Floristic macroalgal diversity in selected submarine caves located within two marine protected areas off Lampedusa Island and Sicily (Italy)
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Abstract
We investigated phytobenthos in submerged marine caves. Underwater caves have rarely been examined for floristic composition. The study was carried out in two Mediterranean marine protected areas (MPAs) [Plemmirio (Maddalena Peninsula, Syracuse, Ionian Sea) and Pelagean Islands (Straits of Sicily)] and the caves were chosen on the basis of their geomorphology, exposure, and bathymetry. From our comparative study of cave floras, we demonstrated that the macroalgal flora of each cave is influenced by the floristic composition of the adjacent area that is a natural source of recruits and by the light environment. Caves that are “visited” (i.e., those situated on one of the underwater routes for scuba divers visiting the MPAs) had floristic richnesses higher than those of “scarcely” or “not visited” ones (i.e., not on tourist routed). This is likely because the visited caves, due to their large entrance and shallow location, have good lighting that favors high macroalgal biodiversity.
©2012 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin Boston
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Articles in the same Issue
- Masthead
- Masthead
- Research Articles
- Polysiphonia sensu lato (Ceramiales, Florideophyceae) species of Caribbean Panama including Polysiphonia lobophoralis sp. nov. and Polysiphonia nuda sp. nov.
- Molecular support for the establishment of the new genus Laurenciella within the Laurencia complex (Ceramiales, Rhodophyta)
- Neosiphonia peruviensis sp. nov. (Rhodomelaceae, Rhodophyta) from the Pacific coast of South America
- Colpomenia durvillei (Scytosiphonaceae, Phaeophyceae): its distribution and relationships with other elongate species of the genus
- Phymatolithon lamii (Hapalidiaceae, Corallinales, Rhodophyta): a first report for the Mediterranean Sea
- Floristic macroalgal diversity in selected submarine caves located within two marine protected areas off Lampedusa Island and Sicily (Italy)
- Species composition, zonation, and biomass of marine benthic macroalgae in Kongsfjorden, Svalbard
- Diversity, occurrence, and habitats of the diatom genus Bacteriastrum (Bacillariophyta) in the northern Adriatic Sea, with the description of B. jadranum sp. nov.
- Characterization of the protein phosphatase 2c gene from Porphyra yezoensis and functional analysis under dessicating conditionsa
- Antibacterial compound from the endophytic fungus Phomopsis longicolla isolated from the tropical red seaweed Bostrychia radicans
- Short Communication
- First record of fertile gametophytes of Polysiphonia perforans (Ceramiales, Rhodophyta)
