Meiobenthic communities in the shallow subtidal of three Italian Marine Protected Areas

Abstract

Meiofauna assemblages of three Italian Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), Miramare (Trieste, Friuli-Venezia Giulia), Porto Cesareo (Lecce, Apulia) and Capo Caccia (Sassari, Sardinia), were investigated. Sediment samples were collected during summer 2005 in the shallow subtidal (1-4 m depth). The meiofauna was primarily represented by Nematoda and Copepoda. The results showed that significant differences in meiofauna communities abundances were found among the three Italian MPAs, and in particular between Capo Caccia and Porto Cesareo (3840 ± 422 SE individuals·10 cm -2 at Miramare, 5716 ± 857 SE ind.·10 cm -2 in Porto Cesareo, and 1063 ± 289 SE ind.·10 cm -2 in Capo Caccia). These differences were mainly due to a clear change in nematodes and copepods abundances in the two MPAs. Meiofauna diversity was not significantly different among the three MPAs. The analysis on nematode communities showed a dominance of deposit feeders in Porto Cesareo (Anoplostoma, Daptonema and Theristus), while in the marine reserves of Miramare and Capo Caccia epigrowth feeding nematodes, and predators/omnivores were dominant (Mesacanthion, Marylynnia). The results reported here represent a new contribution to the knowledge of the Mediterranean meiofauna and nematode assemblages structure and composition.

Meio- and macrofauna in the marine area of the Monte St. Bartolo Natural Park (Central Adriatic Sea, Italy)

“…The number and composition of the meiofaunal taxa recorded in the study area are comparable with data reported for other Italian areas of high naturalistic value (Sandulli et al 2010). The most abundant taxa, which are nematodes and polychaetes, are commonly considered to be tolerant groups (Vidakovic 1983;Moreno et al 2011).…”

“…Protection and management programmes are required to conserve the coastal areas and their communities, with a special focus on the most sensitive and vulnerable environments. Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are effective tools with which to achieve national and international conservation plans that help to reduce biodiversity loss (Sandulli et al 2010(Sandulli et al , 2011. Indeed, three MPAs have been established in the Italian part of the Adriatic Sea, and another three will be created shortly.…”

Marine Nematodes from the Shallow Subtidal Coast of the Adriatic Sea: Species List and Distribution

“…Despite their great ecological importance [6], the knowledge of the nematodes in the Adriatic has changed a little, except for data reported by some ecological studies where nematode identi�cation is mostly limited to the genus level [21][22][23][24][25][26].…”

The influence of submarine groundwater discharges on subtidal meiofauna assemblages in south Portugal (Algarve)

“…Albertelli et al, 1999;Rodríguez et al, 2001;Gheskiere et al, 2005;Kotwicki et al, 2005aKotwicki et al, , 2005bLeonardis et al, 2008;Gomes and Filho, 2009;Sandulli et al, 2010). Our average meiofauna abundances (1.5 Â 10 4 ind m…”