Perspectives on the Marine Animal Forests of the World

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xii

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2. The Coral Tree at the End of the World: Introductory Notes to Coralline Mythology and Folklore from the Indian and Pacific Oceans

   • D. Torri

   Pages 1-16

3. The Marine Animal Forests of South Africa: Importance for Bioregionalization and Marine Spatial Planning

   • T. Samaai, K. Sink, S. Kirkman, L. Atkinson, W. Florence, S. Kerwath et al.

   Pages 17-61

4. Coral and Reef Fish Communities in the Thermally Extreme Persian/Arabian Gulf: Insights into Potential Climate Change Effects

   • J. Bouwmeester, R. Riera, P. Range, R. Ben-Hamadou, K. Samimi-Namin, J. A. Burt

   Pages 63-86

5. Marginal Reefs in the Anthropocene: They Are Not Noah’s Ark

   • M. de O. Soares, I. C. S. Cruz, B. A. Santos, T. C. L. Tavares, T. M. Garcia, N. Menezes et al.

   Pages 87-128

6. Animal Forests in Submarine Caves

   • G. Belmonte, A. Guido, A. Mastandrea, R. Onorato, A. Rosso, R. Sanfilippo

   Pages 129-145

7. The Tubeworm Forests of Hydrothermal Vents and Cold Seeps

   • V. Tunnicliffe, E. E. Cordes

   Pages 147-192

8. Bryozoans: The ‘Forgotten’ Bioconstructors

   • C. Lombardi, P. D. Taylor, S. Cocito

   Pages 193-217

9. Polychaetes as Habitat Former: Structure and Function

   • A. Giangrande, M. C. Gambi, M. F. Gravina

   Pages 219-237

10. Chemical War in Marine Animal Forests: Natural Products and Chemical Interactions

    • C. Avila

    Pages 239-307

11. The Nursery Role of Marine Animal Forests

    • A. Cau, A. Mercier, D. Moccia, P. J. Auster

    Pages 309-331

12. Marine Animal Forests as Carbon Immobilizers or Why We Should Preserve These Three-Dimensional Alive Structures

    • S. Rossi, L. Rizzo

    Pages 333-400

13. From Trees to Octocorals: The Role of Self-Thinning and Shading in Underwater Animal Forests

    • H. Nelson, L. Bramanti

    Pages 401-417

14. Invasive Alien Species and Their Effects on Marine Animal Forests

    • J. C. Creed, R. M. Rocha, B. W. Hoeksema, E. Serrano, G. Rilov, M. Milazzo et al.

    Pages 419-467

15. Plastics: An Additional Threat for Coral Ecosystems

    • F. Lartaud, A. L. Meistertzheim, J. Reichert, M. Ziegler, E. Peru, J. F. Ghiglione

    Pages 469-485

16. Visual Methods for Monitoring Mesophotic-to-Deep Reefs and Animal Forests: Finding a Compromise Between Analytical Effort and Result Quality

    • G. Castellan, L. Angeletti, A. Correggiari, F. Foglini, V. Grande, M. Taviani

    Pages 487-514

17. Advances in the Marine Animal Forests Scientific Outreach and Citizen Science

    • J. Zorrilla-Pujana

    Pages 515-530

Marine Animal Forests (MAFs) are spread all over the world. Composed by suspension feeding organisms (e.g. corals, gorgonians, sponges, bryozoans, bivalves, etc.), MAFs constitute a vast number of marine ecosystems such as coral reefs, cold water corals, sponge grounds, bivalve beds, etc. The surface covered by these systems is prominent (at the scale of the oceans of the planet), though poorly known. In a previous book (Marine Animal Forests, the ecology of benthic biodiversity hotspots), several aspects of the MAFs were described and discussed, building the basis for a holistic approach with the aim of putting these shallow and deep sea ecosystems under a common umbrella.  The main target of the present book is to identify and address important topics which were not covered in the previous three volumes. Bryozoans or Polychaeta, for example, are treated in this volume, as well as hydrothermal vents ecosystems and submarine caves, the chemical ecology in MAFs or the nursery effect on these ecosystems.  The vastity of the MAF concept opens new insights in the biology, physiology, biodiversity of the organisms structuring these highly biodiverse ecosystems and on the dangers threatening them (such as microplastics or the role of invasive species as an impact of their trophic ecology or distribution). In a fast changing world, in which the complexity of MAFs is at risk, we propose an in-depth analysis of many aspects that may be inspirational for future research lines in marine biology and ecology.

• Biogenic structures
• Benthic suspension feeders
• Ecosystem engineers
• Marine conservation
• Trophic ecology

• Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Biologiche e Ambientali (DISTEBA), Università del Salento, Lecce, Italy

  Sergio Rossi

• Laboratoire d’Ecogéochimie des Environnements Benthiques, LECOB, Observatoire Océanologique de Banyuls sur Mer, CNRS-Sorbonne Université, Banyuls sur Mer, France

  Lorenzo Bramanti

Sergio Rossi

Sergio Rossi is a research scientist specialized in marine natural resources and biological oceanography, focusing his attention on the health indicators of coastal benthic populations, coastal biological processes, flows of matter and energy in the benthic-pelagic coupling system, in the transplantation and aquaculture of marine organisms, and the management and conservation of marine wildlife. He is especially interested in the processes and conservation of the marine animal forests of the world.

Lorenzo Bramanti

Lorenzo Bramanti is a Marine Ecologist expert in conservation, spatial distribution, population and metapopulation dynamics of benthic suspension feeders. His field of research is at  the interconnection between functional ecology and conservation biology, focussing on the demographic processes regulating the dynamics of long living species, in particular corals, and their implications for conservation and marine spatial planning.

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