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Diversity
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Marine Nearshore Biodiversity—2nd Edition
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Marine Nearshore Biodiversity—2nd Edition

A special issue of Diversity (ISSN 1424-2818). This special issue belongs to the section "Marine Diversity".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 May 2026 | Viewed by 7016

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Thomas J. Trott

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Maine Coastal Program, Department of Marine Resources, West Boothbay Harbor, ME 04575, USA
Interests: biodiversity; conservation biology; marine biology; biogeography; nearshore ecology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Nearshore ecosystems contain most of the ocean’s highly productive waters and varied habitats that support a range of phyla more diverse than that which terrestrial ecosystems hold. This band of water spanning continents and islands extends seaward from the intertidal zone out through the subtidal to a depth of 90 meters and envelops most of the marine biodiversity hotspots. The valuable services provided by nearshore ecosystems are as diverse as their plant and animal inhabitants. Among the marine ecosystems, nearshore biodiversity has the deepest history of exploration, exploitation, and benefits to society. Yet, as coastal sea water temperatures, sea levels, sea water chemistries, and coastal currents change, the populations of the nearshore benthos are reduced, restructured, and replaced. These consequences are understood through the altered phenology of life histories, changed abundance and genetic diversity, species range shifts, and modified ecosystem functions.

This Special Issue will highlight recent advances in research on nearshore biodiversity, covering its relationship with biogeography, coastal oceanographic processes, ecosystem functions, species introductions and range shifts, community ecology and genetics. Research concerned with the interactions of commercial harvesting, aquaculture and pollution with nearshore biodiversity is also invited. In summary, this collection aims to present, in a broad sense, a global comparison of nearshore biodiversity and the drivers of change.

Prof. Dr. Thomas J. Trott
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Diversity is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2100 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • biogeography
  • oceanography
  • range shifts
  • coastal
  • distributions
  • community ecology

