Over the last few decades, marine ecosistems are not inmune to global warming and mass mortalities have been reported in a broad range of marine... » More

Over the last few decades, marine ecosistems are not inmune to global warming and mass mortalities have been reported in a broad range of marine taxa. In the North-western Mediterranean region, for example, white gorgonian populations have experienced recent mass mortalities resulting in the loss of more than 50% in density and biomass. The white gorgonian, Eunicella singularis, is a colonial, sessile cnidarian which displays large long-lived structures that significantly shapes the habitat. This especies plays an important ecological role not only in the structure but also in the functioning of sub-littoral benthic Mediterranean communities through its trophic activity. This study documents an exceptional local-scale mortality occurred in early fall 2007 in southern more populations (Islas Hormigas, Murcia), in which a mean of 60% of the colonies showed partial mortality. In general, damage was observed at depths where anomalous-hight temperatures were recorded (15-40 m). After disturbance, these populations showed a great recovery capacity. Nevertheless, there was a trend to decrease both colony size and colony density during the following three years. The delayed effects of mass mortalities, toguether with the likely increase in the frequency of these events in the Mediterranean Sea highlights the need to monitor gorgonian populations.

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