Publications by authors named "Graciel la Rovira"
Whether restoration actions achieve full ecological recovery is still debated. This is particularly controversial in the marine realm, where the success of restoration is mostly evaluated in terms of the short-term survival of transplanted organisms. In view of this, we combined population and trait-based approaches to explore the long-term effectiveness of active restoration of a key Mediterranean octocoral.
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- Climate change is significantly affecting marine ecosystems, with marine heatwaves leading to high mortality in species such as octocorals.
- The study focused on the resilience of the Mediterranean octocoral Paramuricea clavata, finding that populations exposed to marine heatwaves experienced reduced survivorship and recovery rates compared to unexposed populations.
- As marine heatwaves become more frequent and severe, the study predicts that the extinction risk for P. clavata increases, highlighting the urgency of understanding and mitigating these impacts on marine biodiversity.
Climate change is impacting ecosystems worldwide, and the Mediterranean Sea is no exception. Extreme climatic events, such as marine heat waves (MHWs), are increasing in frequency, extent and intensity during the last decades, which has been associated with an increase in mass mortality events for multiple species. Coralligenous assemblages, where the octocoral Paramuricea clavata lives, are strongly affected by MHWs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMarine heatwaves drive recurrent mass mortalities in the Mediterranean Sea.
Glob Chang Biol
October 2022
Article Synopsis
- Climate change is leading to more frequent and intense marine heatwaves (MHWs), which result in mass mortality events (MMEs) among marine species.
- From 2015 to 2019, the Mediterranean Sea saw five consecutive years of widespread MMEs impacting a variety of marine habitats and species.
- The study highlights the urgent need for improved observational methods to better understand and manage the ecological effects of climate change on marine ecosystems.
Article Synopsis
- The decline of canopy-forming macroalgal assemblages has led to more simplified habitats, but the brown macroalga Treptacantha elegans has expanded its range along the northern Catalonia coast.
- T. elegans has adapted to deeper, exposed environments, boasting competitive advantages like fast growth and early fertility, allowing it to establish dense populations.
- Genetic analysis shows low differentiation among its populations along the Catalan coast, suggesting a single source of spread from the Medes Islands No-Take Zone in recent decades.