Trabajo presentado en el 39th CIESM Congress, celebrado en Venecia, Italia, del 10 al 14 de mayo de 2010

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Biodiversity of the Mediterranean Sea: estimates, patterns and threats

The Mediterranean Sea is a marine biodiversity hot spot. Here we combined an extensive literature analysis with expert opinions to update publicly available estimates of major taxa in this marine ecosystem and to revise and update several species lists. We also assessed overall spatial and temporal patterns of species diversity and identified major changes and threats. Our results listed approximately 17,000 marine species occurring in the Mediterranean Sea. However, our estimates of marine diversity are still incomplete as yet—undescribed species will be added in the future. Diversity for microbes is substantially underestimated, and the deep-sea areas and portions of the southern and eastern region are still poorly known. In addition, the invasion of alien species is a crucial factor that will continue to change the biodiversity of the Mediterranean, mainly in its eastern basin that can spread rapidly northwards and westwards due to the warming of the Mediterranean Sea. Spatial patterns showed a general decrease in biodiversity from northwestern to southeastern regions following a gradient of production, with some exceptions and caution due to gaps in our knowledge of the biota along the southern and eastern rims. Biodiversity was also generally higher in coastal areas and continental shelves, and decreases with depth. Temporal trends indicated that overexploitation and habitat loss have been the main human drivers of historical changes in biodiversity. At present, habitat loss and degradation, followed by fishing impacts, pollution, climate change, eutrophication, and the establishment of alien species are the most important threats and affect the greatest number of taxonomic groups. All these impacts are expected to grow in importance in the future, especially climate change and habitat degradation. The spatial identification of hot spots highlighted the ecological importance of most of the western Mediterranean shelves (and in particular, the Strait of Gibraltar and the adjacent Alboran Sea), western African coast, the Adriatic, and the Aegean Sea, which show high concentrations of endangered, threatened, or vulnerable species. The Levantine Basin, severely impacted by the invasion of species, is endangered as well.

This abstract has been translated to other languages (File S1).

/pdf/the-biodiversity-of-the-mediterranean-sea-estimates-patterns-38y4s7jond.pdf

The Biodiversity of the Mediterranean Sea: Estimates, Patterns, and Threats

[1] Because the Mediterranean has been subject for several decades to increasing anthropogenic influences, monitoring algal biomass and primary production on a long-term basis is required to detect possible modifications in the biogeochemical equilibrium of the basin. This work was initiated thanks to a 4-year-long time series of SeaWiFS observations. Seasonal variations of algal biomass (estimated using a previously developed regional algorithm) and primary production were analyzed for the various regions, and compared with those estimated using the CZCS sensor (1978–1986). Also, interannual variations could be assessed for the first time. The seasonal cycles of algal biomass generally reveal a maximum in winter or spring, and a minimum in summer. Some conspicuous differences with CZCS observations (e.g., in the Northwest Basin, reduction of the deep convection zone, earlier start of the spring bloom, quasi-absence of the vernal bloom) likely result from environmental changes. Interannual variations in algal biomass are noticeable all over the basin, including in the very oligotrophic waters of the Eastern Basin. The seasonal evolution of primary production is predominantly influenced by that of algal biomass in the Western Basin (with, in particular, a spring maximum). In the Eastern Basin, the seasonal courses of PAR and biomass tend to compensate each other, and primary production varies weakly along the year. The annual values computed over the 1998–2001 period for the Western Basin (163 ± 7 gC m−2 yr−1) and the Eastern Basin (121 ± 5 gC m−2 yr−1) are lower (by 17 and 12%, respectively) than those previously derived (using the same light-photosynthesis model) from CZCS data.

https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1029/2003GB002034

Seasonal and interannual variability in algal biomass and primary production in the Mediterranean Sea, as derived from 4 years of SeaWiFS observations

Publisher Summary The Mediterranean Region has many morphologic, geographical, historical, and societal characteristics, which make its climate scientifically interesting. The concept of Mediterranean climate is characterized by mild wet winters and warm to hot, dry summers and occur on the west side of continents between about 30° and 40° latitude. However, the presence of a relatively large mass of water is unique to the actual Mediterranean region. The Mediterranean Sea is a marginal and semi-enclosed sea; it is located on the western side of a large continental area and is surrounded by Europe to the North, Africa to the South, and Asia to the East. The chapter discusses that the climate of the Mediterranean region is to a large extent forced by planetary scale patterns. The time and space behavior of the regional features associated with such large-scale forcing is complex. Orography and land–sea distribution play an important role establishing the climate at basin scale and its teleconnections with global patterns. Different levels of services of readiness to emergencies, technological, and economic resources are likely to result in very different adaptation capabilities to environmental changes and new problems. The different economic situations and demographic trends are likely to produce contrasts and conflicts in a condition of limited available resources and environmental stress.

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T. Og˛uz

Papers

General Circulation of the Eastern Mediterranean