Mediterranean Atlantic Species Research Articles

Tanaidacea (Crustacea: Malacostraca: Peracarida) from soft-sediment shelf habitats off the Mediterranean coast of Israel (Levant Sea) –taxonomy, faunistics and ecological aspects

A 74-year zoogeographic and faunistic description of the shelf soft substrate peracaridan Tanaidacea along the Israeli coast, the eastern-most part of the Mediterranean, is provided here. The presence of three apseudomorphan and ten tanaidomorphanfamilies, with 28 species, is recorded, of which four are reported from the region for the first time, and five are new species in the genera Araphura, Nippognathiopsis, Paratyphlotanais, and Typhlotanais. In addition, a new genus is established for Akanthophoreus nanopsenos, Leptochelia tanykeraia is redescribed, and the presence of Chondrochelia savignyi is demonstrated. The tanaid shelf community essentially belongs to the Mediterranean zoogeographic province but has several Mediterranean-Atlantic species. Lessepsian (Erythrean) migration is currently indicated by the presence of one species, the Indo-Pacific kalliapseudid Cristapseudes omercooperi, which has established a population in the studied area. Its settlement strategy is demonstrated and discussed. The poor Indo-Pacific representation is possibly due to the lack of planktonic larvae in this peracarid group, reducing the chance of dispersion or transport from the Indo-Pacific realm via the Suez Canal.

Elucidating distributional and ecological patterns of the rare Mediterranean-Atlantic species Petalophyllum ralfsii in Europe following its first record on the Adriatic coast (Croatia)

Šegota, V., Rimac, A., Koletić, N., Vuković, N. & Alegro, A. 2020. Elucidating distributional and ecological patterns of the rare Mediterranean-Atlantic species Petalophyllum ralfsii in Europe following its first record on the Adriatic coast (Croatia). – Herzogia 33: 275 –290.The Mediterranean-Atlantic bryophyte Petalophyllum ralfsii was discovered on Cape Kamenjak (Istrian Peninsula) as a first record of this rare liverwort in Croatia. It was found in a partly shaded, open calcareous microhabitat within evergreen vegetation with periodically persistent humidity and low-level disturbance, which largely corresponds to other Mediterranean records. No more than a hundred localities are known in Europe, extending from the British Isles, Portugal and the Balearic Islands to Italy, Malta, Greece and Cyprus. Our analyses show that P. ralfsii prefers lower and more maritime positions on the Atlantic coast, while Mediterranean populations favour higher and more inland locations. Based on climatic data analysed, the precipitation of the wettest period largely overlaps in both geographic areas, which corresponds with the observed period, in which the species benefits from humid conditions. Moreover, frost seems to be the limiting factor determining the European distribution of the species.

Minute but constant morphological differences within members of Stenothoidae: the Stenothoe gallensis group with four new members, keys to Stenothoe worldwide, a new species of Parametopa and Sudanea n. gen. (Crustacea: Amphipoda)

The hitherto-known species of Stenothoe are grouped by their distribution. A key for Mediterranean–Atlantic species is given. To the so-called Stenothoe gallensis group (until now, four species), four others are added: S. andamanensis, S. clavetta, S. himyara and S. senegalensis, all new to science. Knowledge of Stenothoe aucklandica, frecanda, macrophthalma, valida and verrucosa is amended. The studied material also yields both a new species of Parametopa (P. gorea n. sp.) and a new genus (Sudanea n. gen.) with S. inopinata n. sp.http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:23C8BB82-5CC1-40B2-BED9-431AA55901B9

Addition to the lichen flora of Russia. III. Thelopsis isiaca (Stictidaceae) and notes on Thelopsis in the Caucasus

Suboceanic species Thelopsis isiaca Stizenb. and T. rubella Nyl. are reported for the first time for Russia from the Caucasian Black Sea Coast (Krasnodar Territory). Detailed description, habitat characteristic, ecology and general distribution of Mediterranean-Atlantic species T. isiaca are presented. This species grows on the trunk of Juniperus excelsa in the sub-Mediterranean xerothermic undisturbed pistacia-juniper habitats on the Abrau peninsula, Nature Reserve «Utrish». Notes on the Caucasian species of Thelopsis Nyl. (T. flaveola Arnold, T. isiaca, T. melathelia Nyl., T. rubella) are given, and a key to the species is provided.

