The Biodiversity of the Mediterranean Sea: Estimates, Patterns, and Threats

By Marta Coll, Chiara Piroddi, Jeroen Steenbeek, K. Kaschner, F. Ben Rais Lasram, Jacopo Aguzzi, E. Ballesteros, C. Bianchi, J. Corbera, T. Dailianis and 28 more. PLoS ONE, 2010

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The Mediterranean Sea is a marine biodiversity hot spot. Here we combined an extensive literature analysis with expert opinions to update publicly available estimates of major taxa in this marine ecosystem and to revise and update several species lists. We also assessed overall spatial and temporal patterns of species diversity and identified major changes and threats. Our results listed approximately 17,000 marine species occurring in the Mediterranean Sea. However, our estimates of marine diversity are still incomplete as yet—undescribed species will be added in the future. Diversity for microbes is substantially underestimated, and the deep-sea areas and portions of the southern and eastern region are still poorly known. In addition, the invasion of alien species is a crucial factor that will continue to change the biodiversity of the Mediterranean, mainly in its eastern basin that can spread rapidly northwards and westwards due to the warming of the Mediterranean Sea. Spatial patterns showed a general decrease in biodiversity from northwestern to southeastern regions following a gradient of production, with some exceptions and caution due to gaps in our knowledge of the biota along the southern and eastern rims. Biodiversity was also generally higher in coastal areas and continental shelves, and decreases with depth. Temporal trends indicated that overexploitation and habitat loss have been the main human drivers of historical changes in biodiversity. At present, habitat loss and degradation, followed by fishing impacts, pollution, climate change, eutrophication, and the establishment of alien species are the most important threats and affect the greatest number of taxonomic groups. All these impacts are expected to grow in importance in the future, especially climate change and habitat degradation. The spatial identification of hot spots highlighted the ecological importance of most of the western Mediterranean shelves (and in particular, the Strait of Gibraltar and the adjacent Alboran Sea), western African coast, the Adriatic, and the Aegean Sea, which show high concentrations of endangered, threatened, or vulnerable species. The Levantine Basin, severely impacted by the invasion of species, is endangered as well. This abstract has been translated to other languages (File S1).

Subfields: Ecology, Global and Planetary Change, Molecular Biology

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/c3687e4b0c4ebfc5239c86560778163f48a5656e

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Citations in the corpus

Species diversity, taxonomy and distribution of Chondrichthyes in the Mediterranean and Black Sea (2020, background): “…pattern in Mediterranean species diversity (Coll et al. 2010) probably due to a decreasing gradient of productivity from west to east and the presence of a threshold-strait or canal effect (e.g., Gibraltar, Sicily-Tunisia, Bosphorus and Suez) influencing species movements (Coll et al. 2010).”
An updated checklist of the marine fishes of Turkey (2014, background): “Among the entire faunal assemblages, fishes are one of the most intensely studied groups, with nearly 650 species recorded throughout the basin (Quignard and Tomasini, 2000; Coll et al., 2010).”
Marine invasion genetics: from spatio-temporal patterns to evolutionary outcomes (2014, background): “The Mediterranean Sea is the most altered and invaded of all European seas, with recent estimates of the number of introduced species ranging between 500 and 1,000 species (Streftaris et al. 2005; Streftaris and Zenetos 2006; Galil 2009; Coll et al. 2010; Zenetos et al. 2012).”
Alien species in the Mediterranean Sea by 2010. A contribution to the application of European Union's Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). Part I. Spatial distribution (2010, background): “The Ionian is connected to the WMED through the narrow Strait of Messina, a micro-sector that harbours a wealth of biogeographic peculiarities, including Pliocene Atlantic remnants and local endemisms (FREDJ & GIACCONE, 1995), and the larger Strait of Sicily, the meeting point of native Western and ”
Unravelling the ecological role and trophic relationships of uncommon and threatened elasmobranchs in the western Mediterranean Sea (2015, background): “However, many species have declined in abundance across the Mediterranean Basin mainly due to degradation, loss of habitats and direct impacts from fishing (Ferretti et al. 2008, Coll et al. 2010, 2013).”
Biologically representative and well‐connected marine reserves enhance biodiversity persistence in conservation planning (2018, positive): “Their habitats are also being increasingly aﬀected by coastal development and climate change (Coll, Piroddi, & Steenbeek, 2010), and marine reserves have been shown to boost resilience against these stressors (Micheli, Saenz-Arroyo, & Greenley, 2012).”
The imbalance of nature: revisiting a Darwinian framework for invasion biology (2014, methodology): “Suez Canal – Marine Mollusks: The number of native species of mollusks for the Red Sea is from Dekker & Orlin (2000), whereas the number for the Mediterranean is from Coll et al.”
Decline and local extinction of Fucales in French Riviera: the harbinger of future extinctions? (2014, neutral): “…worldwide shipping and tourism and the highest rate of biological invasions (e.g. Bianchi & Mor-ri, 2000; Galil, 2000; Boudouresque & Verlaque, 2002; Panayotidis et al., 2004; Lotze et al., 2006; Coll et al., 2010; Lejeusne et al., 2010; Zenetos et al., 2010; UNEP/ MAP, 2012; Bianchi et al., 2014).”
Marine Renewable Energy in the Mediterranean Sea: Status and Perspectives (2017, background): “connects the western with the eastern Mediterranean sub-basin through a shallow ridge of 400 m depth [100].”