Benthic diversity patterns and predictors: A study case with inferences for conservation.

Understanding which drivers cause diversity patterns is a key issue in conservation. Here we applied a spatially explicit model to predict marine benthic diversity patterns according to environmental factors in the NW Mediterranean Sea. While most conservation-oriented diversity studies consider species richness only and neglect equitability, we measured separately species richness, equitability, and 'overall' diversity (i.

Genetic diversity increases with depth in red gorgonian populations of the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean.

Background: In the ocean, the variability of environmental conditions found along depth gradients exposes populations to contrasting levels of perturbation, which can be reflected in the overall patterns of species genetic diversity. At shallow sites, resource availability may structure large, persistent and well-connected populations with higher levels of diversity. In contrast, the more extreme conditions, such as thermal stress during heat waves, can lead to population bottlenecks and genetic erosion, inverting the natural expectation.

The Bryozoa collection of the Italian National Antarctic Museum, with an updated checklist from Terra Nova Bay, Ross Sea.

This study provides taxonomic and distributional data of bryozoan species from the Ross Sea area, mainly around Terra Nova Bay, based on specimens curated at the Italian National Antarctic Museum (MNA, Section of Genoa). Bryozoan specimens were collected at 75 different sampling stations in the Ross Sea and in the Magellan Strait, in a bathymetric range of 18-711 meters, during 13 expeditions of the Italian National Antarctic Research Program (PNRA) conducted between 1988 and 2014. A total of 282 MNA vouchers corresponding to 311 specimens and 127 morphospecies have been identified and included in the present dataset.

Seasonal Stability in the Microbiomes of Temperate Gorgonians and the Red Coral Corallium rubrum Across the Mediterranean Sea.

Populations of key benthic habitat-forming octocoral species have declined significantly in the Mediterranean Sea due to mass mortality events caused by microbial disease outbreaks linked to high summer seawater temperatures. Recently, we showed that the microbial communities of these octocorals are relatively structured; however, our knowledge on the seasonal dynamics of these microbiomes is still limited. To investigate their seasonal stability, we collected four soft gorgonian species (Eunicella singularis, Eunicella cavolini, Eunicella verrucosa and Leptogorgia sarmentosa) and the precious red coral (Corallium rubrum) from two coastal locations with different terrestrial impact levels in the Mediterranean Sea, and used next-generation amplicon sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene.

Low pH conditions impair module capacity to regenerate in a calcified colonial invertebrate, the bryozoan Cryptosula pallasiana.

Many aquatic animals grow into colonies of repeated, genetically identical, modules (zooids). Zooid interconnections enable colonies to behave as integrated functional units, while plastic responses to environmental changes may affect individual zooids. Plasticity includes the variable partitioning of resources to sexual reproduction, colony growth and maintenance.

Genetic Diversity and Local Connectivity in the Mediterranean Red Gorgonian Coral after Mass Mortality Events.

Estimating the patterns of connectivity in marine taxa with planktonic dispersive stages is a challenging but crucial task because of its conservation implications. The red gorgonian Paramuricea clavata is a habitat forming species, characterized by short larval dispersal and high reproductive output, but low recruitment. In the recent past, the species was impacted by mass mortality events caused by increased water temperatures in summer.

Morphological plasticity in a calcifying modular organism: evidence from an in situ transplant experiment in a natural CO2 vent system.

Understanding is currently limited of the biological processes underlying the responses of modular organisms to climate change and the potential to adapt through morphological plasticity related to their modularity. Here, we investigate the effects of ocean acidification and seawater warming on the growth, life history and morphological plasticity in the modular bryozoan Calpensia nobilis using transplantation experiments in a shallow Mediterranean volcanic CO2 vents system that simulates pH values expected for the year 2100. Colonies exposed at vent sites grew at approximately half the rate of those from the control site.

Biomineralization in bryozoans: present, past and future.

Many animal phyla have the physiological ability to produce biomineralized skeletons with functional roles that have been shaped by natural selection for more than 500 million years. Among these are bryozoans, a moderately diverse phylum of aquatic invertebrates with a rich fossil record and importance today as bioconstructors in some shallow-water marine habitats. Biomineralizational patterns and, especially, processes are poorly understood in bryozoans but are conventionally believed to be similar to those of the related lophotrochozoan phyla Brachiopoda and Mollusca.