Nafsika Papageorgiou

Publications

• 3.10

  Impact points

  Meta-analysis of a large data set with Water Framework Directive indicators and calibration of a Benthic Quality Index at the family level

  P.D. Dimitriou, E.T. Apostolaki, N. Papageorgiou, S. Reizopoulou, N. Simboura, C. Arvanitidis, I. Karakassis

  Ecological Indicators. 09/2012; 20(20):101-17.

  A large data set of marine benthic samples from the Eastern Mediterranean was used to develop Benthic Quality Index (BQI)-family, a new indicator based on the BQI index, which was calibrated by maximizing the consensus with other existing indicators namely BQI, Shannon diversity H’, AZTI Marine Biot... [more] A large data set of marine benthic samples from the Eastern Mediterranean was used to develop Benthic Quality Index (BQI)-family, a new indicator based on the BQI index, which was calibrated by maximizing the consensus with other existing indicators namely BQI, Shannon diversity H’, AZTI Marine Biotic Index (AMBI) and BENTIX. The values calculated for the BQI-family indicator are significantly and highly correlated (p < 0.0001) to those calculated for all the aforementioned indicators and it provides judgment on ecological status close to their average. Furthermore, it combines the strong points of all these methods with the increased reliability, speed and low cost of the identification at higher taxonomic levels.

• A first checklist of gobies from Crete with ten new records

  Kovacic Marcelo, Miletic Marin, Papageorgiou Nafsika

  Cybium. 01/2011; 35(3):245-253.

  The checklist of gobiids from Crete includes 17 species. The published data on gobies from Crete have so far been scarce. Ten species are the new findings from the present research. Two species, Corcyrogobius liechtensteini and Gammogobius steinitzi, from the north coast of Crete, represent the firs... [more] The checklist of gobiids from Crete includes 17 species. The published data on gobies from Crete have so far been scarce. Ten species are the new findings from the present research. Two species, Corcyrogobius liechtensteini and Gammogobius steinitzi, from the north coast of Crete, represent the first finding of these species outside the north-western Mediterranean and the Adriatic Sea. It is expected that the actual gobiid biodiversity of Crete is much higher.
• 1.76

  Impact points

  Effects of fish farming on the biological and geochemical properties of muddy and sandy sediments in the Mediterranean Sea.

  Nafsika Papageorgiou, Ioanna Kalantzi, Ioannis Karakassis

  Marine environmental research. 06/2010; 69(5):326-36.

  The aim of this paper was to test how benthic fauna and biogeochemical properties of sediment will vary in response to similar levels of organic enrichment (induced by fish farming) as a function of bottom-habitat type (i.e., mud versus seagrass/coarse sediments), distance from the enrichment source... [more] The aim of this paper was to test how benthic fauna and biogeochemical properties of sediment will vary in response to similar levels of organic enrichment (induced by fish farming) as a function of bottom-habitat type (i.e., mud versus seagrass/coarse sediments), distance from the enrichment source and depth. Our results showed that samples from silty sediments in the vicinity of fish farms have higher TOC and TON values, higher oxygen consumption, higher PO(4) release and lower benthic diversity. In this context muddy sites are more likely to be identified as impacted/critical, than coarse sediment ones.

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• Spatial patterns of biodiversity in the Black Sea: An assessment using benthic polychaetes

  Victor Surugiu, Nikolai Revkov, Valentina Todorova, Nafsika Papageorgiou, Vasilis Valavanis, Christos Arvanitidis

  Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science. 01/2010; 88(2):165-174.

• Changes of macrofaunal functional composition at sedimentary habitats in the vicinity of fish farms

  N. Papageorgiou, K. Sigala, I. Karakassis

  Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science. 01/2009; 83:561-568.

• Assessing the suitability of a range of benthic indices in the evaluation of environmental impact of fin and shellfish aquaculture located in sites across Europe

  Αngel Borja, J. Germαn Rodrνguez, Kenny Black, Alain Bodoy, Chris Emblow, Teresa F. Fernandes, Janez Forte, Ioannis Karakassis, Iρigo Muxika, Thom D. Nickell, Nafsika Papageorgiou, Fabio Pranovi, Katerina Sevastou, Paolo Tomassetti, Dror Angel

  Aquaculture. 01/2009; 293(3-4):231-240.

