Long-distance influence of the Rhône River plume on the marine benthic ecosystem: Integrating descriptive ecology and predictive modelling.

The Gulf of Lions (GoL) is among the most productive areas of the Mediterranean Sea, with the Rhône River contributing with as much as 90% of the liquid and solid materials (including anthropogenic chemicals) reaching the area. In this paper, we assessed whether classical descriptive ecology and MaxEnt predictive species distribution modelling were able to provide complementary information when analysing the long-distance influence of the river discharges on the GoL benthic ecosystem. Samples were collected in August 2014 from 12 stations covering the sedimentary plain of the deep submarine delta, from the Gulf of Fos to Gruissan.