The Yellow Gorgonian Eunicella cavolini: Demography and Disturbance Levels across the Mediterranean Sea

19 pages, 7 figures, 6 tables, supporting information http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0126253

The yellow octocoral Eunicella cavolini is one of the most common gorgonians thriving in Mediterranean hard-bottom communities. However, information regarding its distribution and ecology in several parts of the Mediterranean is lacking, while population trends and conservation status remain largely unknown. We investigated 19 populations of E. cavolini over three representative geographic regions: the NW Mediterranean, CE Adriatic, and N Aegean. Focusing on the upper bathymetric range of the species (30 cm). The CE Adriatic displayed intermediate densities, with well-structured populations, and continuous recruitment. In the N Aegean, most populations presented low densities, high proportion of large colonies, but low number of small colonies, signifying limited recruitment. Disturbance levels, as a function of extent and type of injury, are discussed in relation to past or present human-induced threats. This work represents geographically the most wide ranging demographic study of a Mediterranean octocoral to date. The quantitative information obtained provides a basis for future monitoring at a Mediterranean scale. © 2015 Sini et al.

MS research activity has been co-financed by the European Union (European Social Fund – ESF) and Greek national funds (Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs managing authority) through the Operational Program >Education and Lifelong Learning> of the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF) - Research Funding Program: Heracleitus II. Investing in knowledge society through the European Social Fund. SK received funding provided by the Croatian Ministry of Culture through the grant allocated to Marine Explorers Society –“20,000 leagues” in 2009 and by the Croatian Ministry of Science and Education (project 119-0362975-1226)

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