• Description of a new species of Streptosyllis (Polychaeta: Syllidae) from the Mediterranean and Canary Islands with a re-description of Streptosyllis arenae and comments on the taxonomy of Streptosyllis and some morphologically similar genera

  S. Faulwetter, K. Vasileiadou, N. Papageorgiou, C. Arvanitidis

  Zootaxa. 01/2008; 1847:1-18.

• Interrelationships of bacteria, meiofauna and macrofauna in a Mediterranean sedimentary beach (Maremma Park, NW Italy)

  N. Papageorgiou, M. Moreno, V. Marin, S. Baiardo, C. Arvanitidis, M. Fabiano, A. Eleftheriou

  Helgoland Marine Research. 01/2007; 1:31-42.

• MedOBIS: biogeographic information system for the eastern Meditteranean and the Black Sea

  C. Arvanitidis, V. Valavanis, A. Eleftheriou, M.J. Costello, S. Faulwetter, P. Gotsis, M.S. Kitsos, I. Kirmtzoglou, A. Zenetos, A. Petrov, B.S. Galil, N. Papageorgiou

  Marine Ecology Progress Series. 01/2006; 316:225-230.

• Multicausal environmental severity: A flexible framework for microtidal sandy beaches and the role of polychaetes as an indicator taxon

  N. Papageorgiou, C. Arvanitidis, A. Eleftheriou

  Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science. 01/2006; 70:643-53.

• Spatial patterns of biodiversity in the Black Sea: An assessment using benthic polychaetes

  Victor Surugiu, Nikolai Revkov, Valentina Todorova, Nafsika Papageorgiou, Vasilis Valavanis, Christos Arvanitidis

  Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science.

  The current study broadens the biodiversity information available for the Black Sea and neighbouring regions and improves our knowledge about the polychaete biogeographic patterns to be discerned in them. There appears to be a well-defined zoogeocline from the Marmara Sea and Bosphorus Strait to the... [more] The current study broadens the biodiversity information available for the Black Sea and neighbouring regions and improves our knowledge about the polychaete biogeographic patterns to be discerned in them. There appears to be a well-defined zoogeocline from the Marmara Sea and Bosphorus Strait to the inner parts of the region (Azov Sea), depicted both as a multivariate pattern and in terms of species (or taxa) numbers. The emergent multivariate pattern complies, to a certain extent, with Jakubova’s (1935) views: three main sectors can be defined in the basin: (a) Prebosphoric, (b) the Black Sea and, (c) the Azov Sea, whereas the Bosphorus Strait and Marmara Sea show less faunal affinities with the afore-mentioned sectors. Patterns derived both from the cosmopolitan and Atlanto-Mediterranean species closely follow the one coming from the polychaete species and genera inventories. As a general trend, species numbers decrease along with the decrease in salinity towards the inner parts of the region. The trend is homologous to that seen in the benthic invertebrate inventories of all the major European semi-enclosed regional seas. Salinity and food availability appear to be the dominant abiotic factors correlated, though weakly, with the various patterns deriving from the taxonomic/zoogeographic categories. With the exception of the Anatolia, polychaete inventories from all sectors appear to be random samples of the total inventory of the region, in terms of taxonomic distinctness values. Therefore, these sectoral inventories can be used for future biodiversity/environmental impact assessment studies. A massive invasion of Mediterranean species after the opening of the Black Sea, in the lower Quaternary period, appears to be the likely biogeographic mechanism through which the old Sarmatic fauna was almost completely replaced by species of marine origin.

• Assessing the suitability of a range of benthic indices in the evaluation of environmental impact of fin and shellfish aquaculture located in sites across Europe

  Ángel Borja, J. Germán Rodríguez, Kenny Black, Alain Bodoy, Chris Emblow, Teresa F. Fernandes, Janez Forte, Ioannis Karakassis, Iñigo Muxika, Thom D. Nickell, Nafsika Papageorgiou, Fabio Pranovi, Katerina Sevastou, Paolo Tomassetti, Dror Angel

  Aquaculture.

