Capturing ecological complexity: OCI,a novel combination of ecological indices as applied to benthic marine habitats |
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| Institution: | 1. DiSTAV, Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, dell’Ambiente e della Vita, Università di Genova, Corso Europa 26, 16132 Genova, Italy;2. DiSVA, Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita e dell’Ambiente, Università di Cagliari, Via T. Fiorelli, 09126 Cagliari, Italy;3. ISPRA, Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale (ISPRA), Via Vitaliano Brancati, Rome, Italy;1. Dipartimento di Scienze Della Natura e del Territorio, Università di Sassari, Via Piandanna 4, 07100 Sassari, Italy;2. MareTerra Onlus - Environmental Research and Conservation, Regione Salondra 9, 07041 Alghero, SS, Italy;3. ARPAT – Agenzia Regionale per la Protezione Ambientale Della Toscana, Via Marradi 114, 57126 Livorno, Italy;1. Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, UMR MARBEC & LMI ICEMASA, University of Cape Town, Private Bag X3, Rondebosch, Cape Town 7701, South Africa;2. Ecopath International Initiative Research Association, Barcelona, Spain;3. Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM-CSIC), Passeig Marítim de la Barceloneta n° 37-49, Barcelona, Spain;4. Fisheries Centre, University of British Columbia, 2202 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6T 1Z4;1. Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, 7700 Sandholdt Road, Moss Landing, CA 93940, USA;2. National Oceanography Centre, European Way, Southampton SO14 3ZH, UK |
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| Abstract: | The novel Overall Complexity Index (OCI) is proposed to measure ecological complexity, incorporating four complexity indices: (1) exergy and (2) throughput as extensive metrics, (3) specific exergy and (4) information as intensive metrics. Exergy and specific exergy estimate structural complexity while throughput and information functional complexity. OCI was applied to benthic habitats in a coastal marine tract encompassing a Marine Protected Area (MPA) in north-western Italy. The four individual indices did not always show homogeneous results in assigning complexity to different habitats. On the contrary, the additive measure provided by OCI showed that seagrass meadows and coralligenous reefs are in all the most complex habitats. Applying OCI provided results consistent with traditional approaches based on expert judgement, which usually attach more interest to seagrass meadows and hard bottoms with respect to soft bottoms, but expressed a synthetic, objective and quantitative approach. OCI can be mapped for management purposes, resolving the discordances evidenced by the individual indices. Ecological complexity in the study area is concentrated in some hot spots, as mapped by OCI, while the greatest part of the seafloor is occupied by low complexity habitats. Only some of these complexity hotspots are included within the Marine Protected Area, while this study suggests that high complexity areas, adjacent to the existing MPA, should be considered for protection possibly reshaping MPA's limits. |
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| Keywords: | Exergy Throughput Information Ecological index Marine protected area Ligurian sea |
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