After the Fall: The Demographic Destiny of a Gorgonian Population Stricken by Catastrophic Mortality
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Study Area and Sampling Design
2.2. Size Structure and Density of the P. clavata Population
2.3. Data Analysis
3. Results
3.1. Population Density and Size/Age Structure over the 1998–2013 Period
3.2. Percentage Cover of Benthic Organisms and Density of Paramuricea Clavata
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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2013 | 1998 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tinetto Islet Area | Tinetto Island | Tinetto Shoal | Tinetto Islet Area | ||
n = 23 | n = 12 | n = 11 | n = 24 | ||
% Cover ± ES | TSH | 65.1 ± 1.4 | 65 ± 2.3 | 65.3 ± 1.7 | 39 ± 1 |
Undetermined area | 1.3 ± 1.4 | 1.5 ± 0.2 | 1 ± 0.2 | 0 | |
Occupied substrate | 33.6 ± 1.5 | 33.5 ± 2.5 | 33.7 ± 1.8 | 61 ± 1 | |
Porifera | 9.3 ± 0.7 | 10.9 ± 0.6 * | 7.6 ± 1.2 * | - | |
Hexacorallia | 4 ± 0.4 | 5.8 ± 1 * | 2 ± 0.2 * | - | |
Algae | 2 ± 0.04 | 1.1 ± 0.1 * | 2.9 ± 0.6 * | - | |
Ascidiacea, Bryozoa, and Polychetae | 0.29 ± 0.06 | 0.4 ± 0.1 * | 0.2 ± 0.03 * | - | |
Paramuricea clavata | 16.8 ± 1.7 | 14.0 ± 2.3 * | 19.9 ± 2.4 * | 52.0 ± 1 | |
Colony density (col m−2) ± ES | Recruits | 3.75 ± 1.74 | 1.33 ± 0.48 * | 6.18 ± 2.14 * | 0.83 ± 0.27 |
Adults | 17.10 ± 3.01 | 12.07 ± 1.81* | 21.30 ± 4.17* | 35.67 ± 3.20 |
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Ruffaldi Santori, S.; Benedetti, M.C.; Cocito, S.; Peirano, A.; Cupido, R.; Erra, F.; Santangelo, G. After the Fall: The Demographic Destiny of a Gorgonian Population Stricken by Catastrophic Mortality. Oceans 2021, 2, 337-350. https://doi.org/10.3390/oceans2020020
Ruffaldi Santori S, Benedetti MC, Cocito S, Peirano A, Cupido R, Erra F, Santangelo G. After the Fall: The Demographic Destiny of a Gorgonian Population Stricken by Catastrophic Mortality. Oceans. 2021; 2(2):337-350. https://doi.org/10.3390/oceans2020020
Chicago/Turabian StyleRuffaldi Santori, Simona, Maria Carla Benedetti, Silvia Cocito, Andrea Peirano, Roberta Cupido, Fabrizio Erra, and Giovanni Santangelo. 2021. "After the Fall: The Demographic Destiny of a Gorgonian Population Stricken by Catastrophic Mortality" Oceans 2, no. 2: 337-350. https://doi.org/10.3390/oceans2020020