Núria Viladrich

University of Barcelona | UB · Facultad de Biología

Corals and gorgonians play an important role as ecosystem engineers in many sublittoral communities worldwide. However, coral populations are being increasingly impacted by human activities. Active ecological restoration is a popular conservation tool nowadays, widely used to revert degradation in natural populations. Several studies have reported...

Under the ongoing global change, a sustained reliance of symbiotic coral species on heterotrophy may support their resistance to climatic stressors. However, much remains unknown about the role of heterotrophy on coral reproduction, despite its key role in the persistence of coral populations and connectivity. In this study, we experimentally inves...

Mediterranean gorgonians are being threatened by the impact of recurrent extreme climatic events, such as marine heatwaves (MHWs). The white gorgonian Eunicella singularis was suggested to be the most resistant gorgonian species in the NW Mediterranean, mainly due to the presence of symbiotic algae. However, a sub-stantial shift in the conservation...

Over the last 25 years, the Mediterranean zooxanthellate and reef-building coral Cladocora caespitosa has been affected by recurrent mortality events triggered by marine heatwaves. Consequently, in 2015 the IUCN classified this species as endangered, underscoring the need for the description and monitoring of its populations to improve its conserva...

Marine animal forests (MAFs) are benthic ecosystems characterised by biogenic three-dimensional structures formed by suspension feeders such as corals, gorgonians, sponges and bivalves. They comprise highly diversified communities among the most productive in the world's oceans. However, MAFs are in decline due to global and local stressors that th...

Cold-Water Corals play a paramount role in marine benthic ecosystems, increasing their complexity and providing spawning and nursery habitats to many species. However, due to their sessile lifestyle and ramified shape they are commonly entangled in nets and even by-caught during the practice of bottom-contact fishing, which includes impacts from bo...

Although Astrospartus mediterraneus (Risso, 1826) is an emblematic Mediterranean species, limited information is currently available, as it has not received much attention from the marine scientific community to date. In this context, an unusually high abundance of this basket star was observed in 2018 as part of the by-catch of local artisanal fis...

The frequency and severity of marine heatwaves causing mass mortality events in tropical and temperate coral species increases every year, with serious consequences on the stability and resilience of coral populations. Although recovery and persistence of coral populations after stress events is closely related to adult fitness, as well as larval s...

Astrospartus mediterraneus (Risso, 1826) (Echinodermata: Ophiuroidea) is an emblematic Mediterranean species yet, it has few reports and hasn't received much attention from the marine scientific community to date. In the framework of a project to assess how to mitigate the impact of artisanal fishing on benthic communities at the Site of Community...

Cold-water coral (CWC) gardens, mainly composed of gorgonians, soft corals and black corals, support a highly diversified associated mobile fauna, representing a key benthic habitat on the Mediterranean continental shelf. These communities are vulnerable to bottom-contact fishing gears, including trawling and small-scale fishing. In the frame of a...

The survival, behavior and competence period of lecithotrophic larvae depends not only on the energy allocation transferred by maternal colonies but also on the amount of energy consumed to sustain embryonic, larval, and post-larval development. The objective of the present work is to understand the effect of energy consumption on the performance o...

Cold-water gorgonians dwelling on the continental shelf are a common by-catch of bottom-contact fishing practices. Given the slow growth and limited recruitment of cold-water gorgonians, the impact of fishing activities may seriously compromise the conservation of the highly complex coral gardens communities. For this reason, the development of eff...

Cold-water coral (CWC) habitats dwell on continental shelves, slopes, seamounts, and ridge systems around the world’s oceans from 50 to 4000 m depth, providing heterogeneous habitats which support a myriad of associated fauna. These highly diverse ecosystems are threatened by human stressors such as fishing activities, gas and oil exploitation, and...

Maó’s harbour saw the birth of sponge research in Spanish waters, yet, since the pioneering work undertaken during the late 19th and the early 20th centuries, there has been no proper research focusing on the harbour’s sponge fauna. This paper offers, one hundred years later, a characterization of the sponge fauna living on the natural harbour of M...

Knowledge about migration potential is key to forecasting species distributions in changing environments. For many marine benthic invertebrates, migration happens during reproduction because of larval dispersal. The present study aims to test whether larval size can be used as a surrogate for migration potential arising from larval longevity, compe...

Gorgonians dwelling on the Mediterranean continental shelf are among the most frequent fishing bycatch taxa. These species display several traits, such as long lifespans and slow growth, which make them very vulnerable to the impacts caused by fishing activities with far‐reaching and long‐lasting effects. Hence, restoration and mitigation actions a...

of energy fluxes in marine animal forests of the Anthropocene: factors shaping the future seascape. Climate change is already transforming the seascapes of our oceans by changing the energy availability and the metabolic rates of the organisms. Among the ecosystem-engineering species that structure the seascape, marine animal forests (MAFs) are the...

Anthropogenic climate change, and global warming in particular, has strong and increasing impacts on marine ecosystems (Poloczanska et al., 2013; Halpern et al., 2015; Smale et al., 2019). The Mediterranean Sea is considered a marine biodiversity hotspot contributing to more than 7% of world’s marine biodiversity including a high percentage of ende...

• In the Mediterranean Sea, gorgonians are among the main habitat‐forming species of benthic communities on the continental shelf and slope, playing an important ecological role in coral gardens. • In areas where bottom trawling is restricted, gorgonians represent one of the main components of trammel net bycatch. Since gorgonians are long‐lived an...

