Benthic communities in three Mediterranean touristic ports: MAPMED project

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 sp...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Biodiversity data journal 2021-04, Vol.9, p.e66420-e66420
Main Authors:	Chatzinikolaou, Eva, Damianidis, Panagiotis, Pavloudi, Christina, Vasileiadou, Aikaterini, Faulwetter, Sarah, Keklikoglou, Kleoniki, Plaitis, Wanda, Mavraki, Dimitra, Nikolopoulou, Stamatina, Arvanitidis, Christos
Format:	Article
Language:	eng
Subjects:	Africa Animalia Annelida Aquatic biology Arthropoda Biodiversity & Conservation Cnidaria Data Paper (Biosciences) Echinodermata Europe Gree harbours Invertebrata macrobenthos Marine Biota & Ecosystems Mediterranean Mollusca Nemertea ports Sipuncula Systematics Taxonomy
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Summary:	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. 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%).
ISSN:	1314-2828 1314-2836 1314-2828