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| Titel |
Modelling the spatial distribution of the seagrass Posidonia oceanica (L.) Delile, 1813 along the North African coast. |
| VerfasserIn |
Matteo Zucchetta, Chiara Venier, Mohamed Amine Taji, Antoine Mangin, Roberto Pastres |
| Konferenz |
EGU General Assembly 2014
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| Medientyp |
Artikel
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| Sprache |
Englisch
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| Digitales Dokument |
PDF |
| Erschienen |
In: GRA - Volume 16 (2014) |
| Datensatznummer |
250099821
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| Publikation (Nr.) |
 EGU/EGU2014-15652.pdf |
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| Zusammenfassung |
| Posidonia oceanica is a seagrass species endemic to the Mediterranean sea, which is
considered as an indicator of environment quality in coastal areas. This species forms large
meadows, which are sensitive to several anthropogenic pressures, as a result the decrease in
their extension of is considered a priority issue for the Mediterranean sea. The aim of this
study was to develop a Species Distribution Model for P. oceanica, to be applied to the
Mediterranean North African coast, in order to obtain an estimation of the potential
distribution of this species in the region. As the study area is a data-poor zone with regard to
seagrass distribution, the SDM was calibrated using data from 5 Mediterranean sites, located
in Italy and Spain and validated using available data concerning the NA coast. The
probability of presence of the species in a given area was modeled as a function of the
bathymetry and some water characteristics (i.e. water transparency; dissolved organic matter;
chlorophyll concentration) obtained from Earth Observations (EOs), mainly derived from
MERIS imagery. Water transparency plays a major role, but also other variables, such as
chlorophyll concentration (probably related to nutrients availability), are important in
explaining meadows distribution. The availability of high resolution time-series of the input
data allowed us to apply the validated model to the whole NA coast. These results (maps of
potential distribution) are combined with the use of ecosystem service indicators in
order to assess the importance of seagrass habitat within the NA coastal ecosystem. |
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