Restoration Objective:
This study aimed to evaluate the effect of harvesting commercial P. lividus on the shift between barren and Cytoseira bed habitats.
Site Selection Criteria:
Sites were selected with boulders, for use as the experimental units. On each boulder, a patch of Cytoseira and turf algae was surrounded by encrusting corallines.
Cause Of Decline:
In the Mediterranean Sea, beds of canopy-forming algae of the genus Cystoseira are the dominant assemblages of shallow subtidal rocky habitat in environments under low anthropogenic disturbance. Overgrazing by the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus related to overexploitation of predator fishes is considered a major cause of shifts from Cystoseira beds to barren states in the Mediterranean Sea.
Key Reasons For Decline:
Overgrazing
Scientific Paper
Effect of sea urchin human harvest in promoting canopy forming algae restoration
Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, Vol. 219.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2019.02.028
