. identify the ‘pilot species’ (Bellan-Santini, pers. com- mun.) at each site, that function as a secondary substrate 2.2. Sampling techniques for the distribution of zoobenthos (Abbiati et al., 1987; Giangrande, 1988). 2.2.1. Physico-chemical factors The analysis of zoobenthos was based on the Temperature, salinity, conductivity, dissolved O2 and methods of Karalis et al., (2003) and Chintiroglou pH were measured in the water column with the WTW et al., 2004a,b. Thus, the numerical abundance on a scale 41o Nautical miles GREECE 40o 23o 24o Fig. 1. Map of the study area indicating sampling sites. C. Antoniadou, C. Chintiroglou / Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 62 (2005) 637–653 639 of 1 m2 (A mÿ2), the mean dominance (mD), the 3. Results frequency (F) and diversity indices (Margalef’s richness, Shannon–Wiener and Pielou’s evenness, based on log2) 3.1. Abiotic factors were calculated. In order to check the null hypothesis that the The values of the main abiotic parameters showed abundance of the dominant taxa does not differ slight variations in relation to depth or location of significantly between sites and depth levels, a two-way sampling sites, e.g. the reduced water clarity at St.5 and ANOVA test was carried out. A logarithmic trans- the decrease in salinity at St.7 (Antoniadou et al., formation (logxC1) was used to normalize the variance 2004b), while water currents follow the general pattern of numerical abundances (Zar, 1984; Clarke and Green, of cyclonic circulation in North Aegean Sea (Stergiou 1988). The data obtained per sampling site were et al., 1997). According to degree of slope, the sam- analyzed with multidimensional scaling techniques, pling sites can be ranked as highly (O80 , St.1, St.3) based on the Bray–Curtis similarity and log transformed moderately (60–80 , St.2, St.4, St.6, St.7) and slightly numerical abundances, using PRIMER package (Clarke (!60 , St.5) inclined. and Warwick, 1994). The significance of the multivariate results was assessed with ANOSIM test. SIMPER 3.2. Community structure analysis was applied to identify the contribution of each species to the overall similarity within a site and the Overall, 19,343 individuals were counted, belonging dissimilarity among sites (Clarke and Warwick, 1994). to 314 species. The dominant taxon, in terms of species The BIOENV procedure was used to examine which richness, was molluscs (56%), followed by polychaetes environmental parameters are related to the observed (27%) and crustaceans (21%). The species richness of biotic pattern (MDS plot) and the degree of this relation the higher taxonomic groups was quite uniform between (Clarke and Warwick, 1994). sites (Fig. 2). Fig. 2. Taxa contribution to species richness (up) and total abundance (down) per sampling site and depth level. 640 C. Antoniadou, C. Chintiroglou / Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 62 (2005) 637–653 Table 1 In terms of numerical abundances, four taxa were Two-way ANOVA results (asterisk indicates statistically significant dominant (Fig. 2). The dispersion of these taxa was not differences) equal among the seven sampling sites or the three depth Taxa Spatial distribution Bathymetric distribution levels, (ANOVA results, Table 1). The partial differences Fp F p among sites and depths for polychaetes, bivalves, gastro- Polychaeta 13.39 !0.05* 15.94 !0.05* pods and peracarids are depicted in Fig. 3. Bivalvia 8.22 !0.05* 15.94 !0.05* Gastropoda 13.78 !0.05* 7.48 !0.05* Peracarida 5.43 !0.05* 13.69 !0.05* 3.3. Diversity The values of diversity indices were high (Table 2). Seventy-one species were common (21 Polychaeta, 2 Richness values (d ) ranged from 9.2 to 16.4, H# values Sipuncula, 25 Mollusca, 18 Crustacea, 2 Brachiopoda, 2 from 4.4 to 5.6 and J# values from 0.71 to 0.90. At most Echinodermata, 1 Tunicata), according to population of the sites the gastropod