scholarly journals Diversity and Distribution Patterns of Hard Bottom Polychaete Assemblages in the North Adriatic Sea (Mediterranean)

Diversity ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. 408
Author(s):  
Barbara Mikac ◽  
Margherita Licciano ◽  
Andrej Jaklin ◽  
Ljiljana Iveša ◽  
Adriana Giangrande ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Adriatic Sea ◽  
Benthic Communities ◽  
Structural Similarity ◽  
Distribution Patterns ◽  
Northern Adriatic Sea ◽  
Environmental Pressures ◽  
Northern Adriatic ◽  
The North ◽  
The Family ◽  
Abundance And Diversity

The knowledge on the hard bottom polychaete assemblages in the Northern Adriatic Sea, a Mediterranean region strongly affected by environmental pressures, is scarce and outdated. The objective of this paper was to update the information on polychaete diversity and depict their patterns of natural spatial variation, in relation to changes in algal coverage at increasing depth. Hard bottom benthos was quantitatively sampled by scraping off the substrate from three stations at Sveti Ivan Island (North Adriatic) at three depths (1.5 m, 5 m and 25 m). Polychaete fauna comprised 107 taxa (the majority of them identified at species level) belonging to 22 families, with the family Syllidae ranking first in terms of number of species, followed by Sabellidae, Nereididae, Eunicidae and Serpulidae. Considering the number of polychaete species and their identity, the present data differed considerably from previous studies carried out in the area. Two alien species, Lepidonotus tenuisetosus, which represented a new record for the Adriatic Sea, and Nereis persica, were recorded. The highest mean abundance, species diversity and internal structural similarity of polychaete assemblages were found at 5 m depth, characterised by complex and heterogeneous algal habitat. The DISTLM forward analysis revealed that the distribution of several algal taxa as well as some algal functional-morphological groups significantly explained the observed distribution patterns of abundance and diversity of polychaete assemblages. The diversity of the North Adriatic hard bottom polychaete fauna is largely underestimated and needs regular updating in order to detect and monitor changes of benthic communities in the area.

scholarly journals Marine Seagrasses Transplantation in Confined and Coastal Adriatic Environments: Methods and Results

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (16) ◽  
pp. 2289
Author(s):  
Daniele Curiel ◽  
Sandra Kraljević Pavelić ◽  
Agata Kovačev ◽  
Chiara Miotti ◽  
Andrea Rismondo
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Zostera Marina ◽  
Adriatic Sea ◽  
Posidonia Oceanica ◽  
Cymodocea Nodosa ◽  
Anthropogenic Pressures ◽  
Northern Adriatic Sea ◽  
Northern Adriatic ◽  
The North ◽  
Over Time

The anthropogenic pressures of the twentieth century have seriously endangered the Mediterranean coastal zone; as a consequence, marine seagrass habitats have strongly retreated, mostly those of Posidonia oceanica. For this reason, over time, restoration programs have been put in place through transplantation activities, with different success. These actions have also been conducted with other Mediterranean marine seagrasses. The results of numerous transplanting operations conducted in the Northern Adriatic Sea and lagoons with Cymodocea nodosa, Zostera marina and Z. noltei and in the Central and Southern Adriatic Sea with P. oceanica (only within the project Interreg SASPAS), are herein presented and compared, taking also into account the presence of extensive meadows of C. nodosa, Z. marina and Z. noltei, along the North Adriatic coasts and lagoons.

scholarly journals European Transport Corridors and North Adriatic Ports

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Helena Bínová ◽  
◽  
Martin Jurkovič
Keyword(s):  
Financial Support ◽  
Central And Eastern Europe ◽  
Adriatic Sea ◽  
Far East ◽  
Northern Adriatic Sea ◽  
Northern Adriatic ◽  
The North ◽  
The Far East ◽  
Sea Ports ◽  
The Eu

