scholarly journals Integrating local ecological knowledge, citizen science and long‐term historical data for endangered species conservation: Additional records of angel sharks (Chondrichthyes: Squatinidae) in the Mediterranean Sea

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (6) ◽  
pp. 881-890 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ioannis Giovos ◽  
Vasilis‐Orestis Stoilas ◽  
Sara AA Al‐Mabruk ◽  
Nikolaos Doumpas ◽  
Philippos Marakis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Endangered Species ◽  
Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Citizen Science ◽  
Historical Data ◽  
Local Ecological Knowledge ◽  
Species Conservation ◽  
Ecological Knowledge ◽  
The Mediterranean

scholarly journals The shifting distribution of Mediterranean fishes: a spatio-temporal assessment based on Local Ecological Knowledge .

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ernesto Azzurro ◽  
Valerio Sbragaglia ◽  
Jacopo Cerri ◽  
Michel Bariche ◽  
Luca Bolognini ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Temporal Dynamics ◽  
Local Ecological Knowledge ◽  
Rapid Change ◽  
Species Abundance ◽  
Global Ocean ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Ecological Knowledge ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
Spatio Temporal

A major problem worldwide is the rapid change in species abundance and distribution, which is rapidly restructuring the biological communities of many ecosystems under changing climates. Tracking these transformations in the marine environment is crucial but our understanding is often hampered by the absence of historical data and by the practical challenge of survey large geographical areas. Here we focus on the Mediterranean Sea, a region which is warming faster than the rest of the global ocean, tracing back the spatio-temporal dynamic of species, which are emerging the most in terms of increasing abundances and expanding distributions. To this aim, we accessed the Local Ecological Knowledge (LEK) of small-scale and recreational fishers reconstructing the dynamics of fish perceived as ‘new’ or increasing in different fishing area. Over 500 fishers across 95 locations and 9 different countries were interviewed and semi-quantitative information on yearly changes in species abundance was collected. Overall, 75 species were mentioned by the respondents, being the most frequent citations related to warm-adapted species of both, native and exotic origin. Respondents belonging to the same biogeographic sectors described coherent spatio-temporal dynamics, and gradients along latitudinal and longitudinal axes were revealed. This information provides a more complete understanding of recent bio-geographical changes in the Mediterranean Sea and it also demonstrates that adequately structured LEK methodology might be applied successfully beyond the local scale, across national borders and jurisdictions. Acknowledging this potential through macro-regional coordination, could pave the ground for future large-scale aggregations of individual observations, increasing our potential for integrated monitoring and conservation planning at the regional or even global level.

scholarly journals The use of fishers’ Local Ecological Knowledge to reconstruct fish behavioural traits and fishers’ perception of conservation relevance of elasmobranchs in the Mediterranean Sea

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 603
Author(s):  
MATTEO BARBATO ◽  
CLAUDIO BARRÍA ◽  
ANDREA BELLODI ◽  
SARA BONANOMI ◽  
DIEGO BORME ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Anthropogenic Impacts ◽  
Local Ecological Knowledge ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Marine Species ◽  
Ecological Knowledge ◽  
Elasmobranch Species ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
Conservation Plans

