Modeling Macroalgal Forest Distribution at Mediterranean Scale: Present Status, Drivers of Changes and Insights for Conservation and Management
Macroalgal forests are one of the most productive and valuable marine ecosystems, but yet strongly exposed to fragmentation and loss. Detailed large-scale information on their distribution is largely lacking, hindering conservation initiatives. In this study, a systematic effort to combine spatial d...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2020-02-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Marine Science |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmars.2020.00020/full |
| _version_ | 1818274069766733824 |
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| author | Erika Fabbrizzi Erika Fabbrizzi Erika Fabbrizzi Michele Scardi Michele Scardi Enric Ballesteros Lisandro Benedetti-Cecchi Lisandro Benedetti-Cecchi Emma Cebrian Giulia Ceccherelli Francesco De Leo Alan Deidun Giuseppe Guarnieri Giuseppe Guarnieri Annalisa Falace Silvia Fraissinet Chiara Giommi Vesna Mačić Luisa Mangialajo Anna Maria Mannino Luigi Piazzi Mohamed Ramdani Gil Rilov Luca Rindi Luca Rindi Lucia Rizzo Gianluca Sarà Jamila Ben Souissi Ergun Taskin Simonetta Fraschetti Simonetta Fraschetti Simonetta Fraschetti |
| author_facet | Erika Fabbrizzi Erika Fabbrizzi Erika Fabbrizzi Michele Scardi Michele Scardi Enric Ballesteros Lisandro Benedetti-Cecchi Lisandro Benedetti-Cecchi Emma Cebrian Giulia Ceccherelli Francesco De Leo Alan Deidun Giuseppe Guarnieri Giuseppe Guarnieri Annalisa Falace Silvia Fraissinet Chiara Giommi Vesna Mačić Luisa Mangialajo Anna Maria Mannino Luigi Piazzi Mohamed Ramdani Gil Rilov Luca Rindi Luca Rindi Lucia Rizzo Gianluca Sarà Jamila Ben Souissi Ergun Taskin Simonetta Fraschetti Simonetta Fraschetti Simonetta Fraschetti |
| author_sort | Erika Fabbrizzi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Macroalgal forests are one of the most productive and valuable marine ecosystems, but yet strongly exposed to fragmentation and loss. Detailed large-scale information on their distribution is largely lacking, hindering conservation initiatives. In this study, a systematic effort to combine spatial data on Cystoseira C. Agardh canopies (Fucales, Phaeophyta) was carried out to develop a Habitat Suitability Model (HSM) at Mediterranean scale, providing critical tools to improve site prioritization for their management, restoration and protection. A georeferenced database on the occurrence of 20 Cystoseira species was produced collecting all the available information from published and grey literature, web data portals and co-authors personal data. Data were associated to 55 predictor variable layers in the (ASCII) raster format and were used in order to develop the HSM by means of a Random Forest, a very effective Machine Learning technique. Knowledge about the distribution of Cystoseira canopies was available for about the 14% of the Mediterranean coastline. Absence data were available only for the 2% of the basin. Despite these gaps, our HSM showed high accuracy levels in reproducing Cystoseira distribution so that the first continuous maps of the habitat across the entire basin was produced. Misclassification errors mainly occurred in the eastern and southern part of the basin, where large gaps of knowledge emerged. The most relevant drivers were the geomorphological ones, followed by anthropogenic variables proxies of pollution and urbanization. Our model shows the importance of data sharing to combine a large number of spatial and environmental data, allowing to individuate areas with high probability of Cystoseira occurrence as suitable for its presence. This approach encourages the use of this modeling tool for the prediction of Cystoseira distribution and for supporting and planning conservation and management initiatives. The step forward is to refine the spatial information of presence-absence data about Cystoseira canopies and of environmental predictors in order to address species-specific assessments. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-12T22:08:00Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ece80b6a0839410ca14250357758235b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2296-7745 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-12T22:08:00Z |
| publishDate | 2020-02-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Marine Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-ece80b6a0839410ca14250357758235b2022-12-22T00:10:19ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Marine Science2296-77452020-02-01710.3389/fmars.2020.00020465378Modeling Macroalgal Forest Distribution at Mediterranean Scale: Present Status, Drivers of Changes and Insights for Conservation and ManagementErika Fabbrizzi0Erika Fabbrizzi1Erika Fabbrizzi2Michele Scardi3Michele Scardi4Enric Ballesteros5Lisandro Benedetti-Cecchi6Lisandro Benedetti-Cecchi7Emma Cebrian8Giulia Ceccherelli9Francesco De Leo10Alan Deidun11Giuseppe Guarnieri12Giuseppe Guarnieri13Annalisa Falace14Silvia Fraissinet15Chiara Giommi16Vesna Mačić17Luisa Mangialajo18Anna Maria Mannino19Luigi Piazzi20Mohamed Ramdani21Gil Rilov22Luca Rindi23Luca Rindi24Lucia Rizzo25Gianluca Sarà26Jamila Ben Souissi27Ergun Taskin28Simonetta Fraschetti29Simonetta Fraschetti30Simonetta Fraschetti31Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, ItalyStazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Naples, ItalyCoNISMa, Rome, ItalyCoNISMa, Rome, ItalyDepartment of Biology, Tor Vergata University of Rome, Rome, ItalyCentre d’Estudis Avançats de Blanes-CSIC, Girona, SpainCoNISMa, Rome, ItalyDepartment of Biology, University of Pisa, Pisa, ItalyFacultat de Ciències, Departament de Ciències Ambientals, Universitat de Girona, Girona, SpainDepartment of Chemistry and Pharmacy, University of Sassari, Sassari, ItalyCoNISMa, Rome, ItalyDepartment of Geosciences, University of