Chapter 11
Biogeographical and Macroecological
Context of the Alboran Sea
Raimundo Real, Serge Gofas, María Altamirano, Carmen Salas,
José Carlos Báez, Juan Antonio Camiñas, José Enrique García Raso,
Luis Gil de Sola, Jesús Olivero, José A. Reina-Hervás, and
Antonio Flores-Moya
11.1 Introduction
Biogeography refers to the distribution of living beings in space and time (Brown
and Gibson 1983), and includes the description of distribution patterns, the formulation and testing of hypotheses about the processes (either historical, ecological, or
anthropogenic) responsible for creating, maintaining, and modifying these patterns,
and the elaboration of predictions about the future course of species distribution
according to different ecological or human-behaviour scenarios. Here we are going
to highlight the main distribution patterns of marine species currently discernible in
the Alboran Sea, and the causes of these patterns, with particular emphasis on the
groups that are exploited as natural resources. Some of the drivers are rooted in past
R. Real (*) · S. Gofas · C. Salas · J. E. García Raso · J. Olivero · J. A. Reina-Hervás
Departamento de Biología Animal, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Málaga, Málaga,
Spain
e-mail: rrgimenez@uma.es; sgofas@uma.es; casanova@uma.es; garciaraso@uma.es;
jesusolivero@uma.es; reinahervas.ja@uma.es
M. Altamirano · A. Flores-Moya
Departamento de Botánica y Fisiología Vegetal, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Málaga,
Málaga, Spain
e-mail: altamirano@uma.es; floresa@uma.es
J. C. Báez · L. Gil de Sola
Instituto Español de Oceanografía, Centro Oceanográfico de Málaga, Fuengirola (Málaga),
Spain
e-mail: josecarlos.baez@ieo.es; gildesola@ieo.es
J. A. Camiñas
Asociación Herpetológica Española, Madrid, Spain
e-mail: juan.caminas@herpetologica.org
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
J. C. Báez et al. (eds.), Alboran Sea - Ecosystems and Marine Resources,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-65516-7_11
431
Biogeographical and Macroecological
Context of the Alboran Sea
Raimundo Real, Serge Gofas, María Altamirano, Carmen Salas,
José Carlos Báez, Juan Antonio Camiñas, José Enrique García Raso,
Luis Gil de Sola, Jesús Olivero, José A. Reina-Hervás, and
Antonio Flores-Moya
11.1 Introduction
Biogeography refers to the distribution of living beings in space and time (Brown
and Gibson 1983), and includes the description of distribution patterns, the formulation and testing of hypotheses about the processes (either historical, ecological, or
anthropogenic) responsible for creating, maintaining, and modifying these patterns,
and the elaboration of predictions about the future course of species distribution
according to different ecological or human-behaviour scenarios. Here we are going
to highlight the main distribution patterns of marine species currently discernible in
the Alboran Sea, and the causes of these patterns, with particular emphasis on the
groups that are exploited as natural resources. Some of the drivers are rooted in past
R. Real (*) · S. Gofas · C. Salas · J. E. García Raso · J. Olivero · J. A. Reina-Hervás
Departamento de Biología Animal, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Málaga, Málaga,
Spain
e-mail: rrgimenez@uma.es; sgofas@uma.es; casanova@uma.es; garciaraso@uma.es;
jesusolivero@uma.es; reinahervas.ja@uma.es
M. Altamirano · A. Flores-Moya
Departamento de Botánica y Fisiología Vegetal, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Málaga,
Málaga, Spain
e-mail: altamirano@uma.es; floresa@uma.es
J. C. Báez · L. Gil de Sola
Instituto Español de Oceanografía, Centro Oceanográfico de Málaga, Fuengirola (Málaga),
Spain
e-mail: josecarlos.baez@ieo.es; gildesola@ieo.es
J. A. Camiñas
Asociación Herpetológica Española, Madrid, Spain
e-mail: juan.caminas@herpetologica.org
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
J. C. Báez et al. (eds.), Alboran Sea - Ecosystems and Marine Resources,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-65516-7_11
431