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

12 pages, 1512 KB  
Article
Evidence in Support of the Kelp Conveyor Hypothesis
by Cody M. Brooks and Gary W. Saunders
Diversity 2025, 17(9), 629; https://doi.org/10.3390/d17090629 - 7 Sep 2025
Viewed by 546
Abstract
The flora of Haida Gwaii includes many macroalgal species, initially assumed endemic, which are largely absent from southern British Columbia but which were subsequently collected in California. One explanation for these disjunct distributions is the kelp conveyor hypothesis, which proposes non-buoyant macroalgae hitchhike [...] Read more.
The flora of Haida Gwaii includes many macroalgal species, initially assumed endemic, which are largely absent from southern British Columbia but which were subsequently collected in California. One explanation for these disjunct distributions is the kelp conveyor hypothesis, which proposes non-buoyant macroalgae hitchhike on kelp rafts from central California to Haida Gwaii. Using mitochondrial COI-5P data, we adopt a weight-of-evidence approach and summarize broad patterns of allelic distribution and genetic differentiation across 11 species of red algae collected in California, Haida Gwaii and southern Vancouver Isl., British Columbia, to assess the impact of the kelp conveyor hypothesis. Although this hypothesis was based on species with disjunct distributions, we emphasize species with continuous distributions. In support of this hypothesis, we demonstrate low genetic differentiation between Haida Gwaii and California in 9 of 11 species consistent with significantly higher gene flow than from California to Vancouver Isl., and 13% of all alleles observed on Haida Gwaii were disjunct. These observations are consistent with predictions of the kelp conveyor hypothesis. Results here shed light on a previously cryptic source of gene flow which has impacted a considerable proportion of the red algal flora of Haida Gwaii. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Marine Nearshore Biodiversity—2nd Edition)
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12 pages, 1086 KB  
Article
First Insights into the Mitochondrial DNA Diversity of the Italian Sea-Slater Across the Strait of Sicily
by Francesco Paolo Faraone, Luca Vecchioni, Arnold Sciberras, Antonella Di Gangi and Alan Deidun
Diversity 2025, 17(9), 622; https://doi.org/10.3390/d17090622 - 4 Sep 2025
Viewed by 627
Abstract
The Strait of Sicily represents a biogeographically rich and complex region. The diverse geological origin and past continental connection of its islands have shaped a highly heterogeneous fauna, mainly composed of both African and European taxa. The Italian sea-slater, Ligia italica (Fabricius, 1798), [...] Read more.
The Strait of Sicily represents a biogeographically rich and complex region. The diverse geological origin and past continental connection of its islands have shaped a highly heterogeneous fauna, mainly composed of both African and European taxa. The Italian sea-slater, Ligia italica (Fabricius, 1798), is a small isopod inhabiting rocky shores of the Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea, and Atlantic Ocean. Despite its wide distribution, the phylogeography of this species is poorly understood, with limited available data suggesting a remarkable level of cryptic diversity. In this study, we investigated the mitochondrial genetic diversity (COX1) of L. italica across nine Italian and Maltese islands across the Strait of Sicily, aiming to clarify the biogeographic patterns underlying the distribution of these insular populations. Our results reveal an unexpectedly high genetic diversity within our study area, with eight different haplogroups, each characterized by low internal genetic variation and mutual distances ranging from 5.5% to 17.9%. These values are comparable to those associated with species-level rank within the genus Ligia. Overall, the phylogenetic relationships between the lineages appear well supported; however, the same relationships are not clearly correlated with geographic proximity or connectivity among the sampled localities. The distribution patterns of some of the detected haplogroups suggest possible passive dispersal mechanisms (e.g., rafting), while others indicate more intricate biogeographic scenarios. The overall diversity of L. italica within the Strait of Sicily, as well as the unclear origin of some insular populations, cannot be fully explained with the current data. In particular, the high genetic structure observed within the Maltese Archipelago, may partially reflect human-mediated dispersal (e.g., maritime transport), possibly involving source populations that remain unsampled or genetically uncharacterized. Our results highlight that the Strait of Sicily can be considered a diversity hot spot for L. italica and support the designation of this taxon as a putative species complex, with a cryptic diversity worthy of an exhaustive taxonomic revision. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Marine Nearshore Biodiversity—2nd Edition)
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35 pages, 6301 KB  
Article
Multi-Biomarker Analysis Uncovers High Spatio-Temporal Stability of a Subarctic Rhodolith (Lithothamnion glaciale) Bed Food Web
by Sean Hacker Teper, Christopher C. Parrish and Patrick Gagnon
Diversity 2024, 16(10), 597; https://doi.org/10.3390/d16100597 - 27 Sep 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2611
Abstract
We used lipid, fatty acid, and stable isotope analyses to investigate variation, over nine months, in the trophodynamics of 10 dominant cryptofaunal, macroalgal/algal, and environmental components from two sites within a rhodolith (Lithothamnion glaciale) bed in southeastern Newfoundland (Canada). There was [...] Read more.
We used lipid, fatty acid, and stable isotope analyses to investigate variation, over nine months, in the trophodynamics of 10 dominant cryptofaunal, macroalgal/algal, and environmental components from two sites within a rhodolith (Lithothamnion glaciale) bed in southeastern Newfoundland (Canada). There was an overall shift from a diatom-based food web following the spring phytoplankton bloom to a kelp/algae-based food web during fall, accompanied by preferred use of EPA (20:5ω3) over DHA (22:6ω3) in most cryptofauna. The food web contained three trophic levels that encompassed: (1) direct feeding relationships from primary producers (e.g., rhodoliths, macroalgae) to second-order consumers (e.g., sea stars, polychaetes); (2) trophic subsidy from within and outside the rhodolith bed via settlement, resuspension, and consumption of macroalgal fragments and other detrital organic matter; and (3) strong pelagic/benthic coupling. Riverine input did not affect cryptofaunal diets, as shown by the lack of terrestrial biomarkers at the study site nearest to the riverine input, and there were minor differences in trophodynamics between both study sites. The present study’s findings, applicable to relatively broad spatial and temporal domains, as well as those of complementary studies of the same rhodolith bed, uncover high spatio-temporal stability of the rhodolith bed framework and of resident cryptofaunal abundance, diversity, and trophodynamics. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Marine Nearshore Biodiversity—2nd Edition)
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22 pages, 5305 KB  
Article
Decapods of the Southern Tip of South America and the Marine Protected Area Namuncurá–Burdwood Bank: A Nearshore–Offshore Comparison
by Pablo Di Salvatore, Mariano J. Albano, Mariano J. Diez, Federico Tapella, Patricia Pérez-Barros and Gustavo A. Lovrich
Diversity 2023, 15(11), 1143; https://doi.org/10.3390/d15111143 - 15 Nov 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2236
Abstract
The Marine Protected Area (MPA) Namuncurá−Burdwood Bank was created in 2013 to protect the benthic community. After five years of multidisciplinary research, it was reorganized, and a second, contiguous MPA Namuncurá−Burdwood Bank II was created. The objectives of this study were to evaluate [...] Read more.
The Marine Protected Area (MPA) Namuncurá−Burdwood Bank was created in 2013 to protect the benthic community. After five years of multidisciplinary research, it was reorganized, and a second, contiguous MPA Namuncurá−Burdwood Bank II was created. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the decapod assemblages in both the previous and current management zones and to compare them with the neighboring areas of southern South America. The decapod fauna was studied integratively by comparing captured species onboard scientific expeditions with online records. Our study showed that the original design of the MPAN−BB had the lowest decapod species richness. However, the constitution of a larger protected area, including the slope, increased the species richness, with unique records of Campylonotus arntzianus and Lithodes couesi. The MPA could be considered ecologically representative as it shares various species with the nearby areas (the Beagle Channel and the Atlantic). Furthermore, we theorize it could act as a “hub” for decapod species as marine currents provide the Burdwood Bank with new individuals from the west and disperse them northward to the Patagonian Shelf and eastward to the Scotia Arc. This result shows the great value of protecting this area, ensuring the conservation of the decapod fauna of southern South America. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Marine Nearshore Biodiversity—2nd Edition)
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