engleski

Fouling on infralittoral pebbles in North and South Adriatic

The diversity and distribution of infralittoral fouling assemlages has been studied at two sites, Sv. Juraj (North Adriatic) and Korčula Island (South Adriatic), at two depths (8 and 12 m depth). The investigation focused on species richness, diversity, abundance, and interactions of organisms and collonies on pebbles. The results were compared using several statistical methods: Sørensen index of similarity and biodiversity methods. On 570 pebbles collected by SCUBA diving from four sites, altogether 155 taxa have been recorded, 111 at Sv. Juraj sites, 110 at Korčula Island sites, while 66 were found at both sites. Among the recognised taxa at all study sites, bryozoans were the most species-rich, and ascidians were the least species-rich phyla. The most abundant groups of organisms were gastropods, bryozoans, bivalves, foraminiferans, and polychaetes, while the least abundant were ascidians, echinoids and anthozoans. Abundance ranged from 1131 to 2291 individuals per 1m2 od rock surface area. A total of 576 interactions between organisms were recorded involving 5, 12% of all individuals. As indicated by the Sørensen index, the similarity was lowest between Sv. Juraj at 12 m and Korčula Island site at 8 m depth (46, 5%), and highest between Sv. Juraj at 8 m and 12 m depth (79, 1%). Further research in this area could include measurements and observations of the influence of physical disturbance and seasonality on the developement of fouling assemblages in natural habitats.

Fouling assemblages; biodiversity; interactions; boulders; Adriatic Sea

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