The warming of the surface ocean is expected to increase the stratification of the upper water column. This would decrease the efficiency of the wind-induced mixing, reducing the nutrient supply to the euphotic layer and the productivity... more
The warming of the surface ocean is expected to increase the stratification of the upper water column. This would decrease the efficiency of the wind-induced mixing, reducing the nutrient supply to the euphotic layer and the productivity of the oceans. Climatic projections show that the Mediterranean Sea will experience a strong warming and salting along the twenty first century. Nevertheless, very few works have found and quantified changes in the water column stratification of the Western Mediterranean. In this work, we obtain time series of Mixed Layer Depth (MLD) along the Spanish Mediterranean waters and the Gulf of Cádiz, using periodic CTD profiles collected under the umbrella of the Ocean Observing system of the Instituto Español de Oceanografía (IEO-CSIC). The length of the time series analyzed is variable, depending on the geographical area, but in some cases these time series extend from the beginning of the 1990s decade. Our results show that at present, no statistically...
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In the Western Mediterranean, the IEO-RADMED monitoring program is already conducting many of the evaluations required under the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MFSD) along the Spanish Mediterranean coast. The different aspects of... more
In the Western Mediterranean, the IEO-RADMED monitoring program is already conducting many of the evaluations required under the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MFSD) along the Spanish Mediterranean coast. The different aspects of the ecosystem that are regularly sampled under this monitoring program are the physical environment and the chemical and biological variables of the water column, together with the planktonic communities, biomass and structure. Moreover, determinations of some anthropogenic stressors on the marine environment, as contaminants and microplastics, are under develop. <br><br> Data are managed and stored at the IEO Data Center that works under the SeaDataNet infrastructure and are also stored under the IBAMar database. In combination with remote sensing data they are used to address open questions on the ecosystem in the Western Mediterranean sea.
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Cold-water corals are recognised as a key component of Mediterranean deep-sea ecosystems but the knowledge of their associated biodiversity is still limited. To date, the fauna associated to the Central Mediterranean cold-water coral... more
Cold-water corals are recognised as a key component of Mediterranean deep-sea ecosystems but the knowledge of their associated biodiversity is still limited. To date, the fauna associated to the Central Mediterranean cold-water coral habitats is the best known (e.g. the cold-water coral provinces of Santa Maria di Leuca, Bari canyon and Strait of Sicily) but such knowledge should be extended to the whole Mediterranean Basin. The combined biodiversity censed so far for Mediterranean cold-water coral habitats and those of adjacent areas (Strait of Gibraltar-Gulf of Cadiz) includes a conspicuous number of species (ca. 520 spp.) with a high representation of sponges (ca. 90 spp.), polychaetes (ca. 90 spp.), cnidarians (ca. 80 spp.), bryozoans (ca. 75 spp.), crustaceans (ca. 60 spp.), molluscs (ca. 50 spp.), fishes (ca. 50 spp.), echinoderms (ca. 20 spp.) and brachiopods (7 spp.). Most species are not univocally linked to cold-water corals, but they benefit from the complex and diverse microhabitats provided by them. There is a clear need to continue the investigation of Mediterranean cold-water coral habitats to fully document the faunistic inventory, biogeographic connections and functions of the many species connected to such emblematic ecoystems of the deep-sea.
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One of the effects of climate change is the rise of sea level, which poses an important threat to coastal areas. Therefore, the protection and management of coastal ecosystems as well as human infrastructures and constructions require an... more
One of the effects of climate change is the rise of sea level, which poses an important threat to coastal areas. Therefore, the protection and management of coastal ecosystems as well as human infrastructures and constructions require an accurate knowledge of those changes occurring at a local scale. In this study, long time series of sea level from tide gauges distributed along the southern (Atlantic) and eastern (Mediterranean) Spanish coasts were analyzed. Linear trends were calculated for two periods, from early 1940s to 2018 and from 1990 to 2018. Values for the former period ranged between 0.68 and 1.22 mm/year. These trends experienced a significant increase for the second period, when they ranged between 1.5 and 4.6 mm/year. Previous research analyzed the effect of atmospheric forcing in the Mediterranean Sea by means of 2D numerical models, and the steric contribution was directly evaluated by the integration of density along the water column. In this study, the effect of a...
