Effect of environmental and anthropogenic factors on the distribution and co-occurrence of cold-water corals
Cold-water corals (CWCs) are bioengineering species that can increase habitat heterogeneity and improve the deep sea’s biological diversity and ecosystem functioning. Knowledge of their distribution provides a critical baseline for assessing the effect of natural and anthropogenic impacts on these i...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2023-12-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Marine Science |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2023.1272066/full |
| _version_ | 1797384627722125312 |
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| author | Valeria Palummo Valeria Palummo Giacomo Milisenda Simonepietro Canese Eva Salvati Daniela Pica Augusto Passarelli Nunziacarla Spanò Nunziacarla Spanò Teresa Romeo Silvestro Greco |
| author_facet | Valeria Palummo Valeria Palummo Giacomo Milisenda Simonepietro Canese Eva Salvati Daniela Pica Augusto Passarelli Nunziacarla Spanò Nunziacarla Spanò Teresa Romeo Silvestro Greco |
| author_sort | Valeria Palummo |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Cold-water corals (CWCs) are bioengineering species that can increase habitat heterogeneity and improve the deep sea’s biological diversity and ecosystem functioning. Knowledge of their distribution provides a critical baseline for assessing the effect of natural and anthropogenic impacts on these important deep-sea habitats. The aims of this study are: i) provide new data on the spatial distribution of six CWCs species in the Strait of Sicily, ii) describe the principal environmental and anthropogenic variables that play a role in shaping their distribution, iii) identify hotspots in which individuals belonging to the various species co-occur. Presence-only data of six CWCs species, ten environmental variables (depth, slope, rugosity, aspect, flowdir, temperature, salinity, north bottom current, east bottom current, chlorophyll-a), and one variable relating to bottom trawling effort (Automatic Information System – AIS) were used to predict the suitable habitats. We used Maximum Entropy modelling (MaxEnt) approach and used the AUC (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve) and TSS (true skill statistics) to evaluate the model performance. The results showed excellent AUC, TSS and AUC’s standard deviation mean values for all six species. The validation show high predictive performance. MaxEnt identified slope, depth, and rugosity as the most important predictors, showing the highest percentage contribution for all six species considered. Throughout the study area, highlyinterspecific persistent density hotspot of CWCs co-occurrence were discovered, with a total extension of 4.05 km2 where all species co-occur. Although studies on the effect of environmental and anthropogenic factors that impact the distribution of these species of conservation interest remain scarce, the results of this study offer useful guidance for decision-makers to develop necessary conservation measures. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T21:38:23Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a9e173a0c3d34784b9bb82e8958a99fa |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2296-7745 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T21:38:23Z |
| publishDate | 2023-12-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Marine Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-a9e173a0c3d34784b9bb82e8958a99fa2023-12-20T16:55:31ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Marine Science2296-77452023-12-011010.3389/fmars.2023.12720661272066Effect of environmental and anthropogenic factors on the distribution and co-occurrence of cold-water coralsValeria Palummo0Valeria Palummo1Giacomo Milisenda2Simonepietro Canese3Eva Salvati4Daniela Pica5Augusto Passarelli6Nunziacarla Spanò7Nunziacarla Spanò8Teresa Romeo9Silvestro Greco10Department of Integrative Marine Ecology, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn Calabria Marine Centre, Amendolara (CS), ItalyDepartment of Chemical, Biological, Pharmaceutical and Environmental Sciences, University of Messina, Messina, ItalyDepartment of Integrative Marine Ecology, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Sicily Marine Centre, Palermo, ItalyDepartment of Integrative Marine Ecology, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Roma, ItalyDepartment of Integrative Marine Ecology, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Roma, ItalyDepartment of Integrative Marine Ecology, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn Calabria Marine Centre, Amendolara (CS), ItalyResearch Infrastructure for Marine Biological Resources Department Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Napoli, ItalyDepartment of Chemical, Biological, Pharmaceutical and Environmental Sciences, University of Messina, Messina, ItalyDepartment of Integrative Marine Ecology, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Sicily Marine Centre, Messina, ItalyDepartment of Biology and Evolution of Marine Organisms, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn Sicily Marine Centre, Milazzo, ItalyDepartment of Integrative Marine Ecology, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn Calabria Marine Centre, Amendolara (CS), ItalyCold-water corals (CWCs) are bioengineering species that can increase habitat heterogeneity and improve the deep sea’s biological diversity and ecosystem functioning. Knowledge of their distribution provides a critical baseline for assessing the effect of natural and anthropogenic impacts on these important deep-sea habitats. The aims of this study are: i) provide new data on the spatial distribution of six CWCs species in the Strait of Sicily, ii) describe the principal environmental and anthropogenic variables that play a role in shaping their distribution, iii) identify hotspots in which individuals belonging to the various species co-occur. Presence-only data of six CWCs species, ten environmental variables (depth, slope, rugosity, aspect, flowdir, temperature, salinity, north bottom current, east bottom current, chlorophyll-a), and one variable relating to bottom trawling effort (Automatic Information System – AIS) were used to predict the suitable habitats. We used Maximum Entropy modelling (MaxEnt) approach and used the AUC (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve) and TSS (true skill statistics) to evaluate the model performance. The results showed excellent AUC, TSS and AUC’s standard deviation mean values for all six species. The validation show high predictive performance. MaxEnt identified slope, depth, and rugosity as the most important predictors, showing the highest percentage contribution for all six species considered. Throughout the study area, highlyinterspecific persistent density hotspot of CWCs co-occurrence were discovered, with a total extension of 4.05 km2 where all species co-occur. Although studies on the effect of environmental and anthropogenic factors that impact the distribution of these species of conservation interest remain scarce, the results of this study offer useful guidance for decision-makers to develop necessary conservation measures.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2023.1272066/fullCWCsMaxentSDMshabitat suitabilitydeep seaco-occurrence |
| spellingShingle | Valeria Palummo Valeria Palummo Giacomo Milisenda Simonepietro Canese Eva Salvati Daniela Pica Augusto Passarelli Nunziacarla Spanò Nunziacarla Spanò Teresa Romeo Silvestro Greco Effect of environmental and anthropogenic factors on the distribution and co-occurrence of cold-water corals Frontiers in Marine Science CWCs Maxent SDMs habitat suitability deep sea co-occurrence |
| title | Effect of environmental and anthropogenic factors on the distribution and co-occurrence of cold-water corals |
| title_full | Effect of environmental and anthropogenic factors on the distribution and co-occurrence of cold-water corals |
| title_fullStr | Effect of environmental and anthropogenic factors on the distribution and co-occurrence of cold-water corals |
| title_full_unstemmed | Effect of environmental and anthropogenic factors on the distribution and co-occurrence of cold-water corals |
| title_short | Effect of environmental and anthropogenic factors on the distribution and co-occurrence of cold-water corals |
| title_sort | effect of environmental and anthropogenic factors on the distribution and co occurrence of cold water corals |
| topic | CWCs Maxent SDMs habitat suitability deep sea co-occurrence |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2023.1272066/full |
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