Expansion of the macroalga Caulerpa racemosa and changes in softbottom macrofaunal assemblages in Moni Bay,Cyprus |
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| Institution: | 1. Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita, University of Trieste, Trieste, Italy;2. Consorzio Nazionale Interuniversitario per le Scienze del Mare, Rome, Italy;3. Stazione Idrobiologica di Chioggia “Umberto D’Ancona”, Dipartimento di Biologia, University of Padova, Padova, Italy;4. Dipartimento di Beni Culturali, University of Bologna, Ravenna, Italy;5. Centre d''Estudis Avançats de Blanes-CSIC, Girona, Spain;6. Dipartimento di Biologia, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy;7. Dipartimento di Biologia, University of Napoli Federico II, Napoli, Italy;8. Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Naples, Italy;9. National Research Council, Institute for the Study of Anthropic Impact and Sustainability in the Marine Environment (CNR-IAS), Genoa, Italy;10. Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita e dell''Ambiente, Polytechnic University of Marche, Ancona, Italy;11. National Center for Scientific Research, PSL Université Paris, CRIOBE, USR 3278 CNRS-EPHE-UPVD, Maison des Océans, Paris, France;12. Department of Integrative Ecology, Stazione Zoologica A. Dohrn—National Institute of Marine Biology, Ecology and Biotechnology, Rome, Italy;13. Department of Integrative Marine Ecology, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Sicily, Palermo, Italy;14. Institut de Ciències del Mar, CSIC, Barcelona, Spain;15. Aix Marseille Univ, Université de Toulon, CNRS, IRD, MIO, Marseille, France;p. Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Biologiche ed Ambientali, University of Salento, Lecce, Italy;q. Department of Integrative Marine Ecology, Stazione Zoologica A. Dohrn—National Institute of Marine Biology, Ecology and Biotechnology, Naples, Italy;r. National Center for Ecological Analysis & Synthesis, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, United States;s. Bren School of Environmental Science and Management, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, United States;t. Department of Marine Sciences, University of the Aegean, Mytilene, Greece;u. Hopkins Marine Station and Center for Ocean Solutions, Stanford University, Pacific Grove, CA, United States;v. Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra e del Mare, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy;w. Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita e dell''Ambiente, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy;x. National Institute of Oceanography, Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research, Haifa, Israel |
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| Abstract: | The recent expansion of the Red Sea macroalga Caulerpa racemosa and its impact on the diversity and abundance of macrobenthos were examined and compared in the summers of 1992 and 1997, in Moni Bay, Cyprus. The phytobenthic community of the bay in 1992 was dominated by the seagrass Posidonia oceanica while, in 1997, the Lessepsian migrant C. racemosa became the most dominant, forming extensive mats. Changes in the vegetation system in Moni Bay have caused significant compositional changes in macrofaunal assemblages. A total of 178 individuals of 62 species are recorded. The composition of the macrofauna in 1992 was dominated by gastropods (44 %), crustaceans (22%), bivalves (17 %), polychaetes (11 %) and echinoderms (6 %). In 1997, the gastropods and crustaceans had decreased to 13 % and 16 % respectively, while, polychaetes had increased to 38 % becoming the most dominant taxon. Bivalves and echinoderms also increased to 22 % and 11 %, respectively, in 1997. The proliferative growth of C. racemosa imposed successional changes on the macrofaunal assemblages in Moni Bay, Cyprus, between 1992 and 1997. It remains to be tested whether the expansion of C. racemosa is related to the increase of water temperature associated with global warming or nutrient inputs or with the differences in the life history characteristics of this migrant vs. native algal species. |
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