Decline Of Sublittoral Canopy Species In The Subtropical Atlantic Ocean: The Case Of Treptacantha Abies-Marina In The Canary Islands (Spain)
2021
Martín García, Laura | Sansón Acedo, Marta | Rancel Rodríguez, Nereida | Sangil, Carlos | Botánica, Ecología y Fisiología Vegetal | BOTMAR ULL
Fucoids and kelps are engineering species that play an important role in the coastal marine ecosystems. But in the last decades, these species have suffered a drastic regression, especially in temperate regions. This study presents the recent spatial distribution of Treptacantha abies-marina, the most important canopy-forming macroalgae of the occidental islands of the Canary Archipelago, in the northeast of the Atlantic Ocean. Besides, the methodology used to get reliable maps of distribution and the environmental variables that may be drivers of decline are detailed. The comparative analysis of the spatial distribution of this species with historical maps of 1987 allows establishing the present conservation status of this species that is found here its southern range limit. The results show that nowadays the extension of the populations of Treptacantha abiesmarina represents only 3% of the area occupied 30 years ago. As a consequence, it has been considered to increase the level of protection as a vulnerable species in the Spanish Catalogue of Threatened Species.
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