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Slavica Matijević

Bio: Slavica Matijević is an academic researcher. The author has contributed to research in topics: Sediment & Water column. The author has an hindex of 14, co-authored 39 publications receiving 573 citations.

Papers
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The demonstration of differential dietary selectivity by different sized animals has implications for future trophic studies of this endangered species and provides the first demonstration of predation on zooplankton by P. nobilis.
Abstract: The endangered fan shell Pinna nobilis is a large bivalve mollusc (<120 cm shell length) endemic to the Mediterranean that lives one-third buried in soft substrata, generally in shallow coastal waters. We hypothesised that P. nobilis of different sizes would ingest different food sources, because small fan shells will inhale material from closer to the substratum than do large fan shells. We studied stomach contents and faeces of 18 fan shells, 6 small (mean 23.0 cm length), 6 medium-sized (mean 41.5 cm length) and 6 large (mean 62.7 cm length) living in a small area of a low-energy coastal detritic bottom characterised by mud, sand and macroalgae at Mali Ston Bay, Croatia. We found that all P. nobilis ingested copious quantities of undetermined detritus (probably at least 95% of ingested material), phytoplankton, micro and mesozooplankton and pollen grains. Large P. nobilis stomach contents showed a preponderance of water column calanoid copepods, while small fan shells had higher numbers of bivalve larvae. All fan shells took in high numbers of harpacticoid copepods that are benthonic, feeding on microbial communities of detritus and benthic vegetation. There was also a significant selection of phytoplankton species, some apparently occurring between inhalation and ingestion. The stomach contents of small P. nobilis had a higher organic matter content than either medium-sized or large fan shells; this indicated that small fan shells ingested detritus of higher organic content than did larger P. nobilis. As the faeces of all P. nobilis had similar organic matter content, this also indicates higher assimilation efficiencies in small fan shells. The demonstration of differential dietary selectivity by different sized animals has implications for future trophic studies of this endangered species. This study also provides the first demonstration of predation on zooplankton by P. nobilis.

59 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Diatoms were the most abundant functional group and they prevailed during the colder part of the year while the dinoflagellate contribution to the phytoplankton community increased in the warmer period from May to August.
Abstract: Evaluation of a 45-year data set of primary production (PP), a 30-year data set of phytoplankton biomass, and a 51-year data set of species composition shows an increase of phytoplankton biomass and abundance in the period from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s. Phytoplankton biomass showed bimodal seasonal cycles, with winter and spring maxima, which did not change over the past 30 years. Diatoms were the most abundant functional group and they prevailed during the colder part of the year while the dinoflagellate contribution to the phytoplankton community increased in the warmer period from May to August. Diatoms showed a significant negative correlation with sea surface temperature (SST), while dinoflagellates were positively correlated with SST. An increase of phytoplankton abundance, particularly dinoflagellate, in the period from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s coincided with years characterized by a high North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index. Primary production and chlorophyll a concentration in the spring period were negatively correlated with the NAO winter (DJFM) index, probably caused by increased precipitation associated with a low or negative NAO index. PP in winter during the mixing period was positively related to the NAO winter index associated with higher temperatures and dry conditions which brought more clear days and increased input of solar radiation.

58 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a long-term time series of physical and chemical parameters collected between 1960 and 2010 along the Palagruža Sill transect, Middle Adriatic Sea, have been investigated in terms of average water properties and their variability.
Abstract: . Long-term time series of physical and chemical parameters collected between 1960 and 2010 along the Palagruža Sill transect, Middle Adriatic Sea, have been investigated in terms of average water properties and their variability. Nutrients, especially orthophosphates, reached rather high levels of concentration below the euphotic zone between 1991 and 1998, the highest levels in the investigated period. Simultaneously, the N:P ratio, which is normally higher than 25:1, decreased to values less than 16:1 in the euphotic zone, indicating a switch from typical phosphorus to nitrogen- limited preconditioning for the primary production. Higher-than-usual nutrient levels peaking in the mid-1990s, coupled with lower-than-usual temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen and pH values, are presumably related to the flow of the nutrient richer Western Mediterranean waters to the Adriatic below the euphotic layer. These waters, which keep their footprint in the N:P ratio, enter the Adriatic during the anticyclonic phase of the Bimodal Adriatic-Ionian Oscillation (BiOS), which has been uniquely strengthened by the Eastern Mediterranean Transient occurring in the early 1990s. This hypothesis should be confirmed through targeted research and modelling exercises, as it is highly relevant for the biogeochemistry of the Adriatic Sea.

