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May 2001 - present
January 1999 - present
Hellenic Centre for Marine Research -H.C.M.R-
Publications
Publications (105)
EMB Future Science Brief No. 11 ‘Marine habitat mapping’ presents science and policy needs and recommendations to advance next-generation marine habitat mapping. This document highlights current methods and future trends in the acquisition of data from the seabed and water column via remote sensing and direct, in situ techniques. It discusses combi...
The precious red coral Corallium rubrum (L. 1758) is endemic to the Mediterranean Sea, with a centuries-long history of commercial exploitation across the basin. In the E. Mediterranean, little is known regarding the present state of its habitat and associated assemblages, owing to a bathymetric distribution well-beyond the range of non-technical d...
The Aegean Sea is the most well-studied ecoregion about sponge diversity in the Eastern
Mediterranean. However, most studies have been carried out within conventional diving depth
limits (0-30 m) or with trawl nets on soft substrates. Mesophotic sponge communities on hard
substrates remain essentially unexplored. In this study, benthic biodiversity...
The degradation of marine ecosystems is a growing concern worldwide, emphasizing the need for efficient tools to assess their ecological status. Herein, a novel ecosystem-based ecological evaluation index of shallow rocky reefs is introduced and tested in the Aegean and Ionian Seas (NE Mediterranean). The index focuses on a specific set of pre-sele...
The ninth International Symposium Monitoring of Mediterranean Coastal Areas: Problems and Measurements Techniques was organized by CNR-IBE in collaboration with Italian Society of Silviculture and Forest Ecology, and Natural History Museum of the Mediterranean and under the patronage of University of Florence, Accademia dei Lincei, Accademia dei Ge...
The Saronikos Gulf and the small emBayment of Elefsis Bay (Eastern Mediterranean, Greece) represent the seaward boundary of the metropolitan areas of Athens and Piraeus Port, hosting 1/3 of the current Greek population. It constitutes a complex ecosystem due to the topographical and hydrological differentiation of the area, as well as its trophic c...
An ongoing decline of the climax communities of canopy-forming algae along the Mediterranean shallow rocky reefs is increasingly documented, reportedly driven by a multitude of stressors. Apart from alleviating local or global pressures to reverse this alarming trend, basic knowledge of these key species' reproductive phenology, embryology and grow...
This study focuses on the use of UAV technology for coastal habitat mapping prior to dredging operations in a case study area (Vouliagmeni bay, Attica). Scientific flights with UAV equipped with RTK technology were planned in order to acquire the proper data. Also, GCPs were placed in order to augment the accuracy of the georeferenced information t...
The "Guide for Marine Habitat Mapping" is the outcome of the Green Fund project entitled "Development of common methodology and techniques for marine habitat mapping". This Guide aims to provide a synopsis of the diverse array of concepts and methods used to undertake the marine habitat mapping adapted to the marine environment of the Hellenic Seas...
A shoreline detection through remote sensing data covering a period of 73 years was realized at the coastal front of Schinias-Marathon National Park, in order to identify current trends of the coastline and the reasons for the intense erosion that has been caused. Comparison of the digitized historical coastlines, with the use of the Digital Shorel...
The loss of Mediterranean macroalgal populations dominated by Cystoseira sensu lato is driven by a multitude of pressures. In the eastern Mediterranean Sea, climate change and the establishment of Lessepsian herbivore species have further intensified the ongoing decline of these canopy-forming algae. Knowledge of the reproductive phenology, embryol...
The species status assessment for the Marine Strategy Framework Directive is structured around five Good Environmental Status (GES) criteria, i.e., by-catch rate, population abundance, population demographic characteristics, species distribution and habitat for the species. The MSFD Biodiversity theme for species includes, among others, some highly...
In the context of general ecosystem monitoring of the Greek coastal marine environment, a total of 22 descriptors of Posidonia oceanica meadows were studied in 69 study sites. Spatial variation of P. oceanica meadows’ features in relation to specific environmental factors (i.e. light, physical exposure, temperature, and nutrients) controlling their...