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The analysis of a 24-year time series of Conductivity-Temperature-Depth (CTD) casts collected in the Balearic Channels (1996–2019) has allowed detecting and quantifying long-term changes in water mass properties in the Western... more
The analysis of a 24-year time series of Conductivity-Temperature-Depth (CTD) casts collected in the Balearic Channels (1996–2019) has allowed detecting and quantifying long-term changes in water mass properties in the Western Mediterranean. For the complete period, the intermediate waters have experienced warming and salting at rates of 1.4°C/100yr and 0.3–0.6/100yr for the Western Intermediate Water, and 1°C/100yr and 0.3–0.4/100yr for the Levantine Intermediate Water. The density of these two water masses has not changed. The deep waters, defined as those denser than 29.1 kg/m3, showed positive trends in temperature, salinity, and density (0.8°C/100yr, 0.2/100yr, and 0.02 kg.m–3/100yr, respectively). The high temporal variability of the upper layer makes the detection of long-term changes more difficult. Nevertheless, combining CTD data with temperature data from the oceanographic station at L’Estartit and simulated data from the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis, it can be established that t...
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The Alboran Sea is the westernmost basin of the Mediterranean Sea. It is the first one receiving the Atlantic waters flowing through the Strait of Gibraltar and the last one crossed by Mediterranean waters on their way out to the Atlantic... more
The Alboran Sea is the westernmost basin of the Mediterranean Sea. It is the first one receiving the Atlantic waters flowing through the Strait of Gibraltar and the last one crossed by Mediterranean waters on their way out to the Atlantic Ocean. Therefore, the main factor that determines the Alboran Sea circulation and its water mass distribution is the Atlantic–Mediterranean exchange forced by climatic conditions within the Mediterranean Sea and the Strait of Gibraltar geometry. This general circulation exhibits very strong energetic dynamics with the alternation of cyclonic and anticyclonic circulation cells.
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The holothurian Parastichopus tremulus, a species only know from the north-eastern Atlantic, is reported for the first time from the Mediterranean Sea. Five individuals of the species were collected in the vicinity of the Seco de los... more
The holothurian Parastichopus tremulus, a species only know from the north-eastern Atlantic, is reported for the first time from the Mediterranean Sea. Five individuals of the species were collected in the vicinity of the Seco de los Olivos sea mount in May 2017 from a bottom trawl sample carried out during the MEDITS trawl survey. Scanning Electron Microscope images of body wall ossicles are supplied to support species identification. Connectivity between Atlantic and Mediterranean populations of P. tremulus is suggested due to the existence of a nearby Atlantic population in the Gulf of Cádiz and the documented presence of abundant holothuroid larvae in the anticyclonic gyre which originates in the Atlantic current entering the Mediterranean, near the Strait of Gibraltar.
Research Interests: Taxonomy and Echinoderm
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Research Interests: Oceanography and Cruise
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The Cape of Gata region (southeast Spain) allocates the thermo-haline Almeria–Oran front (AOF), which separates two biogeographical zones, with a very irregular bathymetry, consisting of two canyons and seamounts in an area of 100 × 100... more
The Cape of Gata region (southeast Spain) allocates the thermo-haline Almeria–Oran front (AOF), which separates two biogeographical zones, with a very irregular bathymetry, consisting of two canyons and seamounts in an area of 100 × 100 km. An interdisciplinary oceanographic sampling strategy allowed us to solve mesoscale processes including current–bathymetry interactions. Subsurface fertilizing processes and elevated chlorophyll a concentrations were found at the front, seamount, and submarine canyons, turning an apparently oligotrophic area into a rich one. According to a horizontal tracking simulation, the deep chlorophyll maximum (DCM) at the front is located above the pycnocline and travels fast offshore, transporting productivity from the fertilization process quickly from the region. The DCM at the seamount, in contrast, develops below the pycnocline and remains for almost three weeks in this area. In spite of the coastal marine protected areas (MPAs), a high surface nitrate...
