Pattern of changes in marine ecosystems

Chair Antonio Terlizzi:

• 08:30 – 09:20 Invited talk: Lisandro Benedetti-Cecchi (University of Pisa, Italy) “From large to small and back to large again: embracing multiple scales to understand resilience and stability of reef assemblages”
  Scale in ecology is a multidimensional concept, referring both to the hierarchical levels of biological organization and to the spatial and temporal extent of observations. Many fundamental ecological patterns, such as the diversity-stability, species-area and biodiversity-ecosystem functioning relationships are scale-dependent, and biodiversity itself is a hierarchical concept. Along with ecological patterns, also the mechanisms driving changes in biodiversity are scale dependent and establishing the linkages between patterns and processes across scales is key to advance ecological understanding and to manage biodiversity more effectively. Although assessing progress towards national and international conservation goals requires focusing on global trends of biodiversity, there is now substantial evidence that patterns are context-dependent. Here, I discuss the needs and opportunities for a more nuanced view of how biodiversity changes across scales. By combining observations, models and experiments, I provide examples of how a multiscale approach can advance our understanding of stability and resilience across a range of reef assemblages, including rocky intertidal biofilm, subtidal macroalgal forests, seagrasses and fishes. A synthesis of this evidence indicates that asynchronous species fluctuations, driven by or associated with changes in temperature regimes, play a crucial role in linking stability across scales. A three-dimensional characterization of thermal environments in macroalgal forests reveals a large degree of temperature heterogeneity at previously unresolved spatial and temporal scales. Understanding how these local thermal mosaics scale-up to generate regional climate patterns and their influence on stability and resilience may help reconciling context-dependency with large-scale changes in biodiversity.
  Downlaod abstract here
• 09:20 – 09:30 Speaker: Nessa O’Connor “Harnessing ecological theory to enhance kelp cultivation.”
  Authors: N. E. O’Connor, F. Spellman, A. R. Gilson.
• 09:30 – 09:40 Speaker: Camilla Bertolini “Reassessing the meaning of diversity for ecosystem performance.”
  Authors: C. Bertolini.
• 09:40 – 09.50 Speaker: Elena Gissi“Exploring the role of sex-based variation in species interactions: the case of kelp forests.”
  Authors: E. Gissi, M. Codespoti Goodman, R. Elahi, J. McDevitt-Irwin, N. S. Arnoldi, N. A. Dalmau, C. J. Knight, C. Olguín Jacobson, M. Palmisciano, C. M. Tillman, G. A. De Leo, F. Micheli.
• 09:50 – 10:00 Speaker: Heidi Herlevi “The integration of a non-native fish into coastal fish communities increases taxonomic and functional diversity.”
  Authors: H. Herlevi, E. Bonsdorff, K. Aarnio.
• 10:00 – 10:10 Speaker: Uxue Moreda “Community composition and functional diversity across brown macroalgal forests.”
  Authors: U. Moreda, C. Galobart, E. Ballesteros, D. Smale, C. Wilding, E. Hughes, E. Stuart, N. Salland, J. Franco, F. Arenas, E. Cebrian.
• 10:10 – 10:20 Speaker: Janina Pykäri “Carbon stocks across trophic levels in a shallow coastal ecosystem.”
  Authors: J. Pykäri, A. Villnäs, H. Sumelius, H. Wennhage, A. Norkko.
• 10:20 – 10:30 Speaker: Vittoria Dias “Biodiversity of microbial communities associated with Mediterranean deep-sea fishes.”
  Authors: V. Dias, R. Calogero, E. Arcadi, F. Fabiano, C. Papetti, P. Battaglia, C. Rizzo, T. Romeo.
• 10:30 – 11:00 Coffee Break
• 11:00 – 11:10 Speaker: Daniel Álvarez-Canali “Quick colonization and succession in subtidal communities support the recovery of benthic fishes after a volcanic eruption in the Canary Islands.”
  Authors: S. Liulea, D. Álvarez-Canali, J. Rodríguez, Y. Concepción, C. Sangil.
• 11:10 – 11:20 Speaker: Nicole Aberle-Malzahn “Long-term dynamics and population structure of the Helmet jellyfish Periphylla periphylla in a Norwegian fjord.”
  Authors: N. Aberle, C. Volpe, M.A. Østensen, S. Majaneva
• 11:20 – 11:30 Speaker: Stefano Varrella “Genetic signatures preserved in the extracellular DNA pools reveal major benthic microbial shifts occurred in the Anthropocene.”
  Authors: S. Varrella, M. Tangherlini, C. Corinaldesi, L. Musco, A. Schirone, G. Armiento, R. Danovaro, A. Dell’Anno.
• 11:30 – 11:40 Speaker: Bylgja Sif Jónsdóttir “Determinants of biodiversity patterns of deep-sea benthos communities around Iceland.”
  Authors: B. Sif Jónsdóttir, H. S. Randhawa, S. H. Ólafsdóttir, A. J. Láruson.
• 11:40 – 11:50 Speaker: Jana Dewentera “Bottom-up and top-down effects mediated by nutrient concentration and heterogeneity on microphytobenthos and macrofaunal consumers.”
  Authors: J. Dewenter, J. Yong, P. J. Schupp, I. Kröncke, S. Moorthi, L. Kuczynski, S. Rohde.
• 11:50 – 12:00 Speaker: Silvia de Juan “Exploring environmental limits of Mediterranean Rhodolith Beds: Insights from a Bayesian Belief Network Model.”
  Authors: S. de Juan, L. Illa-López, A. Cabrito, F. Maynou.