From the ports in the northern Adriatic Sea (ports of Ravenna, Venezia, Trieste, Koper, Rijeka) a route from European ports of North Sea to the Far East is shorter by about 2000 nautical miles. It means a reduction of 6 to 8 days in shipping. These ports are reachable from commercial and industrial centers of Central and Eastern Europe. An assessment of the current situation and future development of the European transport corridors North - South, including possible interconnection by multimodal corridors Baltic ports in the north and Adriatic ports in the south, is included in this paper. This corridor is one of the ten basic corridors included in the new conception of the TEN-T European transport network with the assumption of financial support from the EU in the period of 2014-2020. Further, the paper also includes an analysis of a modal assessment (Modal Split) of transport connections of Central Europe with the Far East. The heart of the paper is a proposal of connection of chosen seaports that serve as logistics terminals to current European multimodal corridors and further to proposed multimodal corridors.

scholarly journals Correlation between tides of northern Adriatic sea and hydrodynamics of the karstic aquifer in the Pozzo dei Protei di Monfalcone (Classical Karst)

2020 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rino Semerraro ◽  
Federico Valentinuz ◽  
Maurizio Tavagnutti
Keyword(s):  
Electrical Conductivity ◽  
Groundwater Level ◽  
Adriatic Sea ◽  
Salt Water ◽  
Karst Aquifer ◽  
Chloride Ion ◽  
Northern Adriatic Sea ◽  
Northern Adriatic ◽  
The North ◽  
Mineralized Water

The Pozzo dei Protei di Monfalcone (northeast Italy) is a cavity developed in Cretaceous limestones (Cenomanian-Turonian) situated near the contact of the north-western zone of the Classical Karst with the Lower Plain of the Isonzo/Soča River. At the bottom of the cave is the groundwater at an average altitude of 1.89 m a.s.l. In consideration of the proximity of the cave with the Adriatic Sea, the possible effects of the tides on the karst aquifer were investigated monitoring groundwater level, electrical conductivity (EC, K25) and water temperature using a CTD diver. Groundwater level daily oscillations show a lag of 4–4.5 hours compared to tides. The electrical conductivity variations that can be correlated to tides are 2–5 μS/cm. Excluding that the cave, given the altimetry, is directly affected by the saltwater wedge, the cyclical variations of the EC would derive from the dispersion at the salt water and fresh water interface and from the mobilization of more mineralized water coming from the rock mass. The hypothesis of mixing fresh and salt water and saline fossil waters in the caves of the area has been verified by a general increase in the chloride ion in this area of the karst aquifer compared to the internal areas of Classical Karst.

Micro- and macrofaunal responses to major environmental changes in Holocene highstand sediments from the Northern Adriatic Sea

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michaela Berensmeier ◽  
Adam Tomašových ◽  
Martin Zuschin
Keyword(s):  
Heavy Metal ◽  
Metal Pollution ◽  
Adriatic Sea ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Benthic Communities ◽  
Time Averaging ◽  
Surface Mixed Layer ◽  
Northern Adriatic Sea ◽  
Northern Adriatic ◽  
Ecological Changes

