Carlos Sangil

• PhD Biology
• Professor (Assistant) at University of La Laguna

Sargassum species play a key role in habitat formation in tropical and subtropical regions; however, species identification has been hampered by the phenological plasticity exhibited in response to environmental conditions and life history. Molecular phylogenetics has challenged taxa circumscriptions and proven critical in delimiting species in thi...

Macroalgae forests constitute one of the main marine ecosystems of illuminated rocky bottoms in temperate latitudes around the world. In the Canary Islands, the native forests are dominated by brown and red macroalgae that offer essential ecosystem services and maintain the biodiversity and functionality of these habitats. During the last three dec...

We studied the primary succession of benthic communities in the lava flows of the Tajogaite volcano at 2, 4.5, and 7 months after the eruption ended. The lava from the Tajogaite created several lava flows and sterile rocky reefs that were monitored in both intertidal and subtidal areas up to 20 m depth. Sampling included macroinvertebrates and alga...

La erupción del volcán Tajogaite ha creado un nuevo ecosistema, un laboratorio natural ideal para el estudio de procesos ecológicos, muchos de los cuales no pueden reproducirse en condiciones controladas de laboratorio. La sucesión primaria se ha podido estudiar de forma temprana, apenas dos meses después del final del proceso eruptivo, y ha inclui...

Genetic sequencing of herbarium specimens provides invaluable information on species genetic history. However, several factors hinder the extraction of high-quality DNA from long-term preserved specimens. Our goal was to study the genetic variability of the endemic and habitat-forming macroalga Gelidium canariense over the last 40 years using the m...

Los bosques de macroalgas constituyen uno de los principales ecosistemas marinos de los fondos rocosos iluminados en latitudes templadas de todo el mundo. En las islas Canarias, los bosques autóctonos están dominados por macroalgas pardas y rojas que ofrecen servicios ecosistémicos esenciales, y mantienen la biodiversidad y funcionalidad en estos h...

Metabarcoding techniques have revolutionized ecological research in recent years, facilitating the differentiation of cryptic species and revealing previously hidden diversity. In the current scenario of climate change and ocean acidification, biodiversity loss is one of the main threats to marine ecosystems. Here, we explored the effects of ocean...

Populations inhabiting the periphery of a species’ distribution suffer the immediate pressure of the environmental changes. Studying their physiology under stressful conditions is essential in the context of climate change. We characterized two morphotypes with measurements of length, thickness and width of the thallus of the macroalga Fucus guiryi...

Large brown macroalgae are foundational threatened species in coastal ecosystems from the subtropical northeastern Atlantic, where they have exhibited a drastic decline in recent years. This study describes the potential habitat of Gongolaria abies-marina, its current distribution and conservation status, and the major drivers of population decline...

Global warming and ultraviolet radiation (UVR) affect marine organisms worldwide. However, we still lack knowledge about the consequences of these environmental changes to range-restricted macroalgae species, such as Gelidium canariense , a habitat-forming endemic of the Canary Islands. The aim of this study is to provide useful data for analyzing...

Understanding and forecasting the effects of climate changes on vulnerable species are leading concerns for ecologists and conservation biologists. Herbaria are invaluable for use in long-term data series, and one of the few available methods for quantifying biodiversity changes over large periods of time. Gelidium canariense is an endemic and habi...

Relationships between sea urchins and non-crustose macroalgae are typically non-linear, and an abrupt phase shift from a barren to a macroalgae-dominated state and vice versa happens when the sea urchin abundance exceeds a critical threshold. Here we have used two mass mortality events as a natural experiment to study progressive changes and dynami...

Subtidal unstable bottoms are sensitive to the environmental disturbances that determine the structure of macroalgal communities. Here, three variables (substrate size, depth and site) are tested together to explore their effect on the community structure on cobble and gravel bottoms. Diversity metrics (richness per sample, richness per area, diver...

We present a new natural carbon dioxide (CO2) system located off the southern coast of the island of La Palma (Canary Islands, Spain). Like CO2 seeps, these CO2 submarine groundwater discharges (SGDs) can be used as an analogue to study the effects of ocean acidification (OA) on the marine realm. With this aim, we present the chemical characterizat...

