Spatial distribution patterns of the soft corals Alcyonium acaule and Alcyonium palmatum in coastal bottoms (Cap de Creu
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ORIGINAL PAPER
Spatial distribution patterns of the soft corals Alcyonium acaule and Alcyonium palmatum in coastal bottoms (Cap de Creus, northwestern Mediterranean Sea) Stefano Ambroso • Andrea Gori • Carlos Dominguez-Carrio´ Josep-Maria Gili • Elisa Berganzo • Nu´ria Teixido´ • Michael Greenacre • Sergio Rossi
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Received: 20 February 2013 / Accepted: 9 July 2013 / Published online: 4 August 2013 Ó Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013
Abstract Current knowledge on the abundance and distribution patterns of different soft coral species is relatively limited when compared to other benthic suspension feeders such as gorgonians and hard coral species. To overcome this scarcity of information, the distribution patterns of the soft corals Alcyonium acaule and Alcyonium palmatum were investigated in northwestern Mediterranean benthic communities over a wide geographical (60 km of coastline) and bathymetrical (0–70 m depth) extent using a remotely operated vehicle. A. acaule was the most abundant species in the study area with highest recorded density of 18 col m-2 found at depths of 35–45 m in areas that are Communicated by M. G. Chapman.
Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00227-013-2295-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. S. Ambroso (&) A. Gori C. Dominguez-Carrio´ J.-M. Gili N. Teixido´ Institut de Cie`ncies del Mar, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientı´ficas (ICM-CSIC), Passeig Marı´tim de la Barceloneta 37-49, 08003 Barcelona, Spain e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected] E. Berganzo Centre de Recerca Ecolo`gica i Aplicacions Forestals, Universitat Auto`noma de Barcelona, UAB Campus Cn s/n, Cerdanyola del Valle`s, 08193 Barcelona, Spain M. Greenacre Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, and Barcelona Graduate School of Economics, Ramon Trias Fargas 25-27, 08005 Barcelona, Spain S. Rossi Institut de Cie`ncia i Tecnologia Ambientals, Universitat Auto`noma de Barcelona, UAB Campus Cn s/n, Cerdanyola del Valle`s, 08193 Barcelona, Spain
directly exposed to strong near-bottom currents. Conversely, A. palmatum was only found as scattered solitary colonies at greater depths in soft bottoms, with maximum density of 2.4 col m-2. Medium and large colonies of A. acaule were preferentially found on sloping and vertical rocky bottoms where they form dense patches. High-density patches of A. acaule were preferentially found on vertical rocky bottom, while isolated colonies were preferentially observed on coralligenous substrata as well as on flat soft and mae¨rl substrates. A. acaule biomass distribution showed highest values between 40 and 45 m depth, and between 60 and 65 m depth. This suggests that deeper populations are formed by colonies that are bigger than the equivalent shallower ones. Although both species are almost genetically identical, ecologically they are very different. For this reason, conservation plans should consider the differential ecological traits shown by the
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