Cn. Bianchi et C. Morri, Marine biodiversity of the Mediterranean Sea: Situation, problems and prospects for future research, MAR POLL B, 40(5), 2000, pp. 367-376
Mediterranean marine biodiversity has received only a fraction of the atten
tion accorded to its terrestrial counterpart, despite the great cultural an
d economic importance that the sea has been having for the Mediterranean co
untries. A rough estimate of more than 8500 species of macroscopic marine o
rganisms should live in the Mediterranean Sea, corresponding to somewhat be
tween 4% and 18% of the world marine species, This is a conspicuous figure
if one considers that the Mediterranean Sea is only 0.82% in surface area a
nd 0.32% in volume as compared to the world ocean. The high biodiversity of
the Mediterranean Sea may be explained by historical (its tradition of stu
dy dates older than for almost any other sea), paleogeographic (its torment
ed geological history through the last 5 my has been determining the occurr
ence of distinct biogeographic categories), and ecological (its variety of
climatic and hydrologic situations within a single basin has probably no eq
uals in the world) reasons. Present-day Mediterranean biodiversity is under
going rapid alteration under the combined pressure of climate change and hu
man impact, but protection measures, either for species or ecosystems, are
still scarce. To understand the role and patterns of Mediterranean marine b
iodiversity, marine ecological research should: first, re-value those scien
tific areas currently unfashionable with funding agencies (systematics, bio
geography and taxonomy); second, start monitoring biodiversity with a long-
term approach at a whole Mediterranean scale, possibly through an internati
onally co-ordinated network of marine protected areas. (C) 2000 Elsevier Sc
ience Ltd. All rights reserved.