2022 |
Rallis, Ioannis; Chatzigeorgiou, Giorgos; Florido, Marta; Sedano, Francisco; Procopiou, Avgi; Chertz-Bynichaki, Melina; Vernadou, Emmanouela; Plaiti, Wanda; Koulouri, Panayota; Dounas, Costas; Gerovasileiou, Vasilis; Dailianis, Thanos Early Succession Patterns of Benthic Assemblages on Artificial Reefs in the Oligotrophic Eastern Mediterranean Basin Journal Article Journal of Marine Science and Engineering, 10 (5), pp. 620, 2022, ISSN: 2077-1312. @article{rallis_early_2022, title = {Early Succession Patterns of Benthic Assemblages on Artificial Reefs in the Oligotrophic Eastern Mediterranean Basin}, author = {Ioannis Rallis and Giorgos Chatzigeorgiou and Marta Florido and Francisco Sedano and Avgi Procopiou and Melina Chertz-Bynichaki and Emmanouela Vernadou and Wanda Plaiti and Panayota Koulouri and Costas Dounas and Vasilis Gerovasileiou and Thanos Dailianis}, url = {https://imbbc.hcmr.gr/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/2022-Rallis-jmse-35.pdf https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1312/10/5/620}, doi = {10.3390/jmse10050620}, issn = {2077-1312}, year = {2022}, date = {2022-05-01}, urldate = {2022-05-09}, journal = {Journal of Marine Science and Engineering}, volume = {10}, number = {5}, pages = {620}, abstract = {The colonization of artificial structures by benthic organisms in the marine realm is known to be affected by the general trophic patterns of the biogeographical zone and the prevailing environmental traits at the local scale. The present work aims to present quantitative data on the early settlement progress of macrofaunal benthic assemblages developing on artificial reefs (ARs) deployed at the Underwater Biotechnological Park of Crete (UBPC) in the oligotrophic Eastern Mediterranean. Visual census and subsequent image analysis combined with scraped quadrats were used to describe the establishment of the communities and their development over three consecutive campaigns, spanning 5 years post-deployment. Macroalgae consistently dominated in terms of coverage, while sessile invertebrates displayed different patterns over the years. Polychaeta and Bryozoa were gradually replaced by Cnidaria, while Porifera and Mollusca displayed an increasing trend over the years. Motile benthos was mainly represented by Mollusca, while the abundance of Polychaeta increased in contrast to that of Crustacea. For both sessile and motile assemblages, significant differences were observed among the years. The results of this study indicate that ecological succession is still ongoing, and further improvement in the monitoring methodology can assist towards a more accurate assessment of the community composition in complex AR structures.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } The colonization of artificial structures by benthic organisms in the marine realm is known to be affected by the general trophic patterns of the biogeographical zone and the prevailing environmental traits at the local scale. The present work aims to present quantitative data on the early settlement progress of macrofaunal benthic assemblages developing on artificial reefs (ARs) deployed at the Underwater Biotechnological Park of Crete (UBPC) in the oligotrophic Eastern Mediterranean. Visual census and subsequent image analysis combined with scraped quadrats were used to describe the establishment of the communities and their development over three consecutive campaigns, spanning 5 years post-deployment. Macroalgae consistently dominated in terms of coverage, while sessile invertebrates displayed different patterns over the years. Polychaeta and Bryozoa were gradually replaced by Cnidaria, while Porifera and Mollusca displayed an increasing trend over the years. Motile benthos was mainly represented by Mollusca, while the abundance of Polychaeta increased in contrast to that of Crustacea. For both sessile and motile assemblages, significant differences were observed among the years. The results of this study indicate that ecological succession is still ongoing, and further improvement in the monitoring methodology can assist towards a more accurate assessment of the community composition in complex AR structures. |
Varamogianni-Mamatsi, Despoina; Anastasiou, Thekla I; Vernadou, Emmanouela; Papandroulakis, Nikos; Kalogerakis, Nicolas; Dailianis, Thanos; Mandalakis, Manolis A Multi-Species Investigation of Sponges’ Filtering Activity towards Marine Microalgae Journal Article Marine Drugs, 20 (1), pp. 24, 2022, ISSN: 1660-3397. @article{varamogianni-mamatsi_multi-species_2022, title = {A Multi-Species Investigation of Sponges’ Filtering Activity towards Marine Microalgae}, author = {Despoina Varamogianni-Mamatsi and Thekla I Anastasiou and Emmanouela Vernadou and Nikos Papandroulakis and Nicolas Kalogerakis and Thanos Dailianis and Manolis Mandalakis}, url = {https://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/20/1/24}, doi = {10.3390/md20010024}, issn = {1660-3397}, year = {2022}, date = {2022-01-01}, urldate = {2022-02-28}, journal = {Marine Drugs}, volume = {20}, number = {1}, pages = {24}, abstract = {Chronic discharge of surplus organic matter is a typical side effect of fish aquaculture, occasionally leading to coastal eutrophication and excessive phytoplankton growth. Owing to their innate filter-feeding capacity, marine sponges could mitigate environmental impact under integrated multitrophic aquaculture (IMTA) scenarios. Herein, we investigated the clearance capacity of four ubiquitous Mediterranean sponges (Agelas oroides, Axinella cannabina, Chondrosia reniformis and Sarcotragus foetidus) against three microalgal substrates with different size/motility characteristics: the nanophytoplankton Nannochloropsis sp. (textasciitilde3.2 μm, nonmotile) and Isochrysis sp. (textasciitilde3.8 μm, motile), as well as the diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum (textasciitilde21.7 μm, nonmotile). In vitro cleaning experiments were conducted using sponge explants in 1 L of natural seawater and applying different microalgal cell concentrations under light/dark conditions. The investigated sponges exhibited a wide range of retention efficiencies for the different phytoplankton cells, with the lowest average values found for A. cannabina (37%) and the highest for A. oroides (70%). The latter could filter up to 14.1 mL seawater per hour and gram of sponge wet weight, by retaining 100% of Isochrysis at a density of 105 cells mL−1, under darkness. Our results highlight differences in filtering capacity among sponge species and preferences for microalgal substrates with distinct size and motility traits.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Chronic discharge of surplus organic matter is a typical side effect of fish aquaculture, occasionally leading to coastal eutrophication and excessive phytoplankton growth. Owing to their innate filter-feeding capacity, marine sponges could mitigate environmental impact under integrated multitrophic aquaculture (IMTA) scenarios. Herein, we investigated the clearance capacity of four ubiquitous Mediterranean sponges (Agelas oroides, Axinella cannabina, Chondrosia reniformis and Sarcotragus foetidus) against three microalgal substrates with different size/motility characteristics: the nanophytoplankton Nannochloropsis sp. (textasciitilde3.2 μm, nonmotile) and Isochrysis sp. (textasciitilde3.8 μm, motile), as well as the diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum (textasciitilde21.7 μm, nonmotile). In vitro cleaning experiments were conducted using sponge explants in 1 L of natural seawater and applying different microalgal cell concentrations under light/dark conditions. The investigated sponges exhibited a wide range of retention efficiencies for the different phytoplankton cells, with the lowest average values found for A. cannabina (37%) and the highest for A. oroides (70%). The latter could filter up to 14.1 mL seawater per hour and gram of sponge wet weight, by retaining 100% of Isochrysis at a density of 105 cells mL−1, under darkness. Our results highlight differences in filtering capacity among sponge species and preferences for microalgal substrates with distinct size and motility traits. |