Coralligenous assemblages differ between limestone and granite: A case study at the Tavolara-Punta Coda Cavallo Marine Protected Area (NE Sardinia, Mediterranean Sea)

The Tavolara-Punta Coda Cavallo Marine Protected Area (North-eastern Sardinia, western Mediterranean Sea) includes, in a restricted area, substrates of different lithology. In fact, the Tavolara Island is characterized by limestone (high carbonate content), while the nearby Molara Island and the Molarotto islet are granitic (high quartz content). These peculiar features create a suitable condition to test the hypothesis that the taxonomic richness of the Mediterranean coralligenous communities could be also driven by the lithological characteristics of the substrate.