Proximity and Distance – Review of Seaweed Communities and the Marine Environment along the Coasts of the Levant Basin

Abstract This paper presents an analysis of the environmental factors affecting the ecology of seaweed (macroalgae) populations in the Levant Basin, attempting to identify both similar and different factors that determine distribution. Using correspondence analysis (CA) the study found a significantly similar pattern in the relations between countries and macroalgae – both for the whole group and within each phylum: Chlorophyta, Ochrophyta, Rhodophyta. The study identified two different macroalgae populations in the Levant Basin: The easternmost group living in open water off the coasts of Syria, Lebanon and Israel, and the shell group found in more sheltered waters in Egypt, Turkey, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, and Republic of Cyprus (Greece Cyprus): south Cyprus; and the North Cyprus. The differences between the two communities can be explained by dynamic wave activity. Following a taxonomic and nomenclatural revision according to AlgaeBase, of 693 species to date recorded from the studied area, only 573 species remained. 26 of them appear in all 7 countries and other 68 in 6 countries. 204 species appear in only one country. 3 or 4 species have only been described in the Middle East and could be endemic.