Geographical and depth-related patterns in nematode communities from some Italian Marine Protected Areas

Figures & data

Figure 1. Geographical position of the three Italian Marine Protected Areas.

Table I. Sampling strategy. At each site three sediment samples for meiofauna analyses plus one for granulometric analyses were collected

Marine Protected Area	Depth range	Depth range	Depth range	Total sites (36)
Miramare	4 sites at 0 m (MI1–MI4)	4 sites at 1–4 m (MI5–MI8)	4 sites at 12–22 m (MI9–MI12)	12
Porto Cesareo	4 sites at 0 m (PC1–PC4)	4 sites at 1–4 m (PC5–PC8)	4 sites at 12–22 m (PC9–PC12)	12
Capo Caccia	4 sites at 0 m (CC1–CC4)	4 sites at 1–4 m (CC5–CC8)	4 sites at 12–22 m (CC9–CC12)	12

Figure 2. PCA ordination plot of grain size variables. (a) comparison per MPA; (b) comparison per depth.

Figure 3. Average sediment grain size (% ± SE) in the three depth groups.

Table II. Overall relative abundance of nematode families in the three MPAs, with indication of the number of genera

		Miramare		Porto Cesareo		Capo Caccia
Order	Family	%	n. genera	%	n. genera	%	n. genera
Enoplida	Enoplidae			2	1	0.05	1
	Thoracostomopsidae	17	3	7	4	3	3
	Anoplostomatidae			16	1	1	1
	Phanodermatidae					0.015	1
	Anticomidae	0.2	1	0.30	1	0.015	1
	Ironidae			0.015	1	0.015	1
	Oxystominidae			1	2	0.015	1
	Oncholaimidae	12	1	4	3	5	1
	Enchelidiidae			0.10	1	0.30	2
	Tripyloidadae			1	1	0.30	1
Dorylaimidae			2	1
Trefusiida	Lauratonematidae			0.04	1
Monhysterida	Xyalidae	22	7	29	14	31	11
	Monhysteridae	0.5	1	0.015	1	1	1
	Syphonolaimidae	0.05	1			0.015	1
	Linhomoeidae	1	2	0.20	3	3	5
	Diplopeltidae	0.05	1	0.40	2	2	3
	Axonolaimidae	1	2	4	3	2	2
Chromadorida	Chromadoridae	22	13	17	10	14	12
	Comesomatidae	1	2	3	4	7	5
	Ethmolaimidae			0.015	1	0.015	1
	Cyatholaimidae	21	3	3	6	5	7
	Selachinematidae			1	3	2	4
	Desmodoridae	1	2	3	7	5	12
	Epsilonematidae			2	4	2	3
	Draconematidae			0.015	1	0.015	1
	Microlaimidae	0.20	2	1	3	5	2
	Monoposthiidae			1	1	0.05	1
	Leptolaimidae	1	2	0.30	2	5	3
	Haliplectidae					0.20	1
	Desmoscolecidae			0.20	2	5	4
	Ceramonematidae			0.40	2	1	3
Paramicrolaimidae			1	1

Figure 4. Nematode genera composition (> 5%) in the three depth groups.

Figure 5. MDS analyses of nematode communities for (a) ‘MPA’ group, (b) ‘Depth’ group, and (c) ‘Sediment category’ group.

Table III. Results of SIMPER analysis of nematode data from ‘Depth’ group. Main genera and feeding types (FT) are shown

	Depth groups	(across all MPA groups)
Group 0	FT	Average similarity: 5.90
Genus		Av. abund	Contrib. (%)	Cum. %
Daptonema	1B	139.94	28.30	28.30
Enoploides	2B	167.57	21	49.30
Viscosia	2B	45.58	15.20	64.50
Group 1–4 m		Average similarity: 13.45
Genus		Av. Abund.	Contrib (%)	Cum. %
Daptonema	1B	434.02	31.38	31.38
Mesacanthion	2B	168.08	16.50	47.88
Viscosia	2B	161.66	11.47	59.35
Group 12–22 m		Average similarity: 18.01
Genus		Av. abund.	Contrib (%)	Cum. %
Microlaimus	2A	81.66	14.09	14.09
Chromadorita	2A	61.43	13.24	27.33
Tricoma	1A	45.74	9.45	36.78
Daptonema	1B	174.56	5.54	42.32
Sabatieria	1B	71.84	5.45	47.76
Euchromadora	2A	30.52	5.34	53.10

Figure 6. Diversity and taxonomic indices of nematode communities in the three MPAs (a) and in three depth groups (b).

Figure 7. The 95% probability funnels for Δ⁺ (a) and Λ⁺ (b) for 10,000 simulations. See text for explanations.

Figure 8. Log scale plots of nematode L (Length) vs. W (Width) for the three depth groups.

Figure 9. Plots of nematode L/W (Length/Width) vs. Frequency for the three depth groups.