Naslov
The availability of map resources for the distribution, degradation status and threats to sponge assemblages in the European Seas – initial baselines in the MERCES project

Autori
Gerovasileiou, Vasilis ; Dailianis, Thanos ; Papadopoulou, Nadia ; Sevastou, Katerina ; Smith, Christopher J. ; Amaro, Teresa ; Bekkby, Trine ; Bilan, Meri ; Boström, Christoffer ; Cebrian , Emma ; Cerrano, Carlo ; Danovaro, Roberto ; Fiorentino, Dario ; Fraschetti, Simonetta ; Gagnon, Karine ; Gambi, Cristina ; Grehan, Anthony ; Hereu, Bernat ; Kipson, Silvija ; Kotta, Jonne ; Linares, Cristina ; Milanese, Martina ; Morato, Telmo ; Ojaveer, Henn ; Orav-Kotta, Helen ; Sarà, Antonio ; Scrimgeour, Rachael ; Tüney Kızılkaya, İnci ; Tunka- Eronat, Elizabeth Grace

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Sažeci sa skupova, sažetak, znanstveni

Izvornik
10th World Sponge Conference Book of Abstracts / - Galway : NUI Galway, 2017, 214-214

Skup
10th World Sponge Conference

Mjesto i datum
Gaillimh, Irska, 25.06.2017. - 30.06.2017

Vrsta sudjelovanja
Poster

Vrsta recenzije
Međunarodna recenzija

Ključne riječi
mapping, distribution, degradation, sponge assemblages, European Seas

Sažetak
Within the MERCES project (http://www.merces- project.eu/), one of the first objectives is to catalogue existing and available maps for marine habitats, along with their degradation status and restoration potential in the European Seas. In order to reach this objective, an extensive review has been performed and a catalogue compiled with mapping sources for (a) marine habitats, (b) degraded marine habitats, and (c) pressures and mechanisms that could potentially drive key- habitat changes in them. In its current form, the MERCES WP1 catalogue includes a total of approximately 900 entries with meta-data regarding various marine habitats, assemblages and marine areas. These entries include published records, web resources, and grey literature (i.e. project reports, technical documents, and unpublished data). Information about sponge assemblages covers only 6% of the catalogue’s entries highlighting a potential gap in relevant broad- scale mapping initiatives. In half of the available sources (52%), sponge assemblages were found together with those of anthozoans (e.g. cold water corals, coral gardens, gorgonian forests), suggesting that these two biological features often co-exist and/or are treated together in broad-scale mapping initiatives. Available mapping sources for sponge assemblages mainly concern the deep-sea (53%) and sublittoral hard substrate habitats (31%) of the North-East Atlantic Ocean (55%) and the Mediterranean Sea (38%). More specifically, the main habitats/assemblages identified were deep-sea sponge aggregations and mixed coral/sponge fields, sublittoral rocky and coralligenous beds. Several information sources underline a significant – though not quantified – decline in deep sponge fields, along with recorded mortality events for the shallow ones. The most frequently highlighted threats for these assemblages are: bottom trawling, climate change, dumping, land-based activities, harvesting, minerals exploration, scientific research, and marine litter. Interestingly, most of the catalogue entries (71%) were derived from grey literature, indicating a valuable – yet often overlooked – source of information. This research has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 689518 (MERCES: Marine Ecosystem Restoration in Changing European Seas).

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Biologija

POVEZANOST RADA