The Mediterranean Sea has a long-lasting history of fishery exploitation that, together with other anthropogenic impacts, has led to declines in several marine organisms. In particular, elasmobranch populations have been severely impacted, with drastic decreases in abundance and species diversity. Based on their experience, fishers can provide information on marine species occurrence, abundance and behavioural traits on a long-term scale, therefore contributing to research on the poorly studied biological aspects of elusive or rare elasmobranch species. In this study, for the first time, the use of the Local Ecological Knowledge (LEK) of fishers was applied to study the behavioural traits of sharks, rays and skates in 12 FAO-GFCM geographical sub-areas (GSAs) of the Mediterranean Sea. This study found both new insight and proved the reliability of LEK-based catch seasonality, reflecting seasonal movements, by comparing LEK-based findings and available literature on five elasmobranch taxa (Mustelus spp., Squalus acanthias, Raja spp., Myliobatis aquila and Scyliorhinus stellaris) in the Adriatic Sea and 7 taxa (Mustelus spp., Raja spp., Prionace glauca, Scyliorhinus canicula, Torpedo spp., Pteroplatytrygon violacea and Isurus oxyrinchus) in the remaining Mediterranean GSAs. In addition, LEK provided new insights into a novel comprehensive representation of species aggregations (Mustelus spp., S. acanthias, M. aquila and S. canicula) in the sampled GSAs and supplied the first descriptions of the size, number of individuals and sex composition of the aggregations. When the limits and shortcomings of LEK-based research are considered, this methodology can be a complementary and cost-effective tool used to study elasmobranchs in either a data-poor scenario or a scenario in which a baseline is missing. LEK can also be useful for the evaluation and inclusion of fishers’ perceptions on bottom-up management and to provide important evidence for conservation plans.

scholarly journals Long-term monitoring programme of the hydrological variability in the Mediterranean Sea: a first overview of the HYDROCHANGES network

Ocean Science ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 301-324 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Schroeder ◽  
C. Millot ◽  
L. Bengara ◽  
S. Ben Ismail ◽  
M. Bensi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Time Series ◽  
Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Sampling Interval ◽  
Global Changes ◽  
Hydrological Variability ◽  
Long Term Monitoring ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Term Monitoring

Abstract. The long-term monitoring of basic hydrological parameters (temperature and salinity), collected as time series with adequate temporal resolution (i.e. with a sampling interval allowing the resolution of all important timescales) in key places of the Mediterranean Sea (straits and channels, zones of dense water formation, deep parts of the basins), constitute a priority in the context of global changes. This led CIESM (The Mediterranean Science Commission) to support, since 2002, the HYDROCHANGES programme (http//www.ciesm.org/marine/programs/hydrochanges.htm), a network of autonomous conductivity, temperature, and depth (CTD) sensors, deployed on mainly short and easily manageable subsurface moorings, within the core of a certain water mass. The HYDROCHANGES strategy is twofold and develops on different scales. To get information about long-term changes of hydrological characteristics, long time series are needed. But before these series are long enough they allow the detection of links between them at shorter timescales that may provide extremely valuable information about the functioning of the Mediterranean Sea. The aim of this paper is to present the history of the programme and the current set-up of the network (monitored sites, involved groups) as well as to provide for the first time an overview of all the time series collected under the HYDROCHANGES umbrella, discussing the results obtained thanks to the programme.

scholarly journals Mediterranean Sea climatic indices: monitoring long term variability and climate changes

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Athanasia Iona ◽  
Athanasios Theodorou ◽  
Sarantis Sofianos ◽  
Sylvain Watelet ◽  
Charles Troupin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Time Series ◽  
Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Climate Changes ◽  
Salt Content ◽  
Climatic Indices ◽  
In Situ Observations ◽  
The Mediterranean

Abstract. We present a new product composed of a set of thermohaline climatic indices from 1950 to 2015 for the Mediterranean Sea such as decadal temperature and salinity anomalies, their mean values over selected depths, decadal ocean heat and salt content anomalies at selected depth layers as well as their long times series. It is produced from a new high-resolution climatology of temperature and salinity on a 1/8° regular grid based on historical high quality in situ observations. Ocean heat and salt content differences between 1980–2015 and 1950–1979 are compared for evaluation of the climate shift in the Mediterranean Sea. The spatial patterns of heat and salt content shifts demonstrate in greater detail than ever before that the climate changes differently in the several regions of the basin. Long time series of heat and salt content for the period 1950 to 2015 are also provided which indicate that in the Mediterranean Sea there is a net mean volume warming and salting since 1950 with acceleration during the last two decades. The time series also show that the ocean heat content seems to fluctuate on a cycle of about 40 years and seems to follow the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation climate cycle indicating that the natural large scale atmospheric variability could be superimposed on to the warming trend. This product is an observations-based estimation of the Mediterranean climatic indices. It relies solely on spatially interpolated data produced from in-situ observations averaged over decades in order to smooth the decadal variability and reveal the long term trends with more accuracy. It can provide a valuable contribution to the modellers' community, next to the satellite-based products and serve as a baseline for the evaluation of climate-change model simulations contributing thus to a better understanding of the complex response of the Mediterranean Sea to the ongoing global climate change. The product is available here: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1210100.

