NDLI: Habitat constraints and self-thinning shape Mediterranean red coral deep population structure: implications for conservation practice

Content Provider	PubMed Central
Author	Cau, Alessandro Lorenzo, Bramanti Rita, Cannas Cristina, Follesa Maria Angiolillo, Michela Canese, Simonepietro Bo, Marzia Cuccu, Danila Guizien, Katell
Copyright Year	2016
Abstract	The Mediterranean red coral, Corallium rubrum, is one of the most precious corals worldwide. Below 50 m depth, C. rubrum populations are generally characterised by large and sparse colonies, whereas shallow populations (above 50 m depth) show high densities of small colonies. We show here instead that populations dwelling between 80 and 170 m depth exhibited a continuous range of population density (from 2 to 75 colonies per 0.25 m2), with less than 1% of variance explained by water depth. An inverse relationship between maximum population density and mean colony height was found, suggesting that self-thinning processes may shape population structure. Moreover, demographically young populations composed of small and dense colonies dominated along rocky vertical walls, whereas mature populations characterised by large and sparsely distributed colonies were found only in horizontal beds not covered by sediment. We hypothesise that, in the long term, shallow protected populations should resemble to present deep populations, with sparsely distributed large colonies. Since the density of red coral colonies can decay as a result of self-thinning mechanisms, we advise that future protection strategies should be based also on a measure of red coral spatial coverage instead of population density.
Related Links	http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/srep23322
Starting Page	23322
File Format	PDF
ISSN	20452322
e-ISSN	20452322
Journal	Scientific Reports
Volume Number	6
Language	English
Publisher	Nature Publishing Group
Publisher Date	2016-03-01
Access Restriction	Open
Rights Holder	Nature Publishing Group
Subject Keyword	Science and technology Research in Higher Education
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Multidisciplinary

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