THE RECENT RECOVERY OF ZERNOVS PHYLLOPHORA FIELD EXTENDS INTO THE ROMANIAN BLACK SEA

Dragos Micu1, Gabriel Ion2, Mihaela C. Melinte-Dobrinescu2, Stefan Strungariu3, Nataliya Milchakova4, Andrei Briceag2, Constantin Ungureanu2, Sorin Balan2 1NIRDEP - NIMRD Grigore Antipa, 300 Mamaia Blvd., RO-90058, Constanta, Romania E-mail: dragos_micu_coconet@yahoo.ro 2National Institute for Research and Development GeoEcoMar, Constanta, Romania 3Marine Research Station Ioan Borcea, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi, Romania 4IBSS-NASU Sevastopol, Ukraine

BACKGROUND
Phyllophora fields are a bioengineered habitat type unique to the Black Sea, consisting of extensive stands of perennial red algae (genera Phyllophora, Coccotylus) developing on circalittoral hard substrata and a highly diverse associated fauna. Zernovs Phyllophora Field - located on the northwestern shelf of the Black Sea - is the largest, comprising the worlds most abundant stands of Phyllophoraceae. In its pristine state (1950s-1960s) Zernov s Phyllophora Field used to have a southern lobe extending into the Romanian Black Sea. During the 1970s and 1980s the Northwestern Black Sea was heavily impacted by eutrophication and this, together with commercial harvesting of the Phyllophoraceae, resulted in the reduction of Zernov s Phyllophora Field by several orders of magnitude, only a cluster of small fragmented nuclei surviving inside Odessa Bay. The diversity of the associated fauna and flora was also severely reduced (a 75% decrease in the species richness of macroalgae). Starting with 2004 a trend of slow recovery of Zernov s Phyllophora Field has been detected by Ukrainian scientists.

Fig. 2 Phyllophora crispa

and

Coccotylus truncatus

MATERIAL AND METHODS

During 16-19 August 2013 R/V Mare Nigrum of GeoEcoMar went on the research cruise COCOBLAS 2013 along the border between Romanian and Ukrainian EEZs. Benthic samples were collected by dredging (1.2m opening, 400m2 swept area per tow) and grabbing (Van Veen grab 1200 cm2), while still and video imagery was obtained by towed cameras and ROV.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Of a total of 15 dredges and 12 grabs taken during the cruise, only 6 dredges and 2 grabs contained tufts of Coccotylus truncatus, all of them consisting of young thalli, mostly 1 and 2 year olds. The area occupied by the Phyllophora field in Romania seems to have increased, although the density of the algae is very sparse for the time being. Their occurrence has extended across isobaths beyond the historical distribution, both to deeper waters, but especially towards the shallower part. Also, their extent southwards of the EEZ border has more than doubled compared with the historical distribution. The overall coverage of macroalgae on ZPF (including its largest part in Ukrainian waters) does not exceed 5%, key species Phyllophora crispa average biomass decreased by almost an order of magnitude, but Coccotylus truncatus biomass decreased only slightly. At present, layers of unattached Phyllophora crispa are no longer found. The biological factor that limits recovery of ZPF is the almost complete replacement of Phyllophora crispa (diploid sporophyte, 2n) by Coccotylus truncatus (haploid gametophyte, 1n) and the reduction of the most stable generation of its life cycle. At present, Coccotylus truncatus occurs in almost all parts of ZPF. The frequency of this species increased from 52 to 70%. The range of C. truncatus distribution shifted to the west and south-west of the former ZPF. During COCOBLAS 2013, associated species which are characteristic for the Phyllophora field ecosystem, like the crustose coralline alga Lithothamnion propontidis and the crab Liocarcinus navigator, were found to be abundant inside and in the vicinity of the area where Coccotylus occurred in the Romanian EEZ. Our observations indicate that the process of degradation of Zernov s Phyllophora Field has stopped and gradual recovery of the ecosystem is underway, even though its structure has changed considerably. The state of the ecosystem still has a long way to go until it eventually reaches levels of the 1960s, but it is certain that they have markedly improved.

Fig. 1 Variation of ZPF extent on the Northwestern Shelf during the last decades. The extent of ZPF south of the RO-UA border, discovered during COCOBLAS 2013, is marked with hatching.
1967 Ph. crispa

10 9 8 7

Stock

6 5 4 3 2 1 0

Commercial harvesting of Phyllophora, from 1970 to 1996

1978

Ph. crispa

2013

Fig. 3 Long-term dynamics of the ZPF Phyllophora stock (million tons), with corresponding images to the right.

Coccotylus truncatus

Fig. 4 Samples of Coccotylus truncatus (left) and the crab Liocarcinus navigator (right).

CONCLUSIONS
1.During COCOBLAS 2013 cruise of the R/V Mare Nigrum (August 2013) we have found that Zernov s Phyllophora Field is again present in the Romanian Black Sea, after a hiatus of over 40 years. 2.Zernov s Phyllophora Field is slowly recovering, but the balance between the species of Phyllophoraceae building the habitat has changed. Phyllophora crispa, which was dominant in the past, has become a secondary species, while now the dominant species is Coccotylus truncatus. The only species found by us in Romanian waters is Coccotylus truncatus. 3.The density of Phyllophoraceae in the Romanian lobe of the field is extremely low for the time being. Before they can have the same ecosystem engineering value as they did in the past, time and conservation measures are needed. The main threat to recovery of ZPF is exploration and exploitation of the gas fields that occur inside its historical distribution area.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The research leading to these results is funded from the European Community s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under Grant Agreement No. 287844 for the project Towards COast to COast NETworks of marine protected areas (from the shore to the high and deep sea), coupled with sea-based wind energy potential (COCONET).

Fig. 5 At work on the R/V Mare Nigrum.