scholarly journals Sponge community variation along the Apulian coasts (Otranto Strait) over a pluri-decennial time span. Does water warming drive a sponge diversity increasing in the Mediterranean Sea?

2019 ◽  
Vol 99 (7) ◽  
pp. 1519-1534 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriele Costa ◽  
Giorgio Bavestrello ◽  
Valerio Micaroni ◽  
Maurizio Pansini ◽  
Francesca Strano ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Benthic Communities ◽  
Time Span ◽  
Biodiversity Monitoring ◽  
Sponge Diversity ◽  
Community Variation ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
Changes Over Time ◽  
Mass Mortalities

AbstractClimate change and heavy anthropic pressures are giving rise to important modifications in the rocky benthic communities of the Mediterranean Sea. In particular, sponge assemblages have been deeply affected due to the susceptibility of some species to dramatic phenomena such as mass mortalities or widespread variations in the abundance of other species. For this reason, long-term biodiversity monitoring of the sponge assemblages is important for understanding the direction of changes over time. We studied the sponge fauna living off Tricase Porto (Otranto Strait) and compared its composition with the results of a study conducted in the same area 50 years ago. The comparison indicated that the sponge diversity of this area has strongly increased in the last 50 years and a large number of the sponges recorded in the old survey are still present in the recent community. This evidence matches with other results obtained from different localities of the Mediterranean Sea indicating an increase of sponge diversity, possibly due to the present water warming. The description of two new Demosponge species, Diplastrella boeroi sp. nov. and Spirastrella angulata sp. nov., is also provided.

scholarly journals Vulnerable Forests of the Pink Sea Fan Eunicella verrucosa in the Mediterranean Sea

Diversity ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 176 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giovanni Chimienti
Keyword(s):  
Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Citizen Science ◽  
New Records ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Science Data ◽  
Ligurian Sea ◽  
New Finding ◽  
Commercial Value ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
Sea Fan

The pink sea fan Eunicella verrucosa (Cnidaria, Anthozoa, Alcyonacea) can form coral forests at mesophotic depths in the Mediterranean Sea. Despite the recognized importance of these habitats, they have been scantly studied and their distribution is mostly unknown. This study reports the new finding of E. verrucosa forests in the Mediterranean Sea, and the updated distribution of this species that has been considered rare in the basin. In particular, one site off Sanremo (Ligurian Sea) was characterized by a monospecific population of E. verrucosa with 2.3 ± 0.2 colonies m−2. By combining new records, literature, and citizen science data, the species is believed to be widespread in the basin with few or isolated colonies, and 19 E. verrucosa forests were identified. The overall associated community showed how these coral forests are essential for species of conservation interest, as well as for species of high commercial value. For this reason, proper protection and management strategies are necessary.

scholarly journals Stochastic bioeconomic modelling of alternative management measures for anchovy in the Mediterranean Sea

2010 ◽  
Vol 67 (6) ◽  
pp. 1291-1300 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christos D. Maravelias ◽  
Richard Hillary ◽  
John Haralabous ◽  
Efthymia V. Tsitsika
Keyword(s):  
Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Aegean Sea ◽  
Optimal Level ◽  
Fishing Mortality ◽  
Alternative Management ◽  
Management Measures ◽  
Bioeconomic Modelling ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
Age Structured