57 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The response of phytoplankton diversity was not linear, as the highest diversity was observed in the area with intermediate disturbance level, and boundary values for different water quality classes for coastal waters under indirect freshwater influence are obtained according to gradient between concentration of chlorophyll a and pressure index (LUSI), which empirically fit to exponential equation.

45 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The analysis connected the shifts in primary production with hemispheric and regional scale climate variations, and supports the hypothesis that atmospheric variability can trigger the ecosystem changes.
Abstract: Interannual variability of the primary production in the middle Adriatic Sea for the period 1961-2002 was examined and correlated to the various atmospheric and oceanographic parameters. The Locally-weighted scatter plot smoothing (LOWESS) method (Cleveland, 1979) and Sequential algorithm for regime shift detection (SARS, Rodinov, 2004) were applied to the primary production mean annual and spring-summer values, revealing the three periods with significantly different mean productivity rate: 1961-1979, 1980-1996 and 1997-2002. Moreover, the period from 1980 to 1996, with the highest primary production, consists of the two distinguished regimes: periods of increasing (1980-1986) and decreasing (1987-1996) primary production. Whereas in the first period the ecosystem was under the influence of warmer and nutrient richer Levantine Intermediate Water (LIW) intrusions into the Adriatic, in the second period, which started with cold winter 1987, the Eastern Mediterranean Transient (EMT) occurred in the Mediterranean. The new circulation regime prevented the LIW intrusions in the Adriatic, causing its reduced productivity. Weak ventilation in the Adriatic was evidenced in the lower than normal sea temperature and oxygen concentrations bellow the thermocline depth. Analysed atmospheric data: air temperature, precipitation, evaporation, air-sea fluxes and the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index showed similar fluctuation pattern as oceanographic data. Changed regime in the ecosystem, observed around 1980s till the end of 1996 can be also associated to the lower than normal precipitation rate, which is connected with more clear days and higher solar radiation input in the sea. Our analysis connected the shifts in primary production with changes in the climate system via changes in the atmosphere and confirmed the hypothesis that atmospheric variability can trigger the ecosystem changes.

43 citations


Cited by
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Biodiversity patterns associated with kelp holdfasts, stipes and blades are examined, as well as the wider understorey habitat, and generality between kelp species and biogeographic regions are searched for.

321 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss the environmental issues of offshore fish farming from experience in coastal farms, and discuss the potential for a rapid and wide dispersal of dissolved waste in offshore farms.
Abstract: Offshore fish farming is predicted to increase in the near future driven by the lack of coastal space. In this review I discuss the environmental issues of offshore farming from experience in coastal farms. Even more so than in coastal farms, a rapid and wide dispersal of dissolved waste prod- ucts is predicted for offshore farms. Despite wider dispersal of particulate waste products, fast sinking rates of feed pellets and faeces suggest organic enrichment of the bottom sediments in farm vicinities (hundreds of meters), although at lower loading rates than coastal farms. The benthic response to organic enrichment is unpredictable due to lack of knowledge from shelf areas. Most shelf sediments are considered carbon limited and fish farm waste products may stimulate the benthic communities, but due to the sparse abundance and absence of pollutant-tolerant benthic fauna, the capacity of ben- thic communities to assimilate organic matter may be limited. Instead, microbial decomposition of waste products could become important, leading to increased oxygen demand and accumulation of sulfides in the sediments. This may negatively affect benthic biodiversity. Interactions with wild fish (aggregation, genetic impacts, spreading of disease and parasites) are expected, but difficult to pre- dict, as the composition of species attracted to offshore farms will be different from that of species attracted to coastal farms. Escapees are potentially a high risk due to farm failure under rough weather conditions in the open sea. The carbon footprint of farming offshore will increase (transportation) and the ecological footprint (fishing feed) will remain a severe constraint, as in coastal farming. Offshore farming is subject to high costs of operation, including those for monitoring environmental conditions. Research should focus on interactions with wild fish populations, mapping of sensitive benthic habitats and experimental studies of the response of benthic habitats to organic enrichments.

