Development, human impact and habitat distribution in submarine canyons of the Central and Western Mediterranean

We present in this paper different studies on canyon systems, adopting distinct approaches, temporal and spatial scales. Most of our study areas coincide with the NW Sicilian canyons, which present striking differences in their morphologies in response to the Plio-Quaternary tectonic evolution of the northern Sicilian margin. In the present-day, active sedimentary processes inferred from bedform analyses along some of the studied canyons could drive to enhanced biological activities along them. This is also confirmed by an on-going study of the impact of trawling fishery on the morphology and sedimentary environments of the Sicilian margin, where intense deep-sea bottom trawling activities are registered in some of the canyons. Finally, we present the main results of the application of habitat distribution models in the Cap de Creus Canyon (NW Mediterranean), considering them as possible contributions in developing sustainable methods for the management of natural resources. The multidisciplinary and holistic perspective that raises from these studies suggests that the integration of different approaches should be considered by future scientific networks looking at submarine canyons as dynamic, interactive natural systems.