Abstract
A large data set from the Eastern Mediterranean was analyzed to explore the relationship between seawater column variables and benthic community status. Our results showed a strong quantitative link between the seawater column variables (Chlorophyll a and Eutrophication Index) and various indicators describing benthic diversity and community composition. The percentage of benthic opportunistic species increased significantly in the stations with high trophic status of the seawater column and so did the strength of the coupling between values of seawater column and benthic indicators. The Eutrophication Index threshold level of 0.85, separating the “Bad and Poor” from “Moderate to High” conditions could serve as an acceptable critical value above which there is a readily observable change in benthic community composition.
Highlights
Today it is understood that eutrophication is one of the prominent anthropogenic vectors that changes the state of all aquatic ecosystems from the Arctic to the Antarctic [1], with severe ecological and economic consequences
Among a number of definitions for eutrophication (Kitsiou & Karydis [2] reviewed in Karydis [3]), a definition suggested by Ferreira, Andersen
The Multidimensional scaling (MDS) plot (Fig 1) was based on macrobenthic species-abundance data, but the stations were classified into groups according to the Ecological Status of the seawater column, as indicated by the Eutrophication Index (EI) index
Summary
Today it is understood that eutrophication is one of the prominent anthropogenic vectors that changes the state of all aquatic ecosystems from the Arctic to the Antarctic [1], with severe ecological and economic consequences. The diagnosis must be confirmed by an 'undesirable disturbance' to the balance of organisms and seawater quality that may follow from increased production (increased growth, primary production and biomass of algae). It has been subsequently argued [5,6,7] that research on marine coastal eutrophication, despite some recent successful examples, is still in its infancy and there is room for a new paradigm [8] based on the interaction of the components of the highly complex coastal marine ecosystem.
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