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Three new species of holothuroids from the Antarctic Peninsula and Bellingshausen Sea are described, with O’Loughin & Manjón-Cabeza as authors: dendrochirotids Cucumaria dudexa sp. nov., Psolicrux iuvenilesi sp. nov.; myriotrochid... more
Three new species of holothuroids from the Antarctic Peninsula and Bellingshausen Sea are described, with O’Loughin & Manjón-Cabeza as authors: dendrochirotids Cucumaria dudexa sp. nov., Psolicrux iuvenilesi sp. nov.; myriotrochid Myriotrochus hesperides sp. nov. Parathyonidium incertum Heding is discussed. Two synonymies for Antarctic holothuroids are formalised: Caespitugo citriformis Gutt is a junior synonym of Thyone scotiae Vaney; Caespitugo diversipes Gutt is a junior synonym of Cucumaria psolidiformis Vaney. Cucumaria armata Vaney is removed from inclusion in the Cucumaria georgiana (Lampert) group, and is a junior synonym of Cucumaria psolidiformis Vaney. A synonymy of Cucumaria aspera Vaney with Psolidium (Cucumaria) coatsi Vaney is rejected; Cucumaria aspera Vaney is referred to the Cucumaria georgiana (Lampert) group. Cucumaria conspicua Vaney is removed from synonymy with Psolidium (Cucumaria) coatsi Vaney, and is a junior synonym of Cucumaria psolidiformis Vaney. Thyone...
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It is widely accepted that the Mediterranean is an oligotrophic sea where winter mixing favors the proliferation of diatoms and high values of zooplanktonic biomass, mainly associated with the growth of copepods. Stratified conditions... more
It is widely accepted that the Mediterranean is an oligotrophic sea where winter mixing favors the proliferation of diatoms and high values of zooplanktonic biomass, mainly associated with the growth of copepods. Stratified conditions from mid-spring to late autumn are dominated by the picophytoplanktonic groups and the increment of cladoceran abundances. This general picture has important exceptions. A regionalization of the Mediterranean Sea can be established, distinguishing oligotrophic and mesotrophic areas and different blooming periods. The RADMED monitoring program covers a large area from the southwestern limit of the Mediterranean to the Catalan Sea. The analysis of phyto and zooplankton time series extending from 1992 to 2016 in some cases, and from 2007 to 2016 in others, have shown that the Spanish Mediterranean waters have differentiated areas and trophic regimes as a result of the existence of several fertilizing mechanisms which include winter mixing, tidal mixing in...
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We analyze temperature, salinity and sea level time series in Malaga Bay, extending from October 1992 to October 2005, and series of temperature and sea level at L’Estartit, extending from 1974 to 2005. In both areas a warming trend is... more
We analyze temperature, salinity and sea level time series in Malaga Bay, extending from October 1992 to October 2005, and series of temperature and sea level at L’Estartit, extending from 1974 to 2005. In both areas a warming trend is detected, but it is also observed a reversal during the initial years of the twenty first century. This reversal is just a fraction of the total accumulated temperature and heat content change in the case of L’Estartit time series not being able to obscure the general trend. Nevertheless it is different in the shorter Malaga time series. These results prevent from extracting conclusions from short time series as natural oscillations superimposed on long term changes can alter the results
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Introduction. In 1992, the Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO) started an environmental monitoring project, Ecomalaga, where three sea sections were systematically sampled with some fixed stations. In 1994 a similar project started in... more
Introduction. In 1992, the Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO) started an environmental monitoring project, Ecomalaga, where three sea sections were systematically sampled with some fixed stations. In 1994 a similar project started in Balearic Islands, called Radial de Baleares, where three sampling stations were regularly visited. Since 2007, these projects with others from Murcia (Ecomurcia) and Balearic centres (Cirbal) were merged, and the sampling area were extended to all Spanish Mediterranean from Cabo Pino (close to Cádiz) to Barcelona, including balearic channels, resulting the actual RADMED monitoring Project funded by the Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO) (see Fig.1, red dots indicate stations routinely sampled). In the framework of this project certain variables are systematically studied: temperature, salinity, nutrient and chlorophyll a concentration, phytoplankton and zooplankton abundance…. (Amengual et al, 2010). One of the main objectives of the project i...