Short-term effects on sheep pastureland due to grazing abandonment in a Western Mediterranean island ecosystem: A multidisciplinary approach

Changes of pasture communities consequent to management practices resulting from land abandonment considerably affect the structure and function of the ecosystem. This study analyses the consequences of grazing abandonment in terms of plant and soil microbial diversity and fertility, on a Mediterranean upland sheep pasture, over a short period (five years). Grazing was experimentally excluded by fencing ten 10×10 m permanent plots within an area that had supported grazing until 2000, by 0.23 sheep ha −1. Plant and soil microbial communities and physicochemical parameters were monitored within the fenced and unfenced control plots, during three sampling times from 2000 (before the fencing) to 2005. Grazing cessation notably altered the floral composition, with an average dissimilarity of 96.7% between the vegetation communities, over five years. No significant change occurred in the control plots that were grazed throughout the sampling period. This work highlighted that, over a short term, the structural change in the specific plant composition affected only the grass species, confirming that grazing favours the small-sized species over the annual species. Further, it was evident that species groups of conservational and phytogeographic interest, like the endemic and Mediterranean-Atlantic species, tended to disappear with pasture abandonment and were substituted by more widespread species throughout the Mediterranean or even the world. Pasture abandonment was accompanied by an increase of soil pH and a decrease in soil organic matter and soil nitrogen. The microbial parameters recorded at three different sampling times revealed a substantial effect of the plant community, or the time of grazing abandonment, on soil microbial abundance and diversity. Considerable importance is given to the consequences of pasture abandonment on the conservation of plant and microbial diversity and on soil fertility.

The Atlantic elements in the Swiss flora: distribution, diversity, and conservation status

The purpose of this study was to examine the composition, distribution, ecology, and conservation status of the Atlantic elements of the Swiss flora. About 195 Atlantic and 80 Mediterranean–Atlantic vascular plant species of the European flora have been used as the basis for our analysis. The complete list of 3,143 taxa has been used as the reference for the Swiss flora. The distributions of the species are illustrated in coincidence maps based on the computer database of the Data Centre of the Swiss Flora in Geneva, Switzerland. Our study demonstrates clearly that the Atlantic flora of Europe requires a new biogeographical appraisal. The Swiss flora comprises 66 Atlantic and Mediterranean–Atlantic taxa, which are taxonomically and ecologically highly diverse. Switzerland contains 44% of all European Sub-Atlantic plants. This confirms the Sub-Atlantic geographical position of Switzerland. Only one Eu-Atlantic species growing in Switzerland, Vicia orobus, can be classified as native with certainty. This species is critically endangered and merits the highest conservation priority. Although a very alpine country, Switzerland has a relatively large number of Mediterranean–Atlantic species. The Atlantic and Mediterranean–Atlantic plants are a very threatened group in Switzerland, with wetland plants the most imperilled ecological group.

Stability in Mediterranean-Atlantic sessile epifaunal communities at the northern limits of their range

A marine monitoring programme was established by the UK Nature Conservancy Council in 1984 at the Lundy and Isles of Scilly proposed marine nature reserves in southwest England to help determine their management requirements. The aim was to provide information on important marine habitats, longterm changes in community structure and the life history (particularly longevity and growth rales) and ecology of species of high nature conservation interest. The benthic studies mainly concentrated on communities of Mediterranean-Atlantic species which are at or near the northern limits of their distribution in the study sites. Many of the species and communities studied are very stable, long-lived and slow recruiting. They are, therefore, also vulnerable to damage. Southern species of cup corals were found to grow slowly and reproduce very infrequently, with populations showing a general decline during the study period. Species of sponges and southern soft corals also typically displayed very slow growth. Periods of above or below average sea water temperature arc considered to be particularly important factors affecting the persistence of Mediterranean-Atlantic species, with higher temperatures linked with recruitment events in scleractinians and unusually cold temperatures appearing to stop growth or even cause contraction in colony size or death in some species, such as certain sponges. The results illustrate the importance of abnormal climate years on species at the geographical limits of their distribution. The extreme stability of these communities of high nature conservation interest has implications for reserve management. Because of their poor capacity for recovery, long-lived and slowly recruiting Mediterranean-Atlantic species are considered to be particularly vulnerable to minor and infrequent damage, which might readily be overlooked in other communities, as well as to more major and widespread damaging events. Monitoring at Lundy and the Isles of Scilly will act as important control sites for monitoring work in the marine environment elsewhere around Britain.