<p>Benthic communities in the Northern Adriatic Sea experienced major environmental and ecological changes during the late Holocene, particularly in the late 20<sup>th</sup> century due to anthropogenic induced stressors such as hypoxic events. These events lead to mass mortalities and changes in benthic communities. Here, we assess stratigraphic changes in bulk sediment geochemistry and sedimentological attributes to quantify the magnitude and timing of environmental changes and to correlate them to ecological changes. We focus on the reconstruction of the micro- to macrobenthic community composition (foraminifera, ostracods, bivalves and gastropods) prior and after major anthropogenic impacts. We investigate the differences in responses of these taxonomic groups to environmental changes and account for the impact of time-averaging.</p><p>The 3-m-long gravity core was collected at 31 m water depth, off the Po prodelta in the western part of the northern Adriatic Sea. The upper 60 cm of the core represent a condensed record determined by sediment bypassing and winnowing during the early and late sea level highstand. In total, 50 shells of the common bivalve <em>Corbula gibba</em> were dated by <sup>14</sup>C-calibrated amino acid racemization (AAR) from the upper 30 cm and plant remains were dated by <sup>14</sup>C from deeper parts. These analyses show that median shell ages of <em>Corbula</em> decline downcore, from ~50 years in the top 2.5 cm to 1,400 years in the 5-7.5 cm increment, 2,900 years in the 10-12.5 cm increment, and 4,500 years in the 17.5-20 cm increment. Median age in the 28-33 cm increment is again 3,600 years, indicating effects of mixing. The youngest shell corresponds to 24 years BP in the top 2.5 cm and the oldest shell to to 7800 years BP at the base at 30 cm.  The 60 cm-long highstand record can be divided in 4 major intervals:</p><p>(1) Early-highstand sediments cover the development of a baseline community. Total abundances of micro-and macrobenthic species increase upwards (2) In the late-highstand sediments (around 12.5-15 cm), micro-and macrobenthic absolute species abundance are highest. Increase in eutrophication and heavy metal pollution is indicated by rising N levels and Pb content in bulk sediments. (3) At 5 cm depth, a major anthropogenic environmental shift indicated by strong pollution (Pb and Hg) and eutrophication (TOC) coincides with a strong decline in micro-and macrobenthic abundance and diversity (4) The surface-mixed layer yields a slight increase in micro-to macrobenthic abundances, next to a slight decrease of heavy metal pollution and eutrophication.</p><p><sup>14</sup>C-calibrated AAR shell ages indicate a relatively limited, centennial time averaging (measured by interquartile age ranges) of <em>Corbula</em> in the uppermost increment but then show a millennial-scale time-averaging below the uppermost surface-mixed layer. This can be linked to a decrease in bioturbation in the 20<sup>th</sup> century and to a slight increase in sedimentation rate. Although the record is affected by time-averaging, the micro-and macrobenthic community abundances show a distinct pattern that can be related to environmental changes from geochemical sediment proxies. Benthic foraminifers, ostracods and mollusks abundance show similar responses to sedimentological and geochemical tracers in these condensed sediments.</p>

scholarly journals Molluscan benthic communities at Brijuni Islands (northern Adriatic Sea) shaped by Holocene sea-level rise and recent human eutrophication and pollution

The Holocene ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (11) ◽  
pp. 1801-1817 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara-Maria Schnedl ◽  
Alexandra Haselmair ◽  
Ivo Gallmetzer ◽  
Anna-Katharina Mautner ◽  
Adam Tomašových ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level ◽  
Adriatic Sea ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Anthropogenic Impacts ◽  
Benthic Communities ◽  
Marine Species ◽  
Benthic Assemblages ◽  
Northern Adriatic Sea ◽  
Northern Adriatic ◽  
The Impact

The effects of and the interplay between natural and anthropogenic influences on the composition of benthic communities over long time spans are poorly understood. Based on a 160-cm-long sediment core collected at 44 m water depth in the NE Adriatic Sea (Brijuni Islands, Croatia), we document changes in molluscan communities since the Holocene transgression ~11,000 years ago and assess how they were shaped by environmental changes. We find that (1) a transgressive lag deposit with a mixture of terrestrial and marine species contains abundant seagrass-associated gastropods and epifaunal suspension-feeding bivalves, (2) the maximum-flooding phase captures the establishment of epifaunal bivalve-dominated biostromes in the photic zone, and (3) the highstand phase is characterized by increasing infaunal suspension feeders and declining seagrass-dwellers in bryozoan-molluscan muddy sands. Changes in the community composition between the transgressive and the highstand phase can be explained by rising sea level, reduced light penetration, and increase in turbidity, as documented by the gradual up-core shift from coarse molluscan skeletal gravel with seagrass-associated molluscs to bryozoan sandy muds. In the uppermost 20 cm (median age <200 years), however, epifaunal and grazing species decline and deposit-feeding and chemosymbiotic species increase in abundance. These changes concur with rising concentrations of nitrogen and organic pollutants due to the impact of eutrophication, pollution, and trawling in the 20th century. The late highstand benthic assemblages with abundant bryozoans, high molluscan diversity, and abundance of soft-bottom epi- and infaunal filter feeders and herbivores represent the circalittoral baseline community largely unaffected by anthropogenic impacts.

scholarly journals Long-term changes in abundance and diversity of tintinnids in the Gulf of Trieste (Northern Adriatic Sea)

