title: Genetic diversity and structure in two protected Posidonia oceanica meadows.
abstract: Posidonia oceanica meadows growing along the west Mediterranean coastline are under continuous anthropogenic pressure. The way meadow health correlates with genetic and genotypic diversity in P. oceanica, is still under debate. Here we report a microsatellite analysis of two P. oceanica meadows living in protected areas of the Ligurian (Monterosso al Mare, MPA of "Cinque Terre") and central Tyrrhenian Sea (Santa Marinella, regional Site of Community Importance). Both meadows were recently classified as "disturbed", according to shoot density and other phenological parameters. Between the two meadows, Santa Marinella showed higher genetic diversity, while clear genetic substructure was present in both sites, reflecting high spatial heterogeneity. The present study suggests that genetic diversity does not match unequivocally with shoot density and leaf morphology and that small scale intra-meadow heterogeneity is an important factor to consider for establishing the relation between genetic/genotypic variability and health of natural seagrass meadows.
authors.affiliation: ENEA Agenzia Nazionale per le Nuove Tecnologie, l'Energia e lo Sviluppo Economico sostenibile, Centro Ricerche Casaccia C.P. 2400, I-00123 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Carla
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Micheli
authors.affiliation: Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Villa Comunale, I-80121, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: D'Esposito
authors.affiliation: ENEA Agenzia Nazionale per le Nuove Tecnologie, l'Energia e lo Sviluppo Economico sostenibile, Centro Ricerche Casaccia C.P. 2400, I-00123 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Belmonte
authors.affiliation: ENEA Agenzia Nazionale per le Nuove Tecnologie, l'Energia e lo Sviluppo Economico sostenibile, Centro Ricerche Marine, S. Teresa C.P. 224, I-19100 La Spezia, Italy.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Peirano
authors.affiliation: ECON Sistemi Avanzati per l'Ambiente s.r.l., Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Luigi Maria
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Valiante
authors.affiliation: Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Villa Comunale, I-80121, Naples, Italy. Electronic address: gpro@szn.it.
authors.forename: Gabriele
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Procaccini
mesh_terms: D035961:Alismatales / Q000235:genetics*; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D014644:Genetic Variation; D007558:Italy; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats
keywords: Anthropogenic impact; Ligurian – central Tyrrhenian sea; Population genetics; Posidonia oceanica; Seagrass; microsatellites