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From January to March 2001 an experimental fishing survey was carried out on the Sierra Leone Rise by four Spanish commercial boats, with the aim of prospecting the fishing potential for longliners of the demersal resources inhabiting the... more
From January to March 2001 an experimental fishing survey was carried out on the Sierra Leone Rise by four Spanish commercial boats, with the aim of prospecting the fishing potential for longliners of the demersal resources inhabiting the seamounts located between 9ºN-5ºN and 19ºW-27ºW, at depths between 200 m and 1 000 m.
The first edition of the report “Climate Change in the Spanish Mediterranean” acknowledged the necessity of monitoring environmental conditions within the Mediterranean Sea and it stated that initiatives aimed at preserving and achieving... more
The first edition of the report “Climate Change in the Spanish Mediterranean” acknowledged the necessity of monitoring environmental conditions within the Mediterranean Sea and it stated that initiatives aimed at preserving and achieving a sustainable development of its resources should be based on a rigorous and scientific knowledge. The first edition of this report attempted to establish the basis for future works and detected and quantified the sea level rise of waters surrounding the Mediterranean Spanish coasts, the temperature and salinity increase of deep waters, and the warming of the air and sea surface waters. The study of these and other man-made threats on the marine environment is an open question and requires a continuous monitoring effort. Thanks to the collaboration with other Spanish institutions such as ICM (CSIC), Puertos del Estado (PE), IMEDEA (CSIC), UMA, UIB and AEMET, as well as the own monitoring programs from the Instituto Español de Oceanografía (RADMED program), this second edition continues the previous report, analyzing time series extended to July 2008 and evidencing the persistence of the above mentioned warming trends in the Spanish Mediterranean. This and future updated reports, the activities of the IEO Mediterranean Group on Climate Change, and the collaboration with the already mentioned institutions intend to be a tool for the continuous surveillance of the Mediterranean Spanish waters and the assessment for its sustainable exploitation.Versión del edito
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The composition and structure of sublittoral faunal assemblages inhabiting soft bottoms (15–72 m depth) within the Marine Protected Area ‘Acantilados y Fondos Marinos de Calahonda-Castell de Ferro’ in southern Spain (North Alboran Sea,... more
The composition and structure of sublittoral faunal assemblages inhabiting soft bottoms (15–72 m depth) within the Marine Protected Area ‘Acantilados y Fondos Marinos de Calahonda-Castell de Ferro’ in southern Spain (North Alboran Sea, Mediterranean) have been studied in relation to sediment and water column variables. Three assemblages were identified and corresponded to mixed bottom, unstable bottom and coastal detritic bottom assemblages, based on Pérès & Picard's (1964) benthic classification. A total of 14,318 individuals were collected and 218 species identified, molluscs being the best represented group (141 species). Species richness displayed significant differences with depth and transect, with the highest values observed in the medium to very fine sand and muddy bottoms with bioclasts located at the shallowest sampling stations. The presence of some rare and poorly known invertebrates that are scarce in other areas of the Mediterranean Sea is remarkable, such as the c...