Maltese Cave Ecosystems

Rachel Kelly, Alberto Martinez, Raouia Ghanem, Erica Scerri, Niv David and César Augusto Ruiz.

Supervised by: Thierry Pérez, Pierre Chevaldonne

Christophe Lejeusne

Objectives

• Present status of the Maltese marine cave ecosystems

• Ecological conditions in the caves

• Species & communities characterization

• Improve our knowledge of underwater cave ecosystems and cave research techniques

• Compile a scientific report and provide baseline for Maltese marine cave ecosystems

• SCUBA Diving techniques

• Estimation of geomorphological features

• Species richness 25 x 25 cm photo quadrats

• Community structure: – Index (species form)

– Relative abundance

• Sample collection

Materials & Methods

Billingshurst Cave

A

D C

B B

Entrance Semi-dark

Bryozoa Sponges Algae Coral

Dark

Taxonomic Assemblages

A

D C

B A B

C D

Billingshurst Cave cumulative diversity

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Cu

mu

lati

ve n

um

be

r o

f sp

eci

es

Quadrat I.D. in BILLINGSHURST CAVE

Entrance

Semi-dark

Dark

Coral Cave

A B

C D

A B

C D

Alex’s Cave

Alex’s Cave

A B

C D

Taxonomic Assemblages Entrance Dark

Bryozoa Sponges Algae Bivalvia Ascidiacea Coral

Taxonomic Assemblages

A B

C D

Conclusions

• Community structure is largely influenced by: – Geomorphological features – Light penetration – Hydrodynamics

• Marine caves in Malta are highly variable

• Species diversity and richness change along the cave

gradient

• Sponges are one of the prominent taxonomic group in Maltese marine caves

Thank You!

The amazing people of BioDivMex: Malta 2014

Thierrry, Pierre, Christophe & Julian

Maia Fourt & Arnaud Lalo

Joseph A. Borg & Patrick A. Schembri

Rachel Watts & Paradise Bay Diving Center