The influence of habitat complexity on fish assemblages associated with extractive platforms in the central Mediterranean Sea

Submitted: 6 November 2018
Accepted: 28 November 2018
Published: 7 December 2018
Abstract Views: 1312
PDF: 492
HTML: 68
Publisher's note
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Authors

In this work the influence of habitat complexity on fish assemblages associated with extractive platforms in the Mediterranean Sea was investigated. More specifically, at large spatial scale we tested the differences in fish assemblage between 4-legs vs 8-legs platforms, whereas at medium scale we evaluated, within each platform, the differences between internal structures with increasing complexity degrees (respectively: the water volume without any pillar - complexity “0”; the junction of two pillars - “1”; the junction of four pillars - “2”). Both univariate and multivariate analyses showed highly significant differences for each of the tested factors, as well as for their interaction. In general, at both medium and large spatial scales, mean species richness and abundance were positively correlated with the increasing habitat complexity with the highest values associated with 8-legs platforms and with the most complex internal structures within each platform. According to our findings, a more complex structure is able to attract more fish species and specimens than a less complex one, supporting previous studies carried out on different man-made structures outside the Mediterranean Sea. The study will integrate the still poor available knowledge baseline on the attractive potential of extractive platforms with strong implications for the environmental management under the incoming light of decommission in the basin.

Dimensions

Altmetric

PlumX Metrics

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Citations

How to Cite

Consoli, P., Mangano, M. C., Sarà, G., Romeo, T., & Andaloro, F. (2018). The influence of habitat complexity on fish assemblages associated with extractive platforms in the central Mediterranean Sea. Advances in Oceanography and Limnology, 9(2). https://doi.org/10.4081/aiol.2018.7918