Seafloor features and benthic foraminifera off Linosa Island (Sicily Channel, southern Mediterranean)

Benthic foraminiferal assemblages from marine sediments of some selected areas off the Linosa Island (central Mediterranean) were investigated with the aim to examine their relationships with seafloor topography. Sediments were collected during different geophysical and biological surveys carried out in 2016 and 2017 around the Pelagie Islands. An integrative partial least squares approach (2B-PLS) attempted an interpretation of co-variance between seafloor morphology and benthic foraminiferal communities. We examined benthic foraminiferal assemblage characteristics (diversity and composition) in relation to seafloor topography and acoustic response (depth, backscatter, roughness, slope, aspect, topographic position index). Statistical analyses highlighted two principal groups of samples mainly distinguished by: different sampling devices (i.e. grab and box corer), depth, and sediment texture. 2B-PLS analysis suggested that roughness, slope, backscatter and depth were the main factors discriminating changes in the benthic foraminiferal assemblage beside differences in substratum type.