Preprint volume - SIBM

Pre-print Volume - Oral presentations
Topic 2: MARINE ORGANISMS AND ECOSYSTEMS AS MODEL SYSTEMS
The high incidence of seasonal species in the Conero area is probably due to the sharp
water temperature variations occurring during the year (7-27 °C vs 13-25 °C
temperature ranges registered in the Adriatic and western Mediterranean basins
respectively). In this environment only few eurythermal species are able to tolerate the
drastic temperature variations. Moreover, while the summer water temperature is quite
similar to that of western Mediterranean waters, the winter one is strongly lower and
this fact enhances the number of species with an active phase during the warm season.
In the western Mediterranean basin the number of summer species is strongly
constrained by the decreasing of food available for filter feeders. On the contrary in the
North Adriatic Sea the food availability is high all around the year, moreover we have
shown that carnivorous filter feeders can be supported by a high production of
meroplanktonic organisms, mainly veliger and pediveliger of bivalves that reach their
maximal density during summer months. It is therefore probable that food supply is not
a limiting factor in this area, consequently the seasonality of benthic species is mainly
triggered by the physiological adaptations of each species to a restrict range of
temperatures. This fact is supported by the strong correlation observed between the
cycle of abundance of the studied species and that of water temperature. On the
contrary, in the western Mediterranean Sea, these cycles are shifted suggesting the
involvement of other possible cues (Boero & Fresi, 1986).
References
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41 st S.I.B.M. CONGRESS Rapallo (GE), 7-11 June 2010
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