Characterizing soft-bottom epibenthic megainvertebrate communities of the Mediterranean continental shelf: a biogeographic approach

Partitioning of the Mediterranean basin has so far mainly focused on surface waters, relying on biogeochemical and hydrological data while the Mediterranean seafloor has received much less attention. Bioregions are essential units for conservation planning, as they provide a framework for designing representative networks of protected areas. Therefore, seafloor-specific bioregions are needed to support the management and conservation of benthic ecosystems. While benthic habitat mapping is generally based on macrofaunal patterns, we propose the first mesoscale partitioning of the Mediterranean seabed based on epibenthic megainvertebrate communities. Benthic records from the MEDITS programme (International Mediterranean Bottom Trawl Survey) were used to partition the Mediterranean soft bottoms. Using k-means clustering combined with Random Forest modelling, we grouped sites according to similarities in biotic composition and predicted their distribution in relation to environmental variables. The analysis was conducted independently across four sub-basins: the Western Mediterranean, the Central Mediterranean, the Adriatic Sea, and the Aegean Sea. This approach identified 16 distinct bioregions, each characterized by unique epibenthic megainvertebrate communities. The partitioning revealed a pronounced bathymetric gradient, with deep-sea bioregions showing a more homogeneous set of indicator taxa and greater similarity across regions compared to the more distinct communities found on the shelf and slope. These coherent bioregions can serve as spatial units to enhance the representativeness of conservation priority networks and provide a valuable complement to the existing EUNIS seabed habitat classification, which does not explicitly account for vulnerable epibenthic megainvertebrate communities.

Authors

Institutions

Publication Details

Journal
Marine Environmental Research
Published
2026-02-27
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marenvres.2026.107951
Primary Topic
Marine Biology and Ecology Research
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

Funders

Controls
|||
ALL TIME
JAN
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUN
JUL
AUG
SEP
OCT
article

Characterizing soft-bottom epibenthic megainvertebrate communities of the Mediterranean continental shelf: a biogeographic approach

Caterina Stamouli, Daniela Massi, Pierluigi Carbonara, Slavica Petović et al.
Marine Environmental Research
Marine Biology and Ecology Research
article

Characterizing soft-bottom epibenthic megainvertebrate communities of the Mediterranean continental shelf: a biogeographic approach

Caterina Stamouli, Daniela Massi, Pierluigi Carbonara, Slavica Petović, Vasilis Gerovasileiou, Beatriz Sobrino Guijarro, Vincent Georges, Marie-Claire Fabri, Adriana Profeta, Jurgen Mifsud, Emanuela Fanelli, Chiara Manfredi, Nikolaos Kamidis, Sandrine Vaz, Ioannis Thasitis, Evgenia Lefkaditou, Angélique Jadaud, Valentina Lauria, Michele Casini, Jade Millot, Tarek Hattab, Carlos Dominguez-Carrio, Germana Garofalo, Christopher J. Smith, Grégoire Certain, Athanasios Evangelopoulos, Kelly Camilleri
article en

Abstract

Partitioning of the Mediterranean basin has so far mainly focused on surface waters, relying on biogeochemical and hydrological data while the Mediterranean seafloor has received much less attention. Bioregions are essential units for conservation planning, as they provide a framework for designing representative networks of protected areas. Therefore, seafloor-specific bioregions are needed to support the management and conservation of benthic ecosystems. While benthic habitat mapping is generally based on macrofaunal patterns, we propose the first mesoscale partitioning of the Mediterranean seabed based on epibenthic megainvertebrate communities. Benthic records from the MEDITS programme (International Mediterranean Bottom Trawl Survey) were used to partition the Mediterranean soft bottoms. Using k-means clustering combined with Random Forest modelling, we grouped sites according to similarities in biotic composition and predicted their distribution in relation to environmental variables. The analysis was conducted independently across four sub-basins: the Western Mediterranean, the Central Mediterranean, the Adriatic Sea, and the Aegean Sea. This approach identified 16 distinct bioregions, each characterized by unique epibenthic megainvertebrate communities. The partitioning revealed a pronounced bathymetric gradient, with deep-sea bioregions showing a more homogeneous set of indicator taxa and greater similarity across regions compared to the more distinct communities found on the shelf and slope. These coherent bioregions can serve as spatial units to enhance the representativeness of conservation priority networks and provide a valuable complement to the existing EUNIS seabed habitat classification, which does not explicitly account for vulnerable epibenthic megainvertebrate communities.

Marine Environmental ResearchVol. 217
Marche Polytechnic University (IT), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR), Ifremer (FR), Stazione Sperimentale del Vetro (IT), University of Malta (MT), Université de Montpellier (FR), Hellenic Telecommunications Organization (Greece) (GR), Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SE), Instituto Español de Oceanografía (ES), Institut Català de Ciències del Clima (ES), Department of Fisheries and Marine Research (CY), National Research Council (RO), Institute for Biomedical Research and Innovation (IT), Hellenic Centre for Marine Research (GR), Institute of Marine Engineering (IT), Marine Biodiversity Exploitation and Conservation (FR), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (FR), University of Montenegro (ME), University of Bologna (IT)
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Agencia Estatal de Investigación
Life below water
Openalex Percentile: Top 50%
Marine Biology and Ecology Research
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
AI Navigator

Ask Laika to Summarize, Analyze, and Connect papers live on the map.

Summarize Papers & Methodologies

Extract key findings, datasets, and comparative methods across publications.

Benchmark Rankings & Visual Analytics

Rank top research institutions, authors, funders, topics, and journals by Field-Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI) and paper volume with instant charts.

Connect Distant Disciplines

Bridge topological clusters on the map to find hidden collaborative intersections.