title: Looking for hotspots of marine metacommunity connectivity: a methodological framework.
abstract: Seascape connectivity critically affects the spatiotemporal dynamics of marine metacommunities. Understanding how connectivity patterns emerge from physically and biologically-mediated interactions is therefore crucial to conserve marine ecosystem functions and biodiversity. Here, we develop a set of biophysical models to explore connectivity in assemblages of species belonging to a typical Mediterranean community (Posidonia oceanica meadows) and characterized by different dispersing traits. We propose a novel methodological framework to synthesize species-specific results into a set of community connectivity metrics and show that spatiotemporal variation in magnitude and direction of the connections, as well as interspecific differences in dispersing traits, are key factors structuring community connectivity. We eventually demonstrate how these metrics can be used to characterize the functional role of each marine area in determining patterns of community connectivity at the basin level and to support marine conservation planning.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Elettronica, Informazione e Bioingegneria, Politecnico di Milano, via Ponzio 34/5, 20133 Milano, Italy.|Consorzio Nazionale Interuniversitario per le Scienze del Mare, Piazzale Flaminio 9, 00196 Roma, Italy.
authors.forename: Paco
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Melià
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Elettronica, Informazione e Bioingegneria, Politecnico di Milano, via Ponzio 34/5, 20133 Milano, Italy.|Consorzio Nazionale Interuniversitario per le Scienze del Mare, Piazzale Flaminio 9, 00196 Roma, Italy.
authors.forename: Marcello
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schiavina
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Elettronica, Informazione e Bioingegneria, Politecnico di Milano, via Ponzio 34/5, 20133 Milano, Italy.|Consorzio Nazionale Interuniversitario per le Scienze del Mare, Piazzale Flaminio 9, 00196 Roma, Italy.
authors.forename: Marisa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rossetto
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Elettronica, Informazione e Bioingegneria, Politecnico di Milano, via Ponzio 34/5, 20133 Milano, Italy.|Consorzio Nazionale Interuniversitario per le Scienze del Mare, Piazzale Flaminio 9, 00196 Roma, Italy.
authors.forename: Marino
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gatto
authors.affiliation: Consorzio Nazionale Interuniversitario per le Scienze del Mare, Piazzale Flaminio 9, 00196 Roma, Italy.|Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Biologiche ed Ambientali, Università del Salento, Strada Provinciale Monteroni, 73100 Lecce, Italy.
authors.forename: Simonetta
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fraschetti
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Elettronica, Informazione e Bioingegneria, Politecnico di Milano, via Ponzio 34/5, 20133 Milano, Italy.|Consorzio Nazionale Interuniversitario per le Scienze del Mare, Piazzale Flaminio 9, 00196 Roma, Italy.
authors.forename: Renato
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Casagrandi
mesh_terms: D063147:Animal Distribution / Q000502:physiology*; D059001:Aquatic Organisms / Q000502:physiology*; D044822:Biodiversity; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D017753:Ecosystem; D008522:Mediterranean Sea; D015233:Models, Statistical; D011157:Population Dynamics