Dos eventos de mortalidad masiva en 2009-2010 y 2018 han diezmado las poblaciones del erizo de mar Diadema africanum en los archipiélagos de Ca- narias y Madeira (Atlántico subtropical oriental). En estas islas, este erizo es un herbívoro clave que controla el crecimiento de las macroalgas en los ecosistemas rocosos. Como resultado de la sobrepesca...

Individuals of the invasive alien seaweed Sargassum muticum were found drifting off the coasts of Lanzarote (Canary Islands). This species is native to the cold temperate northwestern Pacific but currently is widely distributed in the NE Pacific and the Atlantic. The closest known populations of Sargassum muticum to the Canary Islands are located i...

We present a new natural carbon dioxide (CO2) system located off the southern coast of La Palma Island (Canary Islands, Spain). Like others CO2 seeps, these seeps can be used as an analogue to study the effects of ocean acidification (OA) on the marine realm. With this aim, we present an accurate chemical characterization of the seeps system carbon...

Recurrent sea urchin mass mortality has recently affected eastern Atlantic populations of the barren-forming sea urchin Diadema africanum. This new episode of die-off affords the opportunity to determine common meteorological and oceanographic conditions that may promote disease outbreaks. The population dynamics of this sea urchin species are well...

The effects of herbivores and sediment deposition on the structure and composition of the macroalgal communities on coral reefs were tested together experimentally and, in the field, in one of the most disturbed reefs of the Caribbean, the leeward reefs of the Bocas del Toro region, Panama. In this area, the potential natural herbivores have been r...

The brown alga Lobophora (Dictyotales, Phaeophyceae) is an important macroalga in the North-eastern Atlantic archipelagos (i.e., Macaronesia). Notably in the Canaries it can dominate benthic assemblages. While the genus has been the subject of several ecological studies in the Canaries, no study has yet been conducted to assess species-level divers...

The occurrence of the invasive macroalga Caulerpa cylindracea in the intertidal macroalgal communities of the Atlantic Ocean is evaluated here for the first time. The Canary Islands (28.36N, 16.07W) are the only distribution area known in the Atlantic for this species, and the presence of this species has currently only been reported in subtidal en...

Fucus guiryi is a species strongly threatened by climate change, and the populations in its southern distribution limit are fast disappearing. However, the extinction of this species is not widespread, since there are small places where some populations still survive. In this study we explore the general regression trend of F. guiryi populations in...

Gelidiales is a red algae order which belongs to the class Florideophyceae and comprises four genetically recognized families: Gelidiaceae, Gelidiellaceae, Pterocladiaceae and or-thogonacladiaceae. it is a copious order characterized in the Canary islands by 16 species, some of which are endemic and canopy-forming with populations in unforeseen dec...

Extensive offshore meadows of Halimeda incrassata are documented for the first time in sandy bottoms of La Palma, Canary Islands. Halimeda incrassata forms dense sublittoral assemblages between 20 and 55 m, but isolated populations occur down to 65 m depth. This species currentlyspreads over an area of 9.14 hectares. Population coverage varies with...

Shallow subtidal macroalgal communities in the North-eastern Atlantic archipelagos (Azores, Madeira, Canaries and Cape Verde) were studied in order to identify their spatial organization patterns and the main drivers of change. Fifteen islands 20 and 145 sites across 15º of latitude and 2 850 km were sampled. We found high spatial variability acros...

Primary production and respiration rates were studied for six seaweed species (Cystoseira abies-marina, Lobophora variegata, Pterocladiella capillacea, Canistrocarpus cervicornis, Padina pavonica and Corallina caespitosa) from Subtropical North-East Atlantic, to estimate the combined effects of different pH and temperature levels. Macroalgal sample...

En el año 2016 descubrimos una zona de surgencias submarinas de CO2 en la costa de Fuencaliente, al SE de la isla de La Palma (Islas Canarias, Atlántico Oriental). Este descubrimiento ofrece una oportunidad única para abordar el estudio de los efectos, a largo plazo, de la acidificación en el océano Atlántico, mediante experimentación in situ. Adem...

Gelidium canariense is a canopy-forming endemic macroalga from the Canary Islands. Vegetative and reproductive characteristics of all phases in its life cycle are examined. Key macromorphological features are its blackish color and the corymbose-to-subfastigiate branching pattern that differentiates G. canariense from the nearest species confirmed...

