Benthic communities in three Mediterranean touristic ports: MAPMED project

By

Chatzinikolaou, Eva
Damianidis, Panagiotis
Pavloudi, Christina
Vasileiadou, Aikaterini
Faulwetter, Sarah
Keklikoglou, Kleoniki
Plaitis, Wanda
Mavraki, Dimitra
Nikolopoulou, Stamatina
Arvanitidis, Christos

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2021-04-26

Original Publication

Biodiversity data journal

Volume

9

Pages

1--23

Subjects

Greece , harbours , Italy , macrobenthos , Mediterranean , ports , Tunisia

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia Pensoft Publishers [2013]-

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.9.e66420
eLocator: e66420

 

Abstract

Mediterranean ports are sources of significant economic activity and at the same time they act as recipients of considerable anthropogenic disturbance and pollution. Polluted and low-in-oxygen sediments can negatively impact benthic biodiversity and favour recruitment of opportunistic or invasive species. Macrobenthic communities are an important component of the port biota and can be used as environmental quality indicators. However, a baseline database for benthic biodiversity in Mediterranean ports has not yet been widely established.<br> Macrobenthic assemblages were recorded in three Mediterranean touristic ports under the framework of the ENPI CBC MED project MAPMED (MAnagement of Port Areas in the MEDiterranean Sea Basin). Samples were collected from Cagliari (Sardinia, Italy), Heraklion (Crete, Greece) and El Kantaoui (Tunisia) ports during February, May and September 2012. The sampling stations were selected according to the different sectors within each port (i.e. leisure, fishing, passenger/cargo vessels and shipyard). A total of 277 taxa belonging to 12 phyla were found, of which the 96 taxa were present in all three ports. El Kantaoui port hosted the highest number of macrobenthic taxa. Mollusca were the most abundant group (34%) in all ports. The highest percentage of opportunistic taxa per station was found before the touristic period in the shipyard of Heraklion port (89.3%).