Malta, Msida, MaltaCoNISMa, Rome, Italy0Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences and Technologies, University of Salento, Lecce, Italy1Department of Life Sciences, University of Trieste, Trieste, Italy0Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences and Technologies, University of Salento, Lecce, Italy2Laboratory of Ecology, Earth and Marine Sciences Department, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy3Institute of Marine Biology, University of Montenegro, Kotor, Montenegro4Université Côte d’Azur, CNRS, UMR 7035 ECOSEAS, Nice, France5Department of Biological, Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies, University of Palermo, Palermo, ItalyDepartment of Chemistry and Pharmacy, University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy6Department of Zoology and Animal Ecology, Mohammed V University of Rabat, Rabat, Morocco7National Institute of Oceanography, Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research (IOLR), Haifa, IsraelCoNISMa, Rome, ItalyDepartment of Biology, University of Pisa, Pisa, ItalyStazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Naples, Italy2Laboratory of Ecology, Earth and Marine Sciences Department, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy8Institut National Agronomique de Tunisie, University of Carthage, Tunis, Tunisia9Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Department of Biology, Manisa Celal Bayar University, Manisa, TurkeyDepartment of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, ItalyStazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Naples, ItalyCoNISMa, Rome, ItalyMacroalgal forests are one of the most productive and valuable marine ecosystems, but yet strongly exposed to fragmentation and loss. Detailed large-scale information on their distribution is largely lacking, hindering conservation initiatives. In this study, a systematic effort to combine spatial data on Cystoseira C. Agardh canopies (Fucales, Phaeophyta) was carried out to develop a Habitat Suitability Model (HSM) at Mediterranean scale, providing critical tools to improve site prioritization for their management, restoration and protection. A georeferenced database on the occurrence of 20 Cystoseira species was produced collecting all the available information from published and grey literature, web data portals and co-authors personal data. Data were associated to 55 predictor variable layers in the (ASCII) raster format and were used in order to develop the HSM by means of a Random Forest, a very effective Machine Learning technique. Knowledge about the distribution of Cystoseira canopies was available for about the 14% of the Mediterranean coastline. Absence data were available only for the 2% of the basin. Despite these gaps, our HSM showed high accuracy levels in reproducing Cystoseira distribution so that the first continuous maps of the habitat across the entire basin was produced. Misclassification errors mainly occurred in the eastern and southern part of the basin, where large gaps of knowledge emerged. The most relevant drivers were the geomorphological ones, followed by anthropogenic variables proxies of pollution and urbanization. Our model shows the importance of data sharing to combine a large number of spatial and environmental data, allowing to individuate areas with high probability of Cystoseira occurrence as suitable for its presence. This approach encourages the use of this modeling tool for the prediction of Cystoseira distribution and for supporting and planning conservation and management initiatives. The step forward is to refine the spatial information of presence-absence data about Cystoseira canopies and of environmental predictors in order to address species-specific assessments.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmars.2020.00020/fullCystoseira canopieshabitat suitability modelMediterranean SeaRandom Forestspecies distribution |
| spellingShingle | Erika Fabbrizzi Erika Fabbrizzi Erika Fabbrizzi Michele Scardi Michele Scardi Enric Ballesteros Lisandro Benedetti-Cecchi Lisandro Benedetti-Cecchi Emma Cebrian Giulia Ceccherelli Francesco De Leo Alan Deidun Giuseppe Guarnieri Giuseppe Guarnieri Annalisa Falace Silvia Fraissinet Chiara Giommi Vesna Mačić Luisa Mangialajo Anna Maria Mannino Luigi Piazzi Mohamed Ramdani Gil Rilov Luca Rindi Luca Rindi Lucia Rizzo Gianluca Sarà Jamila Ben Souissi Ergun Taskin Simonetta Fraschetti Simonetta Fraschetti Simonetta Fraschetti Modeling Macroalgal Forest Distribution at Mediterranean Scale: Present Status, Drivers of Changes and Insights for Conservation and Management Frontiers in Marine Science Cystoseira canopies habitat suitability model Mediterranean Sea Random Forest species distribution |
| title | Modeling Macroalgal Forest Distribution at Mediterranean Scale: Present Status, Drivers of Changes and Insights for Conservation and Management |
| title_full | Modeling Macroalgal Forest Distribution at Mediterranean Scale: Present Status, Drivers of Changes and Insights for Conservation and Management |
| title_fullStr | Modeling Macroalgal Forest Distribution at Mediterranean Scale: Present Status, Drivers of Changes and Insights for Conservation and Management |
| title_full_unstemmed | Modeling Macroalgal Forest Distribution at Mediterranean Scale: Present Status, Drivers of Changes and Insights for Conservation and Management |
| title_short | Modeling Macroalgal Forest Distribution at Mediterranean Scale: Present Status, Drivers of Changes and Insights for Conservation and Management |
| title_sort | modeling macroalgal forest distribution at mediterranean scale present status drivers of changes and insights for conservation and management |
| topic | Cystoseira canopies habitat suitability model Mediterranean Sea Random Forest species distribution |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmars.2020.00020/full |
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