Abstract
AbstractAimUnderstanding and quantifying the seasonal patterns in biodiversity of phytobenthos, macro‐zoobenthos and fishes in Mediterranean coastal lagoons, and the species dependence upon environmental factors.LocationThe study was carried out in the “Stagnone di Marsala e Saline di Trapani e Paceco,” the largest coastal lagoon system in the central Mediterranean Sea (Sicily, Italy), a Special Protection Area located along one of the central ecological corridors joining Africa and Europe.MethodsThe coastal lagoon system was selected as a model ecosystem to investigate the seasonal variations in biodiversity indices and dominance–diversity relationships in phytobenthos, macro‐zoobenthos and fishes, and how seasonal variations in temperature, salinity, depth, inorganic and organic suspended matter affect the abundance of the species constituting these communities. Models of ecosystem structure, describing the interactions among functional groups and environmental variables, were also developed using confirmatory path analysis and artificial neural networks to exemplify their application in predicting temperature‐driven alterations.ResultsWide seasonal variations in biodiversity indices and dominance–diversity relationships across the communities of the coastal lagoon system were observed, driven by the dynamics in climate and resource availability. The effects of the environmental variables on taxon abundances varied in relation to the community, with the widest responses elicited in phytobenthos and fishes. Temperature was the main variable affecting taxon abundances in macro‐zoobenthos and was also the major driver of shallow water ecosystem structure.Main conclusionsThis research shed light on the seasonal variations in biodiversity of Mediterranean coastal lagoons, elucidating also the tight dependence of phytobenthos, macro‐zoobenthos and fish diversity upon environmental factors. The findings and the methodological approach proposed may be crucial in developing models able to predict future climate‐driven alterations in communities inhabiting these important and threatened ecosystems.
Highlights
Understanding the effects of climate change on biodiversity is crucial to predict future changes in ecosystem structure and functioning (Bulling et al, 2010; Isbell et al, 2011)
The coastal lagoon system was selected as a model ecosystem to investigate the seasonal variations in biodiversity indices and dominance–diversity relationships in phytobenthos, macro‐zoobenthos and fishes, and how seasonal variations in temperature, salinity, depth, inorganic and organic suspended matter affect the abundance of the species constituting these communities
To study the relationships among biotic and abiotic components, we focused on the major communities and on the main physicochemical variables
Summary
Understanding the effects of climate change on biodiversity is crucial to predict future changes in ecosystem structure and functioning (Bulling et al, 2010; Isbell et al, 2011). Shallow waters can be data replete as they host large‐scale studies measuring community biodiversity (Bintz, Nixon, Buckley, & Granger, 2003; Grenz et al, 2017) and a large number of environmental variables, allowing to investigate the driving processes of biodiversity variations These systems are ideal to develop new avenues for predicting ecosystem responses at scales that are relevant to biodiversity management and conservation in the context of global climate change (Albouy et al, 2015; Petes, Howard, Helmuth, & Fly, 2014). While our ability to provide future predictions is increasing at functional levels with the recent introduction of mechanistic individual trait‐based bioenergetic models (e.g., Kearney & Porter, 2009; Sarà, Palmeri, Rinaldi, Montalto, & Helmuth, 2013; Sarà, Rinaldi, & Montalto, 2014; Sarà, Mangano, Johnson, & Mazzola, 2018), quantifying changes in community structure and biodiversity is more complex and challenging (Bellard et al, 2012; Best et al, 2015). We exemplify a possible modelling approach, based on the relationships among communities and environmental variables, developing future scenarios for the changes in coastal lagoon ecosystems driven by the environmental conditions expected under climate change
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