This Collective Article presents information about 21 taxa belonging to seven Phyla (one Ochrophyta, one Porifera, three Cni-daria, two Arthropoda, three Mollusca, one Echinodermata, and ten Chordata) and extending from the western Mediterranean Sea to the Levantine Sea. The new records were reported from nine countries as follows: Spain: first rec...
The Mediterranean endemic fan mussel Pinna nobilis is suffering an ongoing basin-scale mass mortality event (MME) since 2016. As most Mediterranean populations have collapsed, the species has been declared as Critically Endangered in the IUCN Red List of threatened species. In an effort to track the progress of the MME and provide updated informati...
• 1. The coralligenous habitat was studied at the large Mediterranean scale, by applying a standardized, non‐destructive photo‐sampling protocol, developed in the framework of the CIGESMED project.
• 2. The results provided evidence to support the following statements: (a) the assemblage pattern is not homogeneously distributed across the four Medi...
Very little is known about the marine macroalgae of artificial reefs—especially in the North Atlantic—despite the growing number and extent of man-made structures in the sea, and even though seaweed communities have paramount importance as primary producers, but also as feeding, reproductive and nursery grounds in coastal ecosystems. This paper exp...
Parts of the macroalgal flora of the eastern Mediterranean remain incompletely known. This applies in particular to the circalittoral communities. This study, based upon 2 cruises in the Ionian and Aegean Seas, surveyed benthic communities from 40 to 150 m depth by remotely-operated vehicle (ROV) with a special focus on detecting communities of the...
Sea bottom geomorphology is widely considered a research field of interdisciplinary interest, since understanding the general structure of the ocean terrain can promote knowledge in several scientific fields (e.g. Geology, Biology, Physics etc). Hence, Identifying submarine landforms is of significant importance, as morphology, principal amongst ot...
Although deep-sea (>200 m) habitats cover more than 65% of the earth's surface, information on their associated biodiversity remains scarce and fragmented worldwide. Deep-sea benthic habitats are known to host long-lived emergent fauna of low turnover rates or fragile biogenic structures, thus being particularly vulnerable to numerous human activit...
The effective conservation of marine biodiversity through an integrated ecosystem-based management approach requires a sound knowledge of the spatial distribution of habitats and species. Although costly in terms of time and resources, acquiring such information is essential for the development of rigorous management plans and the meaningful priori...
In order to most benefit from the potential offered by the European marine basins in terms of growth and employment (Blue Growth), and to protect the marine environment, we need to know more about the seafloor. European Directives, such as the MSFD, but also the Horizon 2020 roadmap explicitly called for a multi-resolution full coverage of all Euro...
This volume contains the main results of the EC FP7 “The Ocean of Tomorrow” Project CoCoNet, divided in two
sections: 1) a set of guidelines to design networks of Marine Protected Areas in the Mediterranean and the Black Seas; 2) a smart wind chart that will allow evaluating the possibility of installing Offshore Wind Farms in both seas. The concep...
The Mediterranean coralligenous habitat is characterized by high structural complexity and spatial heterogeneity, thus supporting rich biodiversity and a variety of sessile assemblages. Different aspects of the habitat often develop within the same area under the influence of varying environmental conditions. Although this type of habitat has been...
The available references to rhodolith beds have been analysed for a totl of 125 locations in the Mediterranean Sea, equally distributed in the eastern and western sub-basins. Mediterranean rhodoliths beds occur from 9 to 150m of water depth, with a mean depth about 55m in both sub-basins. Most rhodolits beds lay within the depth range 30-75m, while...
The European Red List of Habitats provides an overview of the risk
of collapse (degree of endangerment) of marine, terrestrial and
freshwater habitats in the European Union (EU28) and adjacent
regions (EU28+), based on a consistent set of categories and
criteria, and detailed data and expert knowledge from involved
countries1. A total of 257 benthi...
