Many sea urchin populations in the Adriatic have undergone significant population increases due to a reduction in predation pressure. Urchins are prolific herbivores that can clear large areas of macroalgae relatively quickly, forming what are known as urchin barrens. Macroalgae dominates many shallow areas in the region, forming the foundation of the ecosystems, and so an increase in dominance of urchin barrens can severely alter the habitat, removing the food, structure and shelter macroalgae naturally provides to other animals. This project aims to investigate the ecological impacts of these urchin barrens through a range of in water surveys completed via SCUBA diving. First, urchin barrens will be mapped around the coast of Silba island to give a broad estimate of their abundance and also identify areas of high and low urchin barren density. Barrens will then be analysed in detail using quadrats and compared to nearby areas of healthy macroalgae, to determine the impacts of urchins on the benthic community. Surveys of the macroinvertebrate community will then be carried out using belt transects, to identify impacts of urchin barrens on their abundance and diversity. Finally, fish surveys will be completed using Underwater Visual Census (UVC) to determine whether the coverage of urchin barrens has any measurable impact on the abundance and diversity of adults or juvenile fish species.

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