The huge quantities of carbon dioxide (CO2) released into the atmosphere by human activities have caused changes on ocean’s chemistry. The pH has already decreased 0,1 units and seawater acidity is expected to increase if CO2 emissions continue at the current rate. This ocean acidification process (OA) has profound implications on calcifying specie...

Long-term changes in macroalgal cover, spatial variation between macroalgal communities, and relationships with environmental variables and benthic groups were assessed in coral reefs along the Caribbean coast of Panama. Sampling was conducted in two regions: Western and Central. Data collected between 2000 and 2012 showed a continuous increase in...

Echinometra viridis previously was considered a cryptic species unable to control the development and growth of macroalgae on coral reefs. Its role as a herbivore was seen as minor compared to other grazers present on the reef. However, the present disturbed state of some reefs has highlighted the role played by this sea-urchin. Combining field dat...

En la planta completa de la especie de alga parda Halopteris scoparia, recogida en el litoral del archipiélago canario, fueron identificados linoleato de etilo, glicerol y manitol por cromatografía y espectroscopía de 1H-NMR y 13C-NMR. En las mismas muestras no se encontraron los antioxidantes citotóxicos, típicos de plantas superiores, que algunos...

Changes in the structure of seaweed communities were examined following a massive CO2 input. This CO2 input was caused by a submarine eruption near the coast of El Hierro island (Canary Islands, Spain). The event lasted almost five months (October 2011 - March 2012) and created a significant pH gradient. Specifically, we compared three different zo...

In the whole plant of brown algae species Halopteris scoparia collected from the littoral of the Canary archipelago, ethyl linoleate, glycerol and mannitol were identified by chromatography and 1H-NMR spectroscopy. In the same samples there were not encountered the cytotoxic antioxidants typical of higher plants that some Spanish investigators desc...

The species of the genus Gelidium have an isomorphic haplo-diploid life cycle so the different reproductive phases can only be distinguished during the fertile period. A detailed description of the vegetative and reproductive morphology of the endemic macroalgae from the Canary Islands Gelidium canariense is reported, as well as spatial and tempora...

Oscillations of ocean pH are largely unknown in coastal environments and ocean acidification studies often do not account for natural variability yet most of what is known about marine species and populations is found out via studies conducted in near shore environments. Most experiments designed to make predictions about future climate change scen...

Las macroalgas marinas son los principales productores primarios de las zonas rocosas del litoral Atlántico. Las especies dominantes que forman dosel, algas pardas como las Fucales intermareales y las Laminariales sublitorales, así como algas rojas como las del género Gelidium y Chondrus crispus configuran en la Península Ibérica y en las Islas Can...

Oceanic islands are structurally more vulnerable to disturbances: their small size and isolation reduces spatial options for persistence of biodiversity. The establishment of marine protected areas (MPAs) is considered essential for conserving the marine environment and biodiversity. However, a number of natural and social factors influence the pla...

In the present paper a study of the distribution of seaweed assemblages of the intertidal and subtidal of La Palma Islands is made. Ordination (PCA) was used to analyse the data. The principal factor of variation in the intertidal is the height of the shore. The zonation model of organisms is the following: cyanophytes in the littoral fringe; popul...

Recent shifts in the distribution and abundance of marine macroalgae in the northern Iberian Peninsula and Canarias in response to climate change

A widespread mass mortality event of the sea urchin Diadema africanum was detected in the subtropical eastern Atlantic, extending from Madeira to the Canary Islands, covering a straight- line distance of >400 km. This is the first disease- related die-off of a diadematid documented in the eastern Atlantic Ocean. Diseased individuals showed deterior...

Crustose algal communities were studied in Diadema africanum urchin barrens around Tenerife (Canary Islands, NE Atlantic). A hierarchical nested sampling design was used to study patterns of community variability at different spatial scales (sectors, three sides of the island; sites within each sector, 5-10 km apart; stations within each site, 50-1...

Dynamics of Sargassum flavifolium Kützing were studied in sublittoral cobble bottoms. The analyses showed that some morphological attributes (thallus length, and number of branches, blades, stipes and receptacles) was related to selected environmental variables (depth, cobble size, temperature, wave exposure and day length), and spatio-temporal dif...

A widespread mass mortality event of the sea urchin Diadema africanum was detected in subtropical waters off the eastern Atlantic Archipelagos. The mortality extended from Madeira to the Canary Islands, covering a straight-line distance of >400 km and is the first disease related die-off of a diadematid documented in the eastern Atlantic Ocean. Dis...