Since 2010, a bottom-up initiative has been launched in Santorini Island (Aegean Sea, Eastern Mediterranean) for the establishment of the first fully protected marine protected area in the Cyclades, aiming at improving fisheries and enhancing responsible recreational uses at sea. Following discussions with local small-scale fishermen and divers, tw...
Background
Over the last decade, inventorying and monitoring of marine biodiversity has significantly benefited from the active engagement of volunteers. Although several Citizen Science projects concern tropical reef ecosystems worldwide, none of the existing initiatives has yet specifically focused on their Mediterranean equivalents. Mediterranea...
Background
Over the last decade, inventorying and monitoring of marine biodiversity has significantly benefited from the active engagement of volunteers. Although several Citizen Science projects concern tropical reef ecosystems worldwide, none of the existing initiatives has yet specifically focused on their Mediterranean equivalents. Mediterranea...
CIGESMED για δύτες, πολίτες-επιστήμονες για το πρόγραμμα παρακολούθησης των κοραλλιγενών οικοτόπων
CIGESMED for divers – Citizen Science for CIGESMED
CIGESMED pour les plongeurs – Les sciences participatives pour CIGESMED
CIGESMED per i subacquei - Citizen science per CIGESMED
CIGESMED for divers – Citizen Science for CIGESMED
Dalgıçlar için CIGESMED – CIGESMED için Vatandaş Bilimi
Dalgıçlar için CIGESMED – CIGESMED için Vatandaş Bilimi
CIGESMED για δύτες, πολίτες-επιστήμονες για το πρόγραμμα παρακολούθησης των κοραλλιγενών οικοτόπων
CIGESMED pour les plongeurs – Les sciences participatives pour CIGESMED
CIGESMED per i subacquei - Citizen science per CIGESMED
The available references to rhodolith beds have been analyzed for a total of 125 locations in the Mediterranean Sea, equally distributed in the eastern and western sub-basins. Mediterranean rhodolith beds occur from 9 to 150 m of water depth, with a mean depth of about 55 m in both sub-basins. Most rhodolith beds lay within the depth range 30–75 m,...
According to the Aichi Biodiverity Target 11 set by the Convention on Biological Diversity, states are committed to protect 10% of marine coastal areas by 2020. In line with this, the ultimate goal of the MARISCA project is to propose a network of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) for the conservation of all important and vulnerable habitats and specie...
Mediterranean coralline reefs, known as " coralligenous " , are bioherms built by calcifying rhodophytes on hard substrates in dim-light conditions. They are hotspots of biodiversity, harbouring rich assemblages and valuable biological resources. The assemblages they host are popular among SCUBA divers due to their complex structure, conspicuous bi...
Mediterranean coralline reefs, known as " coralligenous " , are bioherms built by calcifying rhodophytes on hard substrates in dim-light conditions. They are hotspots of biodiversity, harbouring rich assemblages and valuable biological resources. The assemblages they host are popular among SCUBA divers due to their complex structure, conspicuous bi...
What is " coralligenous " ? What is commonly called coralligenous is, actually, a complex seascape (i.e. a submerged landscape) developing in dim light conditions, which is present exclusively in the Mediterranean Sea. Coralligenous habitat is mainly created by calcified red algae, which are constructing reef-like structures for thousands of years...
Underwater rocky formations in the midlittoral and sublittoral zones of the Mediterranean coastline form part of the " Reefs " habitat type (code 1170) under the Natura 2000 Network. The aim of this study was to evaluate the ecological status of the shallower limits of this habitat type in the National Marine Park of Zakynthos (Ionian Sea, Greece)...
Two Mediterranean Cystoseira taxa, namely Cystoseira foeniculacea f. schiffneri and Cystoseira funkii, are added to the macroalgal flora of Greek seas, both of them being described for the first time in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. Descriptions, photographs, habitat type and distribution details, as well as brief notes, are provided for each taxo...
