Comparison of the community structure of the marine molluscs of the “Banco D. João de Castro” seamount (Azores, Portugal) with that of typical inshore habitats on the Azores archipelago

Ávila, Sérgio P.; Cardigos, Frederico; Santos, Ricardo Serrão

doi:10.1007/s10152-006-0052-5

Cited by 7 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…Amongst these, the rissoid Alvania cancellata, typically encountered in the infralittoral or shallower sublittoral (e.g., Giribet and Peñas 1997) was found here at much deeper depths. This species displays a planktotrophic larval stage which enables the veliger to cover even large distances as reported for the shallow seamounts off Portugal (distant hundreds of kilometres from the mainland), where this species is common (Á vila and Malaquias 2003;Á vila et al 2007). The presence of Alvania cancellata inside the gold coral forest suggests a possible process of facilitation towards the settlement and growth of this species.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 87%

Gold coral (Savalia savaglia) and gorgonian forests enhance benthic biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in the mesophotic zone

et al. 2009

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The twilight or mesophotic zone is amongst the less explored marine regions. In coastal areas, investigations and manipulative experiments on benthic biodiversity and ecosystem functioning at depths up to [50 m have been recently made possible by the progress of SCUBA techniques. In this study, we tested the effects of the presence of a gorgonian forest characterised by a large and dense population of the gold coral Savalia savaglia (Bertoloni 1819) on the benthic biodiversity (nematode species richness, and meiofauna community structure and richness of taxa), trophic guilds state (molluscs) and ecosystem functioning in the surrounding sediments. The S. savaglia colonies create elevated and complex tertiary structures. Our results indicate that the presence of these colonies was associated with a significantly increased deposition of bioavailable substrates and enhanced biodiversity, when compared with soft bottoms at the same depth but without gold corals. The higher biodiversity and altered trophic conditions resulted in higher rates of ecosystem functioning (e.g., higher benthic biomasses). These results suggest that S. savaglia should be particularly protected not only for its specific rarity, endemism and vulnerability but also because it has a prominent role in sustaining high levels of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in the surrounding benthos of the twilight zone.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 87%

Gold coral (Savalia savaglia) and gorgonian forests enhance benthic biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in the mesophotic zone

et al. 2009

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“…In general, the metazoan biodiversity in these vents and sulphurous fields was very low when compared to the remaining habitats. Usually, hydrothermal vents are impoverished in comparison to other substrates located at similar depths, due to toxic and extremophilous environments that are noxious to most metazoans [40,41].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

First Macro-Colonizers and Survivors Around Tagoro Submarine Volcano, Canary Islands, Spain

et al. 2019

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Tagoro, the youngest submarine volcano of the Canary Islands, erupted in 2011 South of El Hierro Island. Pre-existing sea floor and inhabiting biological communities were buried by the newly erupted material, promoting the appearance of new habitats. The present study pursues to describe the first metazoans colonizing different new habitats formed during the eruption and to create precedent on this field. Through dredge and remote operated vehicle samplings, five main habitat types have been detected based on the substrate type and burial status after the eruption. Inside the Tagoro volcanic complex (TVC), two new habitats are located in and around the summit and main craters—hydrothermal vents with bacterial mats and sulfurous-like fields mainly colonized by small hydrozoan colonies. Two other habitats are located downslope the TVC; new hard substrate and new mixed substrate, holding the highest biodiversity of the TVC, especially at the mixed bottoms with annelids (Chloeia cf. venusta), arthropods (Monodaeus couchii and Alpheus sp.), cnidarians (Sertularella cf. tenella), and molluscs (Neopycnodonte cochlear) as the first colonizers. An impact evaluation was done comparing the communities of those habitats with the complex and well-established community described at the stable hard substrate outside the TVC, which is constituted of highly abundant hydrozoans (Aglaophenia sp.), antipatharians (Stichopates setacea and Antipathes furcata), and colonizing epibionts (e.g., Neopycnodonte cochlear). Three years after the eruption, species numbers at Tagoro were still low compared to those occurring at similar depths outside the TVC. The first dominant species at the TVC included a large proportion of common suspension feeders of the circalittoral and bathyal hard bottoms of the area, which could have exploited the uncolonized hard bottoms and the post eruptive fertilization of water masses.

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“…A total of 11 sites (26 replicates) were sampled during Autumn, and 20 sites (79 replicates) were sampled during two consecutive years, 1996 and 1997, at similar depths, ranging from 5.6 to 15.0 m (Table 1). Ribeira Quente (RQT), Ladeira da Velha (LDV) and Ponta da Ferraria (FER) were considered as naturally disturbed sites, because of shallow-water subtidal vents nearby (see A ́vila et al, 2007;Couto et al, 2015;Martins et al, 2021). Ribeira da Praia (RPR) was also considered as a naturally disturbed site because of the freshwater influence from stream mouth.…”

Section: Sampling Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

Patterns of distribution of mollusc fauna associated with Halopteris scoparia (Linnaeus) Sauvageau: a baseline study in the Azores archipelago helps understanding the impact of climate change/invasive species on biodiversity

Ávila,

Costa,

Madeira

et al. 2024

Front. Mar. Sci.

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This work was done on 1996 and 1997, and presents an extremely valuable baseline to compare the recent and future changes on the insular shallow habitats of the Azorean islands. We examined the structure of the molluscan communities of the macroalgae Halopteris scoparia in São Miguel Island (Azores, Portugal). This island was chosen because it is the largest and the most populated of the archipelago, with polluted sites which are not common in the Azores. The relationship between the epifaunal assemblages and a set of environmental factors – geographical location (orientation), seawater temperature, depth, algal volume, degree of disturbance, and degree of exposure to the wave action – was investigated using distance-based redundancy analysis and significant variation in the distribution of richness of assemblages was found. Four environmental predictors were common to all the four analyses implemented (richness and assemblage structure using both AIC and BIC): algal volume (that correlates with algal dry weight), seawater temperature, coastal orientation and depth. Finally, the application in the Azores of this methodology favours a sampling program in Spring-Summer (when disturbance seems to be more susceptible to detection), and the use of H. scoparia in the subtidal zone, as the target alga is recommended due to its large covering of rocky shore substrates.

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Comparison of the community structure of the marine molluscs of the “Banco D. João de Castro” seamount (Azores, Portugal) with that of typical inshore habitats on the Azores archipelago

Cited by 7 publications

References 23 publications

Gold coral (Savalia savaglia) and gorgonian forests enhance benthic biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in the mesophotic zone

Gold coral (Savalia savaglia) and gorgonian forests enhance benthic biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in the mesophotic zone

First Macro-Colonizers and Survivors Around Tagoro Submarine Volcano, Canary Islands, Spain

Patterns of distribution of mollusc fauna associated with Halopteris scoparia (Linnaeus) Sauvageau: a baseline study in the Azores archipelago helps understanding the impact of climate change/invasive species on biodiversity

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