16 research outputs found
Geographic patterns of biodiversity in European coastal marine benthos
Within the COST action EMBOS (European Marine Biodiversity Observatory System) the degree and variation
of the diversity and densities of soft-bottom communities from the lower intertidal or the shallow subtidal
was measured at twenty-eight marine sites along the European coastline (Baltic, Atlantic, Mediterranean)
using jointly-agreed and harmonised protocols, tools and indicators. The hypothesis tested was that the
diversity for all taxonomic groups would decrease with increasing latitude. The EMBOS system delivered
accurate and comparable data on the diversity and densities of the soft sediment macrozoobenthic
community over a large-scale gradient along the European coastline. In contrast to general biogeographic
theory, species diversity showed no linear relationship with latitude, yet a bell-shaped relation was found.
The diversity and densities of benthos were mostly positively correlated with environmental factors such as
temperature, salinity, mud and organic matter content in sediment, or wave height, and related with
location characteristics such as system type (lagoons, estuaries, open coast) or stratum (intertidal, subtidal).
For some relationships, a maximum (e.g. temperature from 15 to 20 °C; mud content of sediment around 40
%) or bimodal curve (e.g. salinity) was found. In lagoons the densities were twice higher than in other
locations, and at open coasts the diversity was much lower than in other locations. We conclude that
latitudinal trends and regional differences in diversity and densities are strongly influenced by, i.e. merely
the result of, particular sets and ranges of environmental factors and location characteristics specific to
certain areas, such as the Baltic, with typical salinity clines (favouring insects) and the Mediterranean, with
higher temperatures (favouring crustaceans). Therefore, eventual trends with latitude are primarily indirect
and so can be overcome by local variation of environmental factors
Essence of the patterns of cover and richness of intertidal hard bottom communities: a pan-European study
International audienc