title: Animal-sediment relationships: evaluating the 'Pearson-Rosenberg paradigm' in Mediterranean coastal lagoons.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: CNR-IAMC, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto per l'Ambiente Marino Costiero, Località Sa Mardini, Torregrande, 09072 Oristano, Italy. paolo.magni@cnr.it
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Magni
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Tagliapietra
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lardicci
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Balthis
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Castelli
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Como
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Frangipane
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Giordani
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hyland
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Maltagliati
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pessa
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rismondo
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tataranni
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Tomassetti
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Viaroli
mesh_terms: 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
chemical_list: D002244:Carbon