Demography, Reproductive Biology and Trophic Ecology of Red Coral (Corallium rubrum L.) at the Costa Brava (NW Mediterranean): Ecological Data as a Tool for Management

The precious Mediterranean red coral (Corallium rubrum, L. 1758) is an overexploited gorgonian coral whoose red calcium carbonate skeleton is used in the jewelery industry. This work studies the demography, reproductive ecology and trophic ecology of red coral, and used the data to provide recomendations for its fishery managment and conservation. Five harvested populations at the Costa Brava, Spain, showed a population structure that is significantly shifted towards small/young colonies, compared to a protected population at the Medas Islands Marine Park. Average size and age of colonies in the harvested populations were estimated at 5 cm height and 7.5 years, whereas the species is capable of reaching 50 cm and 100 years. Only a small part of the colonies found show a well developed branching pattern, indicating overexploitation. The reproductive output significantly depends on colony size, with 100 % fertility being reached by colonies of 4 � 6 cm height. Mesoscale geographic variation however had no significant effect on reproductive output. Colonies in deep water spawned slightly earlier than shallow ones, when temperature stratification in summer was particularly pronounced. The main proportion of the diet of corallium rubrum is particulate organic matter (POM), while crustaceans such as copepods played a smaller role due to their infrequent capture. No clear seasonal pattern of the ingestion rate was found, due to the high variablity that may be linked to variability in watermovement. It appears that red coral is a flexible omnivore, able to exploit various trophic situations. Maximum sustainable yield, calculated using the Beverton and Holt model, show an optimal age at first capture of 98 years, while current fishing regulations permit harvesting of colonies that are 11 years old. This results in only a fraction of the calculated maximum yield. Poaching and illegal capture of small colonies appear to be a major problem at the Costa Brava

Storm record from St. John, USVI in 1987–2011 (St. John LTREB project, VI Octocorals project).

Dataset: Descriptions of hurricanes affecting St. JohnStorm record data based on wave height and direction, proximity of hurricanes were recorded from 1989 – 2011. For a complete list of measurements, refer to the supplemental document 'Field_names.pdf', and a full dataset description is included in the supplemental file 'Dataset_description.pdf'. The most current version of this dataset is available at: http://www.bco-dmo.org/dataset/664267National Science Foundation (NSF) DEB-0841441, NSF Division of Ocean Sciences (NSF OCE) OCE-1332915, NSF Division of Environmental Biology (NSF DEB) DEB-135014

Scleractinia, macroalgae and octocoral surveys describing species abundance and distribution, in St. John, USVI in 1987–2013 (St. John LTREB project, VI Octocorals project).

Dataset: Coral and macroalgae abundance and distributionPhotoquadrats recorded from 1987 – 2013 in Lameshur Bay, St. John, USVI, were used to quantify octocoral and scleractinian and macroalgae abundance with generic resolution. Data are reported as percent cover for scleractinians and octocorals, and individual counts for octocorals. For a complete list of measurements, refer to the supplemental document 'Field_names.pdf', and a full dataset description is included in the supplemental file 'Dataset_description.pdf'. The most current version of this dataset is available at: http://www.bco-dmo.org/dataset/664223National Science Foundation (NSF) DEB-0841441, NSF Division of Ocean Sciences (NSF OCE) OCE-1332915, NSF Division of Environmental Biology (NSF DEB) DEB-135014

Octocorals surveys 1987–2013 (St. John LTREB project, VI Octocorals project).

Dataset: Octocoral abundance by generaPhotoquadrats recorded from 1987 – 2013 in Lameshur Bay, St. John, USVI, were used to quantify octocoral abundance with generic resolution. Data are reported as individual counts. For a complete list of measurements, refer to the supplemental document 'Field_names.pdf', and a full dataset description is included in the supplemental file 'Dataset_description.pdf'. The most current version of this dataset is available at: http://www.bco-dmo.org/dataset/664241National Science Foundation (NSF) DEB-0841441, NSF Division of Ocean Sciences (NSF OCE) OCE-1332915, NSF Division of Environmental Biology (NSF DEB) DEB-135014

Rainfall and seawater temperature in St. John, USVI in 1987–2013 (St. John LTREB project, VI Octocorals project).