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 ◽  
pp. 373-395 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marina Monti-Birkenmeier ◽  
Tommaso Diociaiuti ◽  
Serena Fonda Umani
Keyword(s):  
Adriatic Sea ◽  
Abiotic Factors ◽  
Keystone Species ◽  
Abundant Species ◽  
Northern Adriatic Sea ◽  
Northern Adriatic ◽  
Gulf Of Trieste ◽  
Key Species ◽  
Abundance And Diversity ◽  
Species Specific

Abundance and composition of the planktonic tintinnid ciliates were studied in the Gulf of Trieste (Northern Adriatic Sea, NE Mediterranean Sea) from July 1998 to July 2016. Tintinnids were collected biweekly-monthly from the LTER station C1 (200 m offshore, 17.5 m depth) at four depths (surface, 5 m, 10 m and 15 m). The maximum tintinnid abundance reached 4476 ind. L-1 at surface in February 2016. The tintinnid community comprised a maximum of 35 species and was dominated by the genera Stenosemella, Tintinnopsis, Codonellopsis, Salpingella and Eutintinnus. The most abundant species were Stenosemellanivalis, Tintinnopsisnana, Codonellopsisschabi, Salpingellarotundata and Eutintinnusapertus. We found a species-specific correlation with the abiotic factors considered, i.e., temperature and salinity. Temperature was positively correlated with S.rotundata and E.apertus and negatively with S.nivalis. Salinity was negatively correlated with the majority of the detected species. Agglutinated species presented winter maxima while hyaline species showed higher abundance in summer-autumn. Some key species were present over the whole period studied. Significant differences within the water column were not seen in the species composition, but were seen in the relative abundances of the same species at different depths. Stenosemellanivalis, S.ventricosa and Tintinnopsisberoidea can be considered as keystone species in the area and their possible loss can be seen as a signal of changes in the structure of the entire planktonic system.

scholarly journals Merging the cryptic genera Radicilingua and Calonitophyllum (Delesseriaceae, Rhodophyta): molecular phylogeny and taxonomic revision

ALGAE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 165-174
Author(s):  
Marion A. Wolf ◽  
Katia Sciuto ◽  
Christine A. Maggs ◽  
Antonella Petrocelli ◽  
Ester Cecere ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Adriatic Sea ◽  
Phylogenetic Reconstruction ◽  
Taxonomic Revision ◽  
Molecular Data ◽  
Morphological Description ◽  
Northern Adriatic Sea ◽  
Northern Adriatic ◽  
The Family ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
A New Species

Radicilingua Papenfuss and Calonitophyllum Aregood are two small genera of the family Delesseriaceae that consist of only three and one taxonomically accepted species, respectively. The type species of these genera, Radicilingua thysanorhizans from England and Calonitophyllum medium from the Americas, are morphologically very similar, with the only recognized differences being vein size and procarp development. To date, only other two species were recognized inside the genus Radicilingua: R. adriatica and R. reptans. In this study, we analysed specimens of Radicilingua collected in the Adriatic and Ionian Sea (Mediterranean), including a syntype locality of R. adriatica (Trieste, northern Adriatic Sea), alongside material from near the type locality of R. thysanorhizans (Torpoint, Cornwall, UK). The sequences of the rbcL-5P gene fragment here produced represent the first molecular data available for the genus Radicilingua. Phylogenetic reconstruction showed that the specimens from the Adriatic and Ionian Seas were genetically distinct from the Atlantic R. thysanorhizans, even if morphologically overlapping with this species. A detailed morphological description of the Mediterranean specimens, together with an accurate literature search, suggested that they were distinct also from R. adriatica and R. reptans. For these reasons, a new species was here described to encompass the Mediterranean specimens investigated in this study: R. mediterranea Wolf, Sciuto & Sfriso. Moreover, in the rbcL-5P tree, sequences of the genera Radicilingua and Calonitophyllum grouped in a well-supported clade, distinct from the other genera of the subfamily Nitophylloideae, leading us to propose that Calonitophyllum medium should be transferred to Radicilingua.

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