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Ecological Physiognomy of the Eastern Mediterranean

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Book cover The Eastern Mediterranean as a Laboratory Basin for the Assessment of Contrasting Ecosystems

Part of the book series: NATO Science Series ((ASEN2,volume 51))

Abstract

The Eastern Mediterranean (EMED) is connected with the open ocean through three different sills and a wide buffering basin such as the Western Mediterranean. It is in fact almost completely enclosed by land, with the exceptions of the Sicily Channel and the very shallow connections of Bosphorus with the Marmara Sea and the more recent one with the Red Sea, which dates 1869. Though, it is a large basin with a maximum depth of more than 5000 m. Because of these characteristics, many relevant processes took place in the past and others are occurring today. To quote a few, the frequent changes in the pelagic system ([1] and references therein), the introduction of exotic species through the Suez Canal [2], the recent changes in thermohaline circulation [3] and their implications. Many topics have been thoroughly analyzed in this workshop and elsewhere. Instead, we will comment on some basic features of the pelagic realm, and the main forcings that make the area as it is now and eventually differentiate one region from another. Our contribution will mostly focus on inputs and internal transfers, which indeed cover only partially the functioning of an ecosystem. However, we think that these basic processes deserve attention and our aim is to promote a discussion on them. Moreover we will restrict our comments to the EMED proper, i.e. Adriatic and Aegean Seas will be excluded, whenever possible, from our analysis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratorio di Oceanografia Biologica Stazione Zoologica “A. Dohrn”, Villa Comunale, 80121, Napoli, Italy

    Maurizio Ribera D’alcalà

  2. Laboratorio di Oceanografia Biologica Stazione Zoologica “A. Dohrn”, Villa Comunale, 80121, Napoli, Italy

    Maria Grazia Mazzocchi

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  1. Maurizio Ribera D’alcalà
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  2. Maria Grazia Mazzocchi
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Paola Malanotte-Rizzoli

  2. Marine Hydrophysical Institute, Sevastopol, Ukraine

    Valery N. Eremeev

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© 1999 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

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D’alcalà, M.R., Grazia Mazzocchi, M. (1999). Ecological Physiognomy of the Eastern Mediterranean. In: Malanotte-Rizzoli, P., Eremeev, V.N. (eds) The Eastern Mediterranean as a Laboratory Basin for the Assessment of Contrasting Ecosystems. NATO Science Series, vol 51. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-4796-5_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-4796-5_5

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-0-7923-5586-1

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