Les habitats biogéniques dit « coralligènes » sont principalement construits sur les substrats rocheux par des algues rouges calcaires, en condition de luminosité réduite. Leur grande complexité structurale abrite de nombreuses espèces benthiques, faisant de ces habitats un « hotspot » de biodiversité en mer Méditerranée. Néanmoins, les connaissanc...
The European Red List of Habitats provides an overview of the risk of collapse (degree of endangerment) of marine, terrestrial and freshwater habitats in the European Union (EU28) and adjacent regions (EU28+), based on a consistent set of categories and criteria, and detailed data and expert knowledge from involved countries. A total of 257 benthic...
Posidonia oceanica meadows are declining at alarming rates due to climate change and human activities. Although P. oceanica is considered the most important and well-studied seagrass species of the Mediterranean Sea, to date there has been a limited effort to combine all the spatial information available and provide a complete distribution of meado...
ELNAIS is a dynamic online information platform aiming to collect and report spatial information on Aquatic Alien Species in Greek waters. It covers freshwater, marine and estuarine waters, including not only established aliens but also casual records and cryptogenic species. The ELNAIS system includes: News, List of Greek experts, Literature of fi...
En Mer Méditerranée, le coralligène et les herbiers de Posidonies, qui sont de loin les plus étudiés, sont les habitats les plus importants du point de vue biodiversité côtière. Ils sont le milieu principal produisant complexité structurelle et biodiversité. Les récifs coralligènes produisent des biens (ressources alimentaires et matière première,...
The coralligenous is a typical Mediterranean marine habitat and hosts the highest concentration of biodiversity of this sea. Paradoxically, unlike Posidonia meadows, it is poorly studied. Like the famous tropical coral reefs, it is a complex biogenic habitat, based on encrusting red algae (numerous metazoan phyla also participate to bio-constructio...
Coralligenous communities represent some of the most productive and diverse biological structures in the Mediterranean (Laubier, 1966; Laborel, 1987). They generally develop on rocks in dim-light conditions and mainly occur in the circalittoral zone. These assemblages are directly or indirectly subjected to human-related pressures such as sedimenta...
Ocean acidification is expected to alter marine systems, but there is uncertainty about its effects due to the logistical difficulties of testing its large-scale and long-term effects. Responses of biological communities to increases in carbon dioxide can be assessed at CO2 seeps that cause chronic exposure to lower seawater pH over localised areas...
Mazara del Vallo (TP) (Italy), 8 Centre d'Estudis Avançats de Blanes-CSIC, 17300 Blanes (Spain), Bioconstructions such as coralligenous outcrops and maërl beds are typical Mediterranean underwater seascapes. Fine-scale knowledge on the distribution of these sensitive habitats is crucial for their effective management and conservation. In the presen...
Ocean acidification is expected to alter marine systems, but there is uncertainty about its effects due to the logistical difficulties of testing its large-scale and long-term effects. Responses of biological communities to increases in carbon dioxide can be assessed at CO2 seeps that cause chronic exposure to lower seawater pH over localised areas...
The Mediterranean Sea is hosting almost 10% of the total marine biodiversity in spite of representing less than 1% of the global ocean surface. This regional sea experiences high anthropogenic pressures, such as growing human population density along the coasts, urbanization, (over)harvesting of living and raw resources, extensive maritime traffic,...
The extensive human-mediated modifications of shallow coastal habitats drastically alter selection regimes and may assist alien invasions. The preferential presence of a non-indigenous scleractinian coral (Oculina patagonica) on anthropogenic hard substrata was investigated in a highly disturbed coastal area, along the eastern Saronikos Gulf (Aegea...
This paper concerns records of species that have extended their distribution in the Mediterranean Sea. The finding of the rare brackish angiosperm Althenia filiformis in the island of Cyprus is interesting since its insertion in the Red Data Book of the Flora of Cyprus is suggested. The following species enriched the flora or fauna lists of the rel...
This paper concerns records of species that have extended their distribution in the Mediterranean Sea. The finding of the rare brackish angiosperm Althenia filiformis in the island of Cyprus is interesting since its insertion in the Red Data Book of the Flora of Cyprus is suggested. The following species enriched the flora or fauna lists of the rel...
