Animal-sediment relationships: evaluating the 'Pearson-Rosenberg paradigm' in Mediterranean coastal lagoons.
We investigated the applicability of the Pearson-Rosenberg (P-R) conceptual model describing a generalized pattern of response of benthic communities in relation to organic enrichment to Mediterranean Sea coastal lagoons. Consistent with P-R model predictions, benthic diversity and abundance showed two different peaks at low (>2.5-5 mg g(-1)) and high (>25-30 mg g(-1)) total organic carbon (TOC) ranges, respectively. We identified TOC thresholds indicating that risks of reduced benthic diversity should be relatively low at TOC values<about 10 mg g(-1), high at TOC values>about 28 mg g(-1), and intermediate at values in-between. Predictive ability within these ranges was high based on results of re-sampling simulation. While not a direct measure of causality, it is anticipated that these TOC thresholds should serve as a general screening-level indicator for evaluating the likelihood of reduced sediment quality and associated bioeffects in such eutrophic systems of the Mediterranean Sea.
Magni
P
P
CNR-IAMC, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto per l'Ambiente Marino Costiero, Località Sa Mardini, Torregrande, 09072 Oristano, Italy. paolo.magni@cnr.it
Tagliapietra
D
D
Lardicci
C
C
Balthis
L
L
Castelli
A
A
Como
S
S
Frangipane
G
G
Giordani
G
G
Hyland
J
J
Maltagliati
F
F
Pessa
G
G
Rismondo
A
A
Tataranni
M
M
Tomassetti
P
P
Viaroli
P
P
D000818:Animals; D044822:Biodiversity; D002244:Carbon / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000737:chemistry; D007448:Invertebrates / Q000502:physiology*; D008522:Mediterranean Sea; D011156:Population Density
D002244:Carbon