In the present paper a study of the distribution of seaweed assemblages of the intertidal and subtidal of La Palma Islands is made. Ordination (PCA) was used to analyse the data. The principal factor of variation in the intertidal is the height of the shore. The zonation model of organisms is the following: cyanophytes in the littoral fringe; popul...

In this paper we develop a tool to assess the impact of fishing on ecosystem functioning in shallow rocky reefs. The relationships between biological parameters (fishes, sea urchins, seaweeds), and fishing activities (fish traps, boats, land-based fishing, spearfishing) were tested in La Palma island (Canary Islands). Data from fishing activities a...

The work presented here summarizes the studies on echinoderms in the Canary Islands, Spain. The geographical and geological contexts of the islands, as well as oceanographic and general characteristics of ecosystems and communities of the archipelago are discussed to better understand the composition of echinoderm species in the islands. A research...

We investigated the current patterns of diversity by country and by class of echinoderms, and analyzed their biogeographical, depth, and habitat or substratum affinities, using the database of the appendix of this book. Traditionally, the area has been divided into five biogeographical Regions and nine Provinces that cover a wide climate range. Cur...

Sea urchin population outbreaks frequently cause ecological disequilibrium. Destructive urchin grazing causes serious depletion of macroalgae beds: a situation observed in many places around the world. Urchin hyper-abundance results in unproductive barren grounds, which are highly persistent and result in economic losses. Although barren grounds ar...

This study aimed to evaluate the effects of protection from extractive activities on the population structure of two limpets of commercial interest, Patella ulyssiponensis and Patella candei crenata. We evaluated the status of these populations in La Palma Marine Protected Area (MPA), Canary Islands, and in comparable unprotected areas in the lower...

La herbivoría es una de las interacciones más importantes en la estructuración de los sistemas marinos, con efectos directos sobre la base de las cadenas tróficas (Crawley 1983, Horn 1989). Tanto peces como invertebrados marinos herbívoros influyen en la abundancia y composición de las comunidades algales (Lubchenco & Gaines 1981, Choat 1982, Sala...

This study aimed to evaluate the effects of protection from extractive activities on the population structure of two limpets of commercial interest, Patella ulyssiponensis and Patella candei crenata. We evaluated the status of these populations in La Palma Marine Protected Area (MPA), Canary Islands, and in comparable unprotected areas in the lower...

The structure and composition of subtidal rocky seaweed assemblages were studied at 69 sites on the Canary Islands (northeastern Atlantic). This group of islands are situated at the southern boundary of the warm temperate region and adjacent to the cold waters from the northwest African coastal upwelling, which creates a difference of almost 2 °C i...

Sublittoral macroalgae assemblages in rocky substrata (5-20 m depth) in Lanzarote Island and Chinijo Archipelago are significantly conditioned by high densities of the sea urchin Diadema aff. antillarum, and in a lesser degree by sedimentation and wave exposure. The crustose macroalgae assemblages (crustose corallines, Pseudolithoderma adriaticum)...

In the present paper, the sublittoral vegetation of rocky substrates (5-20 m depth) in El Hierro and its relationship with environmental parameters are studied. Lobophora variegata is the dominant species, with an average cover close to 70%. Another abundant taxa are crustose corallinales, Canistrocarpus cervicornis, cyanophytes and Pseudotetraspor...

Our finding of extensive off-shore meadows of Penicillus capitatus in the Canary Islands is the first direct observation of this species off the eastern Atlantic islands. Populations form scattered patches between 20 and 27 m depths, leading to denser meadows between 28 and 50 m depths. Total population coverage is ca 11.16 ha. Plant morphology, co...

GIS tools are nowadays essential for promoting adequate strategies for the use, management and conservation of littoral areas, especially in islands where human population increase and concentrate in littoral zone. The present study therefore aimes to create an objective protocol for an ecological zonation, using terrain information derived from mu...

A study of the caespitose communities in the lower intertidal at the semiexposed locality La Salemera (La Palma) is presented. Samples were carried out in a basaltic rocky platform of scarce slope, relatively flat and with few rocky pools. For analysis of the variation in composition and abundance of species, samples were sorted into five groups ac...

