Chapter 17
Seascape Integrity Assessment: A Proposed
Index for the Mediterranean Coast
Sébastien Thorin, Pascaline Bodilis, Thibault Schvartz, Eric Dutrieux
and Patrice Francour
Abstract Landscape ecology is a multidisciplinary field that combines the spatial
approach of geography with functional ecology. Concerning marine environment, a
submerged landscape, called seascape, is defined as a spatially heterogeneous area of
coastal environment (i.e. intertidal, brackish). Measurement of spatial patterns plays
a central role in monitoring environmental change and for studying the multi-scale
processes that drive organism distributions and biodiversity. The aim of this paper
is to propose a relevant seascape index focusing on Mediterranean littoral areas,
moreover rocky habitat that constitutes one of the most important and characteristic habitats of the north-western Mediterranean coastal areas. The methodology
proposed to score marine sites addresses three factors: biological, geomorphologic
(i.e. 3D complexity) and anthropogenic. The goal was to build a functional and relevant tool that could eventually be used for a large scale geographical analysis of
submarine landscapes along the north-western Mediterranean coast. The proposed
index can qualitatively assess the value of the seascape within a site. Statistical tests
showed that the proposed index is an accurate and relevant proxy of the seascape
complexity value. The seascape integrity index we developed can then be a new tool
that could complement other existing biological indices.
Keywords Seascape index · French Mediterranean · Habitat complexity ·
Management
S. Thorin () · T. Schvartz · E. Dutrieux
Creocean, Languedoc-Roussillon Agency, 128, Fès avenue, 34080 Montpellier, France
e-mail: thorin@creocean.fr
T. Schvartz
e-mail: schvartz@creocean.fr
E. Dutrieux
e-mail: dutrieux@creocean.fr
P. Bodilis · P. Francour
Université Nice-Sophia Antipolis, EA 4228 ECOMERS. Parc Valrose,
06108 Nice Cedex 2, France
e-mail: Pascaline.BODILIS@unice.fr
P. Francour
e-mail: francour@unice.fr
O. Musard et al. (eds.), Underwater Seascapes, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-03440-9_17,
263
© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2014
Seascape Integrity Assessment: A Proposed
Index for the Mediterranean Coast
Sébastien Thorin, Pascaline Bodilis, Thibault Schvartz, Eric Dutrieux
and Patrice Francour
Abstract Landscape ecology is a multidisciplinary field that combines the spatial
approach of geography with functional ecology. Concerning marine environment, a
submerged landscape, called seascape, is defined as a spatially heterogeneous area of
coastal environment (i.e. intertidal, brackish). Measurement of spatial patterns plays
a central role in monitoring environmental change and for studying the multi-scale
processes that drive organism distributions and biodiversity. The aim of this paper
is to propose a relevant seascape index focusing on Mediterranean littoral areas,
moreover rocky habitat that constitutes one of the most important and characteristic habitats of the north-western Mediterranean coastal areas. The methodology
proposed to score marine sites addresses three factors: biological, geomorphologic
(i.e. 3D complexity) and anthropogenic. The goal was to build a functional and relevant tool that could eventually be used for a large scale geographical analysis of
submarine landscapes along the north-western Mediterranean coast. The proposed
index can qualitatively assess the value of the seascape within a site. Statistical tests
showed that the proposed index is an accurate and relevant proxy of the seascape
complexity value. The seascape integrity index we developed can then be a new tool
that could complement other existing biological indices.
Keywords Seascape index · French Mediterranean · Habitat complexity ·
Management
S. Thorin () · T. Schvartz · E. Dutrieux
Creocean, Languedoc-Roussillon Agency, 128, Fès avenue, 34080 Montpellier, France
e-mail: thorin@creocean.fr
T. Schvartz
e-mail: schvartz@creocean.fr
E. Dutrieux
e-mail: dutrieux@creocean.fr
P. Bodilis · P. Francour
Université Nice-Sophia Antipolis, EA 4228 ECOMERS. Parc Valrose,
06108 Nice Cedex 2, France
e-mail: Pascaline.BODILIS@unice.fr
P. Francour
e-mail: francour@unice.fr
O. Musard et al. (eds.), Underwater Seascapes, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-03440-9_17,
263
© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2014