Abstract Maravelias, C. D., Hillary, R., Haralabous, J., and Tsitsika, E. V. 2010. Stochastic bioeconomic modelling of alternative management measures for anchovy in the Mediterranean Sea. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 67: 1291–1300. The purse-seine fishery for anchovy in the Aegean Sea consists of two main fleet segments (12–24 and 24–40 m vessels); this paper investigates economically and biologically preferable effort and capacity scenarios for the fishery. Attention is paid to a bioeconomic analysis of fleets composed of segments with varying levels of efficiency (in terms of catch rate) and costs (fixed and variable) and the role this might play in optimal effort allocation at a fleet level. An age-structured stochastic bioeconomic operating model for Aegean anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus) is constructed. It attempts to account robustly for the multiple uncertainties in the system, including (i) the effort–fishing mortality relationship, (ii) the selectivity, and (iii) the stock–recruit dynamics of the population. A method is proposed for determining the economically optimal level of long-term effort in a fishery such as this, with similar characteristics in terms of stock dynamics, fishery, and markets. Lower values of effort and capacity are predicted to yield greater future profit when viewing the fleet in its entirety, but even lower values may be advisable to maintain the long-term biological integrity of the stock. The results may prove useful in balancing the productivity of the stock with the harvesting capacity of the fleet, while managing to ensure the long-term profitability of the fleet along with the sustainability of the resource.

scholarly journals Mediterranean Tropical-Like Cyclones in Present and Future Climate

2014 ◽  
Vol 27 (19) ◽  
pp. 7493-7501 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leone Cavicchia ◽  
Hans von Storch ◽  
Silvio Gualdi
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Tropical Cyclones ◽  
Dynamical Evolution ◽  
Climate Change Scenarios ◽  
Moderate Increase ◽  
High Resolution Data ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
The One

Abstract The Mediterranean has been identified as one of the most responsive regions to climate change. It has been conjectured that one of the effects of a warmer climate could be to make the Mediterranean Sea prone to the formation of hurricanes. Already in the present climate regime, however, a few of the numerous low pressure systems that form in the area develop a dynamical evolution similar to the one of tropical cyclones. Even if their spatial extent is generally smaller and the life cycle shorter compared to tropical cyclones, such storms produce severe damage on the highly populated coastal areas surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. This study, based on the analysis of individual realistically simulated storms in homogeneous long-term and high-resolution data from multiple climate change scenarios, shows that the projected effect of climate change on Mediterranean tropical-like cyclones is decreased frequency and a tendency toward a moderate increase of intensity.

scholarly journals Integrating ecological monitoring and local ecological knowledge to evaluate conservation outcomes

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle-María Early-Capistrán ◽  
Elena Solana-Arellano ◽  
F. Alberto Abreu-Grobois ◽  
Gerardo Garibay-Melo ◽  
Jeffrey A. Seminoff ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gulf Of California ◽  
Local Ecological Knowledge ◽  
Chelonia Mydas ◽  
Ecological Monitoring ◽  
Monitoring Data ◽  
Ecological Knowledge ◽  
Population Declines ◽  
Conservation Actions ◽  
Ecological Science

Successful conservation of long-lived species requires reliable understanding of long-term trends and historical baselines. Using a green turtle (Chelonia mydas) foraging aggregation in the northern Gulf of California, Mexico as case study, we integrated scientific monitoring data with historic catch rate reconstructions derived from Local Ecological Knowledge (LEK). Models fit to LEK and monitoring data indicate that turtle abundance is increasing, but only after ~40 years of safeguarding the species' nesting and foraging habitats in Mexico. However, as population declines occurred 75% faster than increases, and current abundance is at ~60% of historical baseline levels, indicating the need for sustained, long-term conservation actions. This study demonstrates the potential of linking LEK and ecological science to provide critical information for conservation, by establishing reference baselines and gauging population status, while promoting equitable and sustainable futures for local communities.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document