The marine red alga Lomentaria benahoarensis sp. nov. from the Canary Islands is described. Plants grow epiphytically on Corallina elongata forming turfs of creeping axes attached by lateral discoid holdfasts and erect axes up to 12 mm high. Erect axes are terete to slightly compressed, 200-300(-1000) mu m broad, radially branched up to three order...

The aim was to determine the status of subtidal rocky benthic assemblages in three marine protected areas (MPAs) of the Canary Islands: (1) La Graciosa; (2) Mar de Las Calmas; (3) La Palma. Sea urchin ( Diadema aff. antillarum ) populations and non‐crustose macroalgal cover were surveyed, and used as an indicator of conservation status in the three...

RESUMEN Se aportan datos corológicos sobre tres especies de algas rojas marinas caracteriza-das por presentar ciclos de vida con alternancia de generaciones heteromórficas, en los que los gametófitos macroscópicos gelatinosos, crecen estacionalmente y han sido identificados en muy escasas ocasiones en las islas Canarias. La nueva localidad en La Pa...

Diadema aff. antillarum performs a key role in organizing and structuring rocky macroalgae assemblages in the Canary Islands. Densities of D. aff. antillarum higher than 2 individuals m(-2) are found to drastically reduce non-crustose macroalgal cover to below 30% and wave exposure appears as a major factor determining sea urchin density, which dec...

Lagoons of Echentive represent one of the marginal environments of most recent formation in the Canary Islands. The eruption of Teneguía V olcano (1971) caused an advance of the littoral fringe in the southern limit of La Palma, which formed the small littoral lagoons object of this study. Populations of organisms that get established in this envir...

a b s t r a c t Diadema aff. antillarum performs a key role in organizing and structuring rocky macroalgae assemblages in the Canary Islands. Densities of D. aff. antillarum higher than 2 individuals m À2 are found to drastically reduce non-crustose macroalgal cover to below 30% and wave exposure appears as a major factor deter-mining sea urchin de...

Four species of marine algae are reported from the Canary Islands for the first time. Our report of the western Atlantic Gelidiella setacea (Gelidiales, Rhodophyta) is the first from the eastern Atlantic Ocean. Pseudotetraspora marina (Tetrasporales, Chlorophyta) previously known on the eastern side of the Atlantic Ocean from temperate saltmarshes...

Four species of marine algae are reported from the Canary Islands for the first time. Our report of the western Atlantic Gelidiella setacea (Gelidiales, Rhodophyta) is the first from the eastern Atlantic Ocean. Pseudotetraspora marina (Tetrasporales, Chlorophyta) previously known on the eastern side of the Atlantic Ocean from temperate saltmarshes...

RESUMEN Se aportan datos corológicos sobre tres especies de algas rojas marinas caracteriza-das por presentar ciclos de vida con alternancia de generaciones heteromórficas, en los que los gametófitos macroscópicos gelatinosos, crecen estacionalmente y han sido identificados en muy escasas ocasiones en las islas Canarias. La nueva localidad en La Pa...

The finding of Reticulocaulis mucosissimus in the Canary Islands represents the first record in the Atlantic Ocean of Reticulocaulis, a marine red algal genus very rarely reported and previously known only from the central Pacific (Hawaii) and the northwestern Indian Ocean (Oman and Yemen). The vegetative and reproductive morphology of a female gam...

The floristic composition of scarcely illuminated habitats of upper, middle and lower eulittoral pools containing permanent vegetation is described from four localities at the east and northeast of La Palma. There were identified 107 species, mostly (78%) Rhodophyta. 39 were common to the three levels, whereas 15 were exclusive from the upper eulit...

Nineteen species of benthic seaweeds (nine Rhodophyta, six Phaeophyta and four Chlorophyta) are recognized for the first time for the island of La Palma. The species were collected in the eulittoral, sublittoral or circalittoral of localities of the east of La Palma. Data on the habitat and distribution of the species in the Canary Islands are pres...

The zonation in five localities of the northeastern and eastern coasts of the island of La Palma is examined, showing the following characteristics: The snail Littorina striata and some Cyanophyceae occupy the littoral fringe; whereas in the upper eulittoral the barnacle Chthamalus stellatus dominates, together with Gelidium pusillum and Calothrix...

The zonation of the seaweeds in the southeastern coast of the island of La Palma was examined in five localities. Although in some levels there are similarities with the patterns of zonation observed in other parts of the island, the vertical distribution of the seaweeds throughout this coast can be characterized by the singularities found in the l...