Georgios Chatzigeorgiou

Polytraits: A database on biological traits of marine polychaetes

Abstract The study of ecosystem functioning – the role which organisms play in an ecosystem – is becoming increasingly important in marine ecological research. The functional structure of a community can be represented by a set of functional traits assigned to behavioural, reproductive and morphological characteristics. The collection of these traits from the literature is however a laborious and time-consuming process, and gaps of knowledge and restricted availability of literature are a common problem. Trait data are not yet readily being shared by research communities, and even if they are, a lack of trait data repositories and standards for data formats leads to the publication of trait information in forms which cannot be processed by computers. This paper describes Polytraits (http://polytraits.lifewatchgreece.eu), a database on biological traits of marine polychaetes (bristle worms, Polychaeta: Annelida). At present, the database contains almost 20,000 records on morphological, behavioural and reproductive characteristics of more than 1,000 marine polychaete species, all referenced by literature sources. All data can be freely accessed through the project website in different ways and formats, both human-readable and machine-readable, and have been submitted to the Encyclopedia of Life for archival and integration with trait information from other sources.

Estimating lagoonal biodiversity in Greece: comparison of rapid assessment techniques

An attempt is made to compare the results of different rapid biodiversity assessment techniques at the pan-Mediterranean, sectorial and local levels. A uniform multivariate pattern exists at the pan-Mediterranean and national (sectorial) levels: lagoons can be different when they host only a few species, but as species numbers increase, lagoons become homogenous in composition. Multivariate techniques cannot distinguish anthropogenically-impacted lagoons from those, which are naturally disturbed. In the pan-Mediterranean context it is the higher taxonomic levels, but in the national and local context it is the most abundant macrobenthic groups (polychaetes, molluscs and crustaceans) and meiobenthos which provide patterns closest to that derived from the species level. Taxonomic distinctness indices applied to polychaete and mollusc inventories provide meaningful results at most levels and scales of observation. These indices seem to be robust enough to discriminate anthropogenically impacted from naturally disturbed lagoons.

Engaging the broader community in biodiversity research: the concept of the COMBER pilot project for divers in ViBRANT

Abstract This paper discusses the design and implementation of a citizen science pilot project, COMBER (Citizens’ Network for the Observation of Marine BiodivERsity, http://www.comber.hcmr.gr), which has been initiated under the ViBRANT EU e-infrastructure. It is designed and implemented for divers and snorkelers who are interested in participating in marine biodiversity citizen science projects. It shows the necessity of engaging the broader community in the marine biodiversity monitoring and research projects, networks and initiatives. It analyses the stakeholders, the industry and the relevant markets involved in diving activities and their potential to sustain these activities. The principles, including data policy and rewards for the participating divers through their own data, upon which this project is based are thoroughly discussed. The results of the users analysis and lessons learned so far are presented. Future plans include promotion, links with citizen science web developments, data publishing tools, and development of new scientific hypotheses to be tested by the data collected so far.

An account of the taxonomy and distribution of Syllidae (Annelida, Polychaetes) in the eastern Mediterranean, with notes on the genus Prosphaerosyllis San Martín, 1984 in the Mediterranean

Abstract The syllid fauna of three locations in Crete and Israel (eastern Mediterranean Sea) was studied, yielding 82 syllid species, many of which were found for the first time in the respective areas: Seventeen species were recorded for the first time on the Israeli coasts and 20 in Greek waters. Perkinsyllis augeneri (Hartmann-Schröder, 1979) and Prosphaerosyllis chauseyensis Olivier et al., 2011 are new records for the Mediterranean Sea. Detailed information is given on the morphology, ecology and distribution of the species recorded for the first time in the studied areas. In addition, an update on the distribution of the genus Prosphaerosyllis San Martín, 1984 in the Mediterranean is given and an identification key to the Mediterranean species is provided.

Can coastal biodiversity measured in four Mediterranean sites be representative of the region? A test for the robustness of the NaGISA protocol by using the hard substrate syllid (Annelida, Polychaeta) taxo-communities as a surrogate

The global NaGISA (Natural Geography in Shore Areas) initiative focusing on long-term monitoring of coastal biodiversity has recently been expanded to the Mediterranean. On the basis of datasets from four Mediterranean hard substrate sites and by using the most abundant polychaete family (Syllidae), two questions are addressed in this study: (a) Is the biodiversity sampled in the two NaGISA sites, based on the family Syllidae, representative of the regional one of the Mediterranean Sea? (b) Are local syllid taxo-communities assembled at random from the regional species pool? Randomisation tests determining to what extent local species lists and their phylogenetic relationships are assembled at random from a regional one showed that at small observational scales (e.g. replicate units, depths) the phylogenetic diversity is assembled at random from the one known to exist locally. It is assumed, therefore, that local processes here have a stronger influence on community assembly than historical-evolutionary processes. The latter is in accordance with previous results derived from using polychaetes to test the same hypotheses at a pan-European level. Local syllid biodiversity in the western Mediterranean is a random subset of the Mediterranean one, whereas that of the NaGISA sites in the eastern Mediterranean is only under certain conditions. Therefore, the currently observed biodiversity of the Mediterranean sites can be considered as representative of that of the entire regional sea only under certain assumptions, as far as the syllid taxo-communities are concerned, demonstrating the potential of the taxon as a surrogate of the polychaete biodiversity.

Sphaerosyllis levantina sp. n. (Annelida) from the eastern Mediterranean, with notes on character variation in Sphaerosyllis hystrix Claparède, 1863

Abstract Examination of polychaete specimens from Haifa Bay (Israel, eastern Mediterranean Sea) revealed several individuals exhibiting morphological characteristics similar to Sphaerosyllis hystrix Claparède, 1863. A detailed morphometrical analysis of the Israeli specimens in comparison to specimens of Sphaerosyllis hystrix and Sphaerosyllis boeroi Musco, Çinar and Giangrande, 2005 supported the description of the former as a new species, Sphaerosyllis levantina sp. n. Individuals of Sphaerosyllis hystrix formed a very heterogeneous group with strong character variations in the analysis and the presumed cosmopolitan distribution of the species is discussed based on literature records.