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Anthropogenic disturbance of coastal habitats promotes the spread of the introduced scleractinian coral Oculina patagonica in the Mediterranean Sea

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Abstract

The extensive human-mediated modifications of shallow coastal habitats drastically alter selection regimes and may assist alien invasions. The preferential presence of a non-indigenous scleractinian coral (Oculina patagonica) on anthropogenic hard substrata was investigated in a highly disturbed coastal area, along the eastern Saronikos Gulf (Aegean Sea, Eastern Mediterranean). Although the species occurred on both natural and anthropogenic substrata at similar frequencies, its abundance was substantially higher on the latter. The species was present all along the shallow (0.5–5 m) infralittoral zone of the studied coastline, and its percent cover even exceeded 50 % at a site of anthropogenic hard substratum. The occupancy of the species declined with distance from a highly disturbed industrialized/urbanized area (Athens metropolitan coastal front and the port of Piraeus). Space availability as a result of habitat modification appears to have been an important factor enhancing the coral’s abundance in this area. The ongoing degradation of the coastal zone, as a combined effect of coastal pollution, proliferation of artificial substrata and overgrazing seems to be paving the way to this new invasion in the Aegean Sea.

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Acknowledgments

This work has been partly funded by the Athens Water Supply and Sewerage Company (EYDAP SA). The authors would like to thank the two anonymous reviewers for providing constructive comments and corrections that substantially helped improve this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Oceanography, Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, 19013, Anavyssos, Greece

    Maria Salomidi, Konstantinos Tsiamis & Nikos Katsiaras

  2. European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Institute for Environment and Sustainability, Ispra, Italy

    Stelios Katsanevakis

  3. Institute of Marine Biological Resources and Inland Waters, Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, 19013, Anavyssos, Greece

    Yiannis Issaris

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  1. Maria Salomidi
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  2. Stelios Katsanevakis
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Correspondence to Maria Salomidi.

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Salomidi, M., Katsanevakis, S., Issaris, Y. et al. Anthropogenic disturbance of coastal habitats promotes the spread of the introduced scleractinian coral Oculina patagonica in the Mediterranean Sea. Biol Invasions 15, 1961–1971 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-013-0424-0

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