Dataset: Rainfall and temperature dataPhysical environmental data from 1989 – 2013 are were recorded using in situ data loggers, weather stations and data buoys, to provide seawater temperature data (1989 – 2013) and rainfall (1987 – 2013). Maximum/ minimum tmeoperatrue, nr of hot/cold days are reported. For a complete list of measurements, refer to the supplemental document 'Field_names.pdf', and a full dataset description is included in the supplemental file 'Dataset_description.pdf'. The most current version of this dataset is available at: http://www.bco-dmo.org/dataset/664254National Science Foundation (NSF) DEB-0841441, NSF Division of Ocean Sciences (NSF OCE) OCE-1332915, NSF Division of Environmental Biology (NSF DEB) DEB-135014

Πειραματικά δεδομένα έρευνας βιοκλιματικού σχεδιασμού προκατασκευασμένων κτισμάτων κατοικίας

157 σ.Ο σκοπός της παρούσας διπλωματικής είναι η ανάλυση της επίδρασης του βιοκλιματικού σχεδιασμού, ιδιαίτερα των παθητικών ηλιακών συστημάτων αλλά και ειδικών συστημάτων προστασίας του κελύφους και θερμικής προστασίας του κτιρίου, σε προκατασκευασμένα κτίρια κατοικίας.Η επίδραση αυτή θα μελετηθεί μέσα απο ανάλυση πειραματικών δεδομένων που έχουν ληφθεί απο τον μετεωρολογικό σταθμό του Ε.Μ.Π. αλλά και από επιτόπου μετρήσεις στο εσωτερικό τριών προκατασκευασμένων κτισμάτων, σχεδιασμένα σύμφωνα με βιοκλιματικές αρχές, που βρίσκονται στη περιοχή της πολυτεχνειούπολης Ζωγράφου.The purpose of this thesis is to analyze the effects of the bioclimatic design, especially those of the passive solar systems, the systems of shell protection and the thermal protection of a building, in prefabricated buildings of residence. The effect will be studied through analysis of experimental data taken from the meteorological station of N.T.U.A but also from measurements tha have taken place in the three prefabricated buildings, drawn according to biocliatic principles and found in the N.T.U.A. campus of Zografou.Βασίλειος ΚολιόπουλοςΓεώργιος Π. Τσούνη

Anthropogenic effects on reproductive effort and allocation of energy reserves in the Mediterranean octocoral Paramuricea clavata

12 pages, 6 figures, 1 table, supplementary material in http://www.int-res.com/articles/suppl/m449p161_supp/In order to better understand the sources, patterns and consequences of anthropogenic effects on populations of the Mediterranean gorgonian Paramuricea clavata, we examined the proportion of injured colonies among populations exposed to a combination of anthropogenic disturbances (recreational cast fishing, commercial lobster pots, gill nets and SCUBA diving), as well as the physiological response of injured corals. Between 10 and 33% of the colonies in unprotected populations were partially colonized by epibionts, most likely following tissue injury, whereas only 4 to 10% of the populations in a marine protected area were affected. Populations that were simultaneously exposed to fishing as well as intensive SCUBA diving showed the highest proportion of colonization. Colonies with approximately 30 to 35% of epibiont coverage showed significantly lower numbers of gonads per polyp. Similarly, concentrations of lipids were lower in females with epibionts, thus indicating allocation of resources into recovery of injured tissue instead of reproduction. Furthermore, whereas unaffected colonies showed a uniform distribution of carbohydrates and proteins through apical branches to more central ones, colonies with epibionts had significantly lower protein concentrations in branches that are positioned 3 branching order levels closer to the stem. The results thus indicate a preference of apical growth in recovering colonies, via a different distribution of food within the colony. Reproductive success in surface-brooding corals growing on walls and overhangs might also be reduced by SCUBA bubbles from divers passing below, as bubbles efficiently remove eggs brooded on colony branches. © 2012 Inter-ResearchThis study was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, project BENTOLARV (CTM2009-10007). S.R. is a Ramón y Cajal fellow (RyC-2007-01327). L.B. is supported through the EU Marie Curie Program (IEF 221072), and N.V. is supported through a scholarship by the Generalitat de Catalunya (FI2010)Peer Reviewe