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The oceans and seas receive coarse woody debris since the Devonian, but the kinetics of wood degradation remains one of many unanswered questions about the fate of driftwood in the marine environment. A simple gravimetric experiment was carried out at a monitoring station located at the exit of a steep, forested Mediterranean watershed in the Eastern Pyrenees. The objective was to describe and quantify, with standardized logs (in shape, structure and constitution), natural degradation of wood in the sea. Results show that the mass decrease of wood logs over time can be described by a sigmoidal curve. The primary process of wood decay observed at the monitoring station was due to the arrival and installation of wood-boring species that consumed more than half of the total wood mass in six months. Surprisingly, in a region where there is little remaining wood marine infrastructure, “shipworms”, i.e. xylophagous bivalves, are responsible for an important part of this wood decay. This suggests that these communities are maintained probably by a frequent supply of a large quantity of riparian wood entering the marine environment adjacent to the watershed. By exploring this direct link between terrestrial and marine ecosystems, our long term objective is to determine how these supplies of terrestrial organic carbon can sustain wood-based marine communities as it is observed in the Mediterranean Sea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The PAH contamination level and biochemical composition of sinking particles and surficial sediments (0–0.5 cm layer) were assessed at a rural coastal site in the northwestern Mediterranean Sea. Surficial sediment contamination (≈20 ng g−1) was considerably lower than at other Mediterranean sites, yet particles collected in sediment traps had 6–8 times more PAH. Contaminated particles were mostly marine in origin. Temporal variation of contamination levels correlated with organic content of the particles, but some of the observed variability could be attributed to seasonal changes in pyrolytic PAH production. Sinking organic particles were potentially as readily digestible as surficial sediments for prospective consumers however, transfer of PAHs along the benthic food chain is probably enhanced because of the particles'' higher nutritional value. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The Mediterranean Sea hosts 5.6% of the world benthic invertebrate species on 0.82% of the ocean surface. Mediterranean ecosystems are also characterized by low densities (and biomasses) compared to other oceanic ecosystems, a feature often attributed to their oligotrophic environment. Oligotrophic conditions can induce lower growth rates and higher mortality rates, and a stronger competition for food between individuals. A theoretical model was developed in order to study the diversity vs. density patterns in coastal benthic invertebrate species. This model describes their minimal population dynamics including basic processes (growth, mortality, reproduction and effects of competitive interactions between individuals) and incorporating fluxes of larvae (finally recruited as juveniles) between a mosaic of local habitats. Populations are therefore structured in a metacommunity. The connectivity between local communities is ensured by passive pelagic larval dispersal. In the Mediterranean Sea, because of the microtidal regime, the connectivity between coastal habitats is lower and more variable than in macrotidal basins. Mathematical properties of the model revealed that competitive interactions (intra- and interspecific competitions) have a stabilizing effect on interacting organisms when gains by recruitment are higher than losses by mortality. In addition, low mortality rates and low connectivity which decreases negative local interactions maintains high regional species diversity with low local densities. This property suggested that oligotrophy cannot be the only factor leading to the high diversity–low density pattern observed in the Mediterranean Sea. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]