The Saronikos Gulf, an embayment of the Aegean Sea (Greece, Eastern Mediterranean), has undergone profound and unprecedented environmental changes due to the rapid urbanization of the Athens-Piraeus metropolitan area since the 1950s. From the mid-1950s until the mid-1990s, the inner part of Saronikos Gulf was subject to increasing inputs of untreat...
Historical and current overfishing has depleted nearshore waters in Greece, in particular in the Cyclades Archipelago. The decline of fish not only affects local fishermen but also tourist operators, and especially diving tourism, because this high-quality tourism tends to travel to other places in the hope of observing marine life. One practical s...
Mapping of ecosystem components (natural and socioeconomic) is a prerequisite for ecosystem-based marine spatial manage-ment (EB-MSM). To initiate the process of EB-MSM in the Greek Ionian Sea and the adjacent gulfs, the main relevant ecosystem components were mapped based on existing spatial information and expert judgment. The natural components...
The full recognition of the relevant contribution of bioconstructions such as coralligenous formations and maërl to Mediterranean biodiversity has fuelled increasing efforts to assess their functional role, spatial distribution, assemblage composition, effects of threats and potential for connectivity. Understanding how this information can be incl...
A new cold brine seep system with microbial mats and metazoan assemblages was discovered by a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) on the Saudi continental margin of central Red Sea. Now named as Thuwal Seeps, it has a shallow brine pool between 840 and 850 m water depths that is formed by focused brine expulsions from two sites (Seep I: 22°17.3′N, 38°5...
Underwater visual surveys are frequently used in monitoring programmes of marine populations. Species occupancy, defined as the probability of presence in a sampling unit, is a commonly used state variable. Imperfect detectability is a serious issue in such studies and, if ignored, may lead to incorrect inferences and erroneous management decisions...
The goal of ecosystem-based marine spatial management is to maintain marine ecosystems in a healthy, productive and re-silient condition; hence, they can sustainably provide the needed goods and services for human welfare. However, the increasing pressures upon the marine realm threaten marine ecosystems, especially seabed biotopes, and thus a well...
Recent investigations of the Eastern Mediterranean Sea carried out during the GECO cruise with RV Urania provided a substantial
number of new cold-water coral (CWC) records, including branching and solitary scleractinian species. These new sites are
located along steep escarpments and on topographic highs along the margins of Crete, Karpathos, and...
Conventional sectoral management and piecemeal governance are considered less and less appropriate in pursuit of sustainable development. Ecosystem based marine spatial management (EB-MSM) is an approach that recognizes the full array of interactions within an ecosystem, including human uses, rather than considering single issues, species, or ecosy...
Although the invasive alga Caulerpa racemosa has exhibited an excessive rate of proliferation and has invaded the entire Mediterranean Sea basin within the last 18 yr, its spatial distribution patterns remain largely unknown. A 2-component modelling approach based on generalized additive models was applied to model the density of C. racemosa fronds...
Percnon gibbesi is an opportunistic feeder, feeding primarily on algae, of the shallow infra-littoral rocky shores. It was first observed in 1999 in the Mediterranean Sea and has rapidly spread since then. The range expansion of the species in the Aegean and Ionian Seas was recorded and evidence of its further establishment in Greek waters was prov...
Under the scope of declaring the island of Gyaros a Marine Reserve, a reliminary
underwater survey was conducted in order to identify and record the presence of marine
habitat types and species protected by National Laws and International Conventions.
16 transects perpendicular to the shore were visually censused at depths
between 0-30m. The survey...
In the Mediterranean Sea the genus Dendrophyllia Blainville, 1830, is represented by two species known to form large branched colonies, D. cornigera (Lamarck, 1816) and D. ramea (Linnaeus, 1758). As is typical of Mediterranean Scleractinia, both species are also represented in the north-east At-lantic. They differ significantly in morphology (espec...
