Environmentally driven synchronies of Mediterranean cephalopod populations

Type Article
Date 2017-03
Language English
Author(s) Keller Stefanie1, Quetglas Antoni1, Puerta Patricia1, Bitetto Isabella2, Casciaro Loredana2, Cuccu Danila3, Esteban Antonio4, Garcia Cristina5, Garofalo Germana6, Guijarro Beatriz1, Josephides Marios7, Jadaud AngeliqueORCID8, Lefkaditou Evgenia9, Maiorano Porzia10, Manfredi Chiara11, Marceta Bojan12, Micallef Reno13, Peristeraki Panagiota14, 18, Relini Giulio15, 16, Sartor Paolo17, Spedicato Maria Teresa2, Tserpes George14, Hidalgo Manuel1
Affiliation(s) 1 : Inst Espanol Oceanog, Ctr Oceanog Baleares, Muelle de Poniente S-N,Apdo 291, Palma De Mallorca 07015, Spain.
2 : COISPA Tecnol & Ric, Stn Sperimentale Studio Risorse Mare, Bari, Italy.
3 : Univ Cagliari, Dipartemento Sci Vita & Ambiente, Cagliari, Italy.
4 : IEO, Ctr Oceanog Murcia, Murcia, Spain.
5 : IEO, Ctr Oceanog Malaga, Malaga, Spain.
6 : CNR, IAMC, Coastal Marine Environm Insitute, Mazara Del Vallo, TP, Italy.
7 : Minist Agr Rural Dev & Environm, DFMR, Nicosia, Cyprus.
8 : IFREMER, UMR Ecosyst Marins Exploites EME 212, Sete, France.
9 : Hellen Ctr Marine Res, Athens, Greece.
10 : Univ Bari Aldo Moro, Dept Biol, Bari, Italy.
11 : Univ Bologna, Lab Biol Marina & Pesca, Fano, PS, Italy.
12 : Fishery Res Inst Slovenia, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
13 : Minist Sustainable Dev, Dept Fisheries & Aquaculture, Marsa, Malta.
14 : Hellen Ctr Marine Res, Iraklion, Crete, Greece.
15 : Soc Italiana Biol Marina, Genoa, Italy.
16 : Univ Genoa, DISTAV, Genoa, Italy.
17 : CIBM Ctr Interuniv Biol Marina & Ecol Applicata, Livorno, Italy.
18 : Univ Crete, Biol Dept, Iraklion, Crete, Greece.
Source Progress In Oceanography (0079-6611) (Pergamon-elsevier Science Ltd), 2017-03 , Vol. 152 , P. 1-14
DOI 10.1016/j.pocean.2016.12.010
WOS© Times Cited 15
Keyword(s) Cephalopods, Mediterranean, MEDITS, Dynamic factor analysis, Synchrony, Octopus vulgaris, Illex coindetii
Abstract The Mediterranean Sea is characterized by large scale gradients of temperature, productivity and salinity, in addition to pronounced mesoscale differences. Such a heterogeneous system is expected to shape the population dynamics of marine species. On the other hand, prevailing environmental and climatic conditions at whole basin scale may force spatially distant populations to fluctuate in synchrony. Cephalopods are excellent case studies to test these hypotheses owing to their high sensitivity to environmental conditions. Data of two cephalopod species with contrasting life histories (benthic octopus vs nectobenthic squid), obtained from scientific surveys carried out throughout the Mediterranean during the last 20 years were analyzed. The objectives of this study and the methods used to achieve them (in parentheses) were: i) to investigate synchronies in spatially separated populations (decorrelation analysis); ii) detect underlying common abundance trends over distant regions (dynamic factor analysis, DFA); and iii) analyse putative influences of key environmental drivers such as productivity and sea surface temperature on the population dynamics at regional scale (general linear models, GLM). In accordance with their contrasting spatial mobility, the distance from where synchrony could no longer be detected (decorrelation scale) was higher in squid than in octopus (349 vs 217 km); for comparison, the maximum distance between locations was 2620 km. The DFA revealed a general increasing trend in the abundance of both species in most areas, which agrees with the already reported worldwide proliferation of cephalopods. DFA results also showed that population dynamics are more similar in the eastern than in the western Mediterranean basin. According to the GLM models, cephalopod populations were negatively affected by productivity, which would be explained by an increase of competition and predation by fishes. While warmer years coincided with declining octopus numbers, areas of high sea surface temperature showed higher densities of squid. Our results are relevant for regional fisheries management and demonstrate that the regionalisation objectives envisaged under the new Common Fishery Policy may not be adequate for Mediterranean cephalopod stocks.
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Keller Stefanie, Quetglas Antoni, Puerta Patricia, Bitetto Isabella, Casciaro Loredana, Cuccu Danila, Esteban Antonio, Garcia Cristina, Garofalo Germana, Guijarro Beatriz, Josephides Marios, Jadaud Angelique, Lefkaditou Evgenia, Maiorano Porzia, Manfredi Chiara, Marceta Bojan, Micallef Reno, Peristeraki Panagiota, Relini Giulio, Sartor Paolo, Spedicato Maria Teresa, Tserpes George, Hidalgo Manuel (2017). Environmentally driven synchronies of Mediterranean cephalopod populations. Progress In Oceanography, 152, 1-14. Publisher's official version : https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pocean.2016.12.010 , Open Access version : https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00371/48207/