Environmental and human factors drive the subtropical marine forests of Gongolaria abies-marina to extinction

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 s...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Martín-García, Laura, Rancel-Rodríguez, N.M., Sangil, C., Reyes, J., Benito, Blas M., Orellana, S., Sansón, M.
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión aceptada para publicación
Fecha de publicación:2022
País:España
Institución:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Repositorio:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
OAI Identifier:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/317779
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/317779
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marenvres.2022.105759
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Centro Oceanográfico de Canarias
Medio Marino
Algae
Gongolaria abies-marina
Sargassaceae
distribution model
temporal variability
drivers of decline
Multivariate analysis
geographically weighted regression
Canary Islands
fish
forests
research
visual inspection
weather forecasting
Descripción
Sumario: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. The results show a strong reduction of more than 97% of G. abies-marina populations in the last thirty years and highlight the effects of drivers vary in terms of spatial heterogeneity. A decrease in the frequency of high waves and high human footprint are the principal factors accounting for the long-term decline in G. abies-marina populations. UV radiation and sea surface temperature have an important correlation only in certain locations. Both the methodology and the large amount of data analyzed in this study provide a valuable tool for the conservation and restoration of threatened macroalgae.