Katsiaras N, Evagelopoulos A, Simboura N, Atsalaki A, Koutsoubas D
Institute of Oceanography, Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, 46.7km Athinon-Souniou Ave, Anavissos, 19013, Greece; Department of Marine Sciences, University of the Aegean, University Hill, Mytilene, 81100, Greece.
Fisheries Research Institute, Hellenic Agricultural Organization "Demeter", Nea Peramos, Kavala, 64007, Greece.
Mar Environ Res. 2022 Nov;181:105731. doi: 10.1016/j.marenvres.2022.105731. Epub 2022 Aug 28.
Meadows of Posidonia oceanica harbor rich biodiversity and ecosystem functions, yet Biological Traits Analysis on the resident benthic communities are lacking. This study aims to provide insight on the functional diversity of polychaetes communities, a dominant benthic group, between the different habitat types of P. oceanica (plain meadow, strips/patches and dead matte), as well as pilot indicators of habitat modification. The results showed how specific traits relate to the different habitat types. Plain meadow was different to strips/patches and dead matte in functional composition, diversity and thus, the ecosystem functions involved. However, an overlap was observed in functional composition between dead matte and living P. oceanica, due to the remaining matte structure. This highlights the importance of the former on ecosystem functioning and the serious consequences of its current exclusion from conservational legislation. In addition, the classification of species to ecosystem engineering types showed interesting potential as an indicator.
波喜荡草甸拥有丰富的生物多样性和生态系统功能，但对其底栖生物群落的生物特征分析却很缺乏。本研究旨在深入了解多毛类群落（一个占主导地位的底栖生物类群）在波喜荡草不同栖息地类型（平原草甸、带状/斑块和死亡藻席）之间的功能多样性，以及栖息地改变的初步指标。结果表明了特定特征与不同栖息地类型之间的关系。平原草甸在功能组成、多样性以及所涉及的生态系统功能方面与带状/斑块和死亡藻席不同。然而，由于残留的藻席结构，在死亡藻席和活的波喜荡草之间观察到功能组成上的重叠。这突出了前者对生态系统功能的重要性以及其目前被排除在保护立法之外的严重后果。此外，将物种分类为生态系统工程类型显示出作为一种指标的有趣潜力。