  The European Union-funded ECASA project (Ecosystem Approach for Sustainable Aquaculture) studied the impacts from aquaculture on ecosystems from northern Norway to Greece. The objectives of this investigation were to identify quantitative indicators of the effects of aquaculture on marine communitie... [more] The European Union-funded ECASA project (Ecosystem Approach for Sustainable Aquaculture) studied the impacts from aquaculture on ecosystems from northern Norway to Greece. The objectives of this investigation were to identify quantitative indicators of the effects of aquaculture on marine communities, and to assess their applicability over a range of ecosystems and aquaculture production systems. The study included 6 Mediterranean and 4 Atlantic sites, 7 of which produced finfish (seabream, seabass, tuna, salmon and cod), and 2 bivalve molluscs (oysters, mussels, and clams); one site produced both fish and bivalves. Cultivation methods included finfish cages, long-lines and trestles. Similar sampling methodologies were employed at the 10 study sites, obtaining sediment, hydrodynamic, and benthic faunal data. The horizontal impact from organic enrichment extended 50 m from the farms, with contradictory responses in several indicators (individual abundance, biomass) and a more consistent response of the Infaunal Trophic Index (ITI) and AZTI's Marine Biotic Index (AMBI). By means of Partial Redundancy Analysis, it was demonstrated that the environmental variables explained 53.2% of the variability in the macrofaunal variables (individual abundance, species richness, diversity, AMBI and ITI), whilst the explained variance was partialled out within three groups of variables: (i) ‘hydrography’ (depth, distance to farm, average current speed), which explained 11.5% of the variance; (ii) ‘sediment’ (Eh and percentages of silt and total organic matter), which explained 5.4%; and (iii) ‘cages’ (years of production and annual production), which explained 15.2%. The shared variance explained by interactions among these groups was 21.1%. These results, together with multiple regression analysis, provide an accurate assessment of the degree of impact from aquaculture. In conclusion, the use of several benthic indicators, in assessing farm impacts, together with the investigation of dynamics of the studied location, water depth, years of farm activity, and total annual production, must be included when interpreting the response of benthic communities to organic enrichment from aquaculture.

• Changes of macrofaunal functional composition at sedimentary habitats in the vicinity of fish farms

  Nafsika Papageorgiou, Kalliopi Sigala, Ioannis Karakassis

  Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science.

  The relationship of functional diversity and composition was studied in gradients of organically enriched sediments from four Mediterranean fish farms. Within-functional trait diversity was also used to examine the functional redundancy of specific functional traits. Characteristics considered to re... [more] The relationship of functional diversity and composition was studied in gradients of organically enriched sediments from four Mediterranean fish farms. Within-functional trait diversity was also used to examine the functional redundancy of specific functional traits. Characteristics considered to respond to different geochemical conditions of the sediment were chosen for the traits list of that organism and were classified into ecological and morphological traits. Each trait was split up into several categories chosen to encompass the range of possible attributes of all species. The abundance of species possessing the same code was summed for each sample. Functional codes analyses differentiated between the sediment types and the TOC states, confirming the sensitivity of the functional characteristics to the geochemistry of the sediment. Changes in species number and abundance in the compared sites determined the shifts of the functional processes and not the presence or absence of individual traits. The important functional codes for the homogeneity within the examined habitats were fewer in the disturbed areas indicating that the functioning of these ecosystems is significantly reduced.

• Effects of fish farming on the biological and geochemical properties of muddy and sandy sediments in the Mediterranean Sea

  Nafsika Papageorgiou, Ioanna Kalantzi, Ioannis Karakassis

  Marine Environmental Research.

  The aim of this paper was to test how benthic fauna and biogeochemical properties of sediment will vary in response to similar levels of organic enrichment (induced by fish farming) as a function of bottom-habitat type (i.e., mud versus seagrass/coarse sediments), distance from the enrichment source... [more] The aim of this paper was to test how benthic fauna and biogeochemical properties of sediment will vary in response to similar levels of organic enrichment (induced by fish farming) as a function of bottom-habitat type (i.e., mud versus seagrass/coarse sediments), distance from the enrichment source and depth. Our results showed that samples from silty sediments in the vicinity of fish farms have higher TOC and TON values, higher oxygen consumption, higher PO4 release and lower benthic diversity. In this context muddy sites are more likely to be identified as impacted/critical, than coarse sediment ones.