Mesophotic coral ecosystems (MCEs) and temperate mesophotic ecosystems (TMEs) have received increasing research attention during the last decade as many new and improved methods and technologies have become more accessible to explore deeper parts of the ocean. However, large voids in knowledge remain in our scientific understanding, limiting our ab...

This study examined the sexual reproductive cycle, energy storage and metabolic requirements of a Mediterranean gorgonian in a mesophotic ecosystem (~70 m depth). Paramuricea macrospina resulted to be a gonochoric internal brooding species with a 1:1 population sex ratio. Oogenesis lasted ~12–14 months, whereas spermatogenesis was significantly sho...

Fatty acid composition (% of total fatty acids) of Paramuricea macrospina colonies (N = 46) (mean ± SD). (PDF)

The cold-water coral (CWC) Dendrophyllia cornigera is widely distributed in areas of both high and low productivity, suggesting a significant trophic plasticity of this coral depending on the food available in the environment. In this study, lipid biomarkers and their isotopic signature were compared in colonies of D. cornigera and sediment from th...

The temperate coralligenous bioconcretions are mainly built by the accumulation of encrusting coralline algae growing at low irradiance levels. They harbour approximately 10% of marine Mediterranean species (about 1600 species), including long-lived algae and invertebrates. Enhanced by climate change, several pressures affect coralligenous assembla...

The temperate coralligenous bioconcretions are mainly built by the accumulation of encrusting coralline algae growing at low irradiance levels. They harbour approximately 10% of marine Mediterranean species (about 1600 species), including long-lived algae and invertebrates. Enhanced by climate change, several pressures affect coralligenous assembla...

Animal forests all over the world play an essential role in benthic-pelagic coupling processes. These processes can change according to the feeding strategies of benthic species, as well as their extension and biomass. From the oligotrophic coral reefs to the highly seasonal productive Antarctic ecosystems, suspension feeders (the main eco-engineer...

This study investigates the energetic investment in larval release of two Mediterranean gorgonians with different trophic strategies: Eunicella singularis (mixotroph) and Corallium rubrum (heterotroph). Both are internal brooders, releasing larvae within few weeks in summer. A biochemical approach, based on the analysis of stable isotopes, total li...

The MEDWAVES (MEDiterranean out flow WAter and Vulnerable EcosystemS) cruise targeted areas under the potential influence of the MOW within the Mediterranean and Atlantic realms. These include seamounts where Cold-water corals (CWCs) have been reported but that are still poorly known, and which may act as essential “stepping stones” connecting faun...

Animal forests all over the world play an essential role in benthic-pelagic coupling processes. These processes can change according to the feeding strategies of benthic species, as well as their extension and biomass. From the oligotrophic coral reefs to the highly seasonal productive Antarctic ecosystems, suspension feeders (the main eco-engineer...

This study investigates the energetic investment during spawning of two Mediterranean gorgonians characterized by different reproductive strategies: Corallium rubrum (internal brooder) and Paramuricea clavata (surface brooder). Sexual products (number of oocytes and spermatic sacs) were quantified, and biochemical characteristics (lipid content and...

Sexual reproduction is one of the fundamental biological processes for most living species, it is essential for the perpetuation of the species and to ensure genetic diversity. In marine sessile invertebrates, such as corals and gorgonians, sexual reproduction is also important because it allows the dispersal of individuals, facilitating the coloni...

Understanding processes that contribute to a better comprehension of the population dynamics of long-lived species is critical for the maintenance and potential recovery of such species. Despite the abundance of soft corals in Mediterranean rocky reefs, little information exists on their life histories and reproductive patterns. In this study, we a...

Knowledge of the nutritional conditions of coastal commercial fish populations is key to understanding stock health status, and is essential when making reasonable exploitation and management plans. Here, we present the first results on the condition and feeding preferences of two coastal fish species, Diplodus sargus (Linnaeus, 1758) and Pagellus...

Larval dispersal is the process enabling connectivity between populations of marine species with a sedentary adult stage. This transportation results from the coupling between flow and larval biological traits. This experimental study aims to quantify these larval biological traits, namely pelagic larval duration (PLD), buoyancy, and larval vertica...

Biogeochemical signatures derived from organisms thriving in the ocean water column are driven by environmental conditions, with highly complex processes linking primary and export productivity. Organic matter input, in-situ production and fate depend on conditions such as sea surface temperature, ice-cover and freshwater input, mixing/stratificati...

The annual gonad development of a shallow (20 m depth) population of the Mediterranean gorgonian Eunicella singularis was found to be closely synchronized with that of a deep (60 m depth) population, but differences were observed in the gonadal output, with the shallow population producing more and larger sexual products. Lipid content in the shall...

In order to better understand the sources, patterns and consequences of anthropogenic effects on populations of the Mediterranean gorgonian Paramuricea clavata, we examined the proportion of injured colonies among populations exposed to a combination of anthropogenic disturbances (recreational cast fishing, commercial lobster pots, gill nets and SC...

The annual gonad development of a shallow (20 m depth) population of the Mediterranean gorgonian Eunicella singularis was found to be closely synchronized with that of a deep (60 m depth) population, but differences were observed in the gonadal output, with the shallow population producing more and larger sexual products. Lipid content in the shall...

The increasing interest in marine protected areas applying a holistic ecosystem approach has expanded beyond the littoral zone. In order to sustainably manage coastal marine reserves, the entire continental shelf and upper slope should be protected. Recent findings in cold-water corals have influenced the Natura 2000 Network program, which is creat...