title: Spatial variability and response to anthropogenic pressures of assemblages dominated by a habitat forming seaweed sensitive to pollution (northern coast of Alboran Sea).
abstract: The Cystoseira ericaefolia group is conformed by three species: C. tamariscifolia, C. mediterranea and C. amentacea. These species are among the most important habitat forming species of the upper sublittoral rocky shores of the Mediterranean Sea and adjacent Atlantic coast. This species group is sensitive to human pressures and therefore is currently suffering important losses. This study aimed to assess the influence of anthropogenic pressures, oceanographic conditions and local spatial variability in assemblages dominated by C. ericaefolia in the Alboran Sea. The results showed the absence of significant effects of anthropogenic pressures or its interactions with environmental conditions in the Cystoseira assemblages. This fact was attributed to the high spatial variability, which is most probably masking the impact of anthropogenic pressures. The results also showed that most of the variability occurred on at local levels. A relevant spatial variability was observed at regional level, suggesting a key role of oceanographic features in these assemblages.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Biología, Área de Ecología, Facultad de Ciencias del Mar y Ambientales, Universidad de Cádiz, 11510, Puerto Real, Cádiz, Spain. Electronic address: ricardo.bermejo@uca.es.
authors.forename: Ricardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bermejo
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze della terra, dell'ambiente e della vita (DISTAV), Università degli Studi di Genova, Corso Europa, 26 16132, Genova, Italy.
authors.forename: Gina
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: de la Fuente
authors.affiliation: GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, Experimental Ecology (Foodwebs), Düsternbrooker Weg 20, D-24105 Kiel, Germany.
authors.forename: Eduardo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ramírez-Romero
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Biología, Área de Ecología, Facultad de Ciencias del Mar y Ambientales, Universidad de Cádiz, 11510, Puerto Real, Cádiz, Spain.
authors.forename: Juan J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Vergara
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Biología, Área de Ecología, Facultad de Ciencias del Mar y Ambientales, Universidad de Cádiz, 11510, Puerto Real, Cádiz, Spain.
authors.forename: Ignacio
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Hernández
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017753:Ecosystem; D004777:Environment; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D006801:Humans; D008522:Mediterranean Sea; D009791:Oceanography; D000459:Phaeophyceae / Q000502:physiology*; D012624:Seaweed; D014876:Water Pollution / Q000032:analysis* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
keywords: Anthropogenic pressures; Cystoseira; Habitat forming species; Oceanography and community patterns; Rocky shores; Seaweeds; Spatial variability