237 citations

Book ChapterDOI
01 Jan 2019
TL;DR: In the past half century, threats to kelp forests have increased in number and severity, leading to a global decline of kelp abundances of ~ 2% per year.
Abstract: Kelp forests are extensive underwater habitats that range along 25% of the world’s coastlines, providing valuable resources, habitat, and services for coastal communities. They grow best in cold, nutrient-rich water, where they attain some of the highest rates of primary production of any natural ecosystem. Kelps exhibit a great diversity of growth forms and life strategies, with the largest individuals reaching lengths of > 30 m and biomasses of 42 kg. In the past half century, threats to kelp forests have increased in number and severity, leading to a global decline of kelp abundances of ~ 2% per year. Trajectories of change vary considerable across regions and include range contractions, range expansions, species replacements, establishment of invasive kelps, replacement by turf algae reefs, or regime shifts to sea urchin barrens. These changes will likely have significant impacts on marine biodiversity and ecosystem functioning because kelps are foundation species for a plethora of habitat-associated plants and animals, many of which are socioeconomically important. Some forms of management have been effective in restoring kelp forests, but in many cases the threats facing kelp forests in the future greatly exceed local conservation strategies, necessitating novel conservation solutions to protect and conserve these ecosystems. Although the diversity of changes to kelp forest globally make it challenging to generalize about their future, it seems almost certain that many kelp forests a few decades from now will differ substantially from what they are today.

202 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is shown that the presence of allochtonous organisms from Atlantic/Western Mediterranean and Eastern Mediterranean/temperate zone in the Adriatic are concurrent with the anticyclonic and cyclonic circulations of the NIG, respectively, and a revision of the theory of AdRIatic ingressions formulated in the early 1950s is proposed.
Abstract: . Analysis of 20-year time-series of the vertically averaged salinity and nutrient data in the Southern Adriatic shows that the two parameters are subject to strong decadal variability. In addition, it is documented that nutrient and salinity variations are out of phase. Nutrients in the Ionian and in the Adriatic vary in parallel except that generally the nutrient content in the Adriatic is lower than in the Ionian, a fact that has been attributed to primary producer consumption following the winter convective mixing. As shown earlier, North Ionian Gyre (NIG) changes its circulation sense on a decadal scale due to the Bimodal Oscillating System, i.e. the feedback mechanism between the Adriatic and Ionian. Cyclonic circulation causes a downwelling of the nitracline along the borders of the NIG and a decrease in the nutrient content of the water flowing into the Adriatic across the Otranto Strait, and vice versa. In addition, the highly oligotrophic central area of the Ionian shows annual blooms only during cyclonic NIG circulation. Inversion of the sense of the NIG results in the advection of Modified Atlantic Water or of the Levantine/Eastern Mediterranean waters in the Adriatic. Here, we show that the presence of allochtonous organisms from Atlantic/Western Mediterranean and Eastern Mediterranean/temperate zone in the Adriatic are concurrent with the anticyclonic and cyclonic circulations of the NIG, respectively. On the basis of the results presented, a revision of the theory of Adriatic ingressions formulated in the early 1950s is proposed.

200 citations

19 Aug 2014
TL;DR: In this article, a simple state-space assessment model is presented as an alternative, which among other benefits offers an objective way of estimating time-varying selectivity pattern, and the fishing mortality rates are considered (possibly correlated) stochastic processes, and corresponding process variances are estimated within the model.
Abstract: Abstract Time-varying selectivity is one of the main challenges in single species age-based assessment models. In classical deterministic VPA-type models the fishing mortality rates are unfiltered representations of the observed catches. As a consequence the selectivity becomes time-varying, but this representation is too fluctuating, because it includes the observation noise. In parametric statistical catch at age models a common assumption is that the selectivity is constant in all years, although time-varying selectivity can be introduced by splitting the data period in blocks with different selectivities, or by using smoothing splines and penalized time-deviances. However, these methods require subjective choices w.r.t. the degree of time-varying allowed. A simple state-space assessment model is presented as an alternative, which among other benefits offers an objective way of estimating time-varying selectivity pattern. The fishing mortality rates are considered (possibly correlated) stochastic processes, and the corresponding process variances are estimated within the model. The model is applied to North Sea cod and it is verified from simulations that time-varying selectivity can be estimated.

155 citations