Assessment of the conservation status of Posidonia oceanica beds in the marine Site of Community Importance in Villasimius (Italy) within the project LIFE+ RES MARIS

The marine Site of Community Importance (SCI ITB040020) of the network Natura 2000 is included almost entirely within the perimeter of the Marine Protected Area Capo Carbonara (South East Sardinia, Italy) which is characterized by a high biodiversity, with 720 species and 30 marine habitats reported. Hence, it is recognised as a Specially Protected Area of Mediterranean Importance (SPAMI). During the summer the area is affected by anthropogenic impacts due to recreational activities (e.g. fishing, pleasure boating, swimming, diving) that represents potential threats to some species and protected habitats. This study is part of the project LIFE+ RES MARIS (LIFE13 NAT / IT / 000 433), addressed to the restoration and conservation of marine and terrestrial ecosystems included in the SCI under Habitats Directive 92/43/EEC. The aims is to evaluate the conservation status of the priority habitat 1120 “Posidonia beds” through mapping and characterization of the Posidonia oceanica meadow in areas that previous studies have identified as the most affected by anchoring, for a total surface of about 400 ha. Acoustic methods (Side Scan Sonar), direct visual surveys in SCUBA diving and underwater towed camera are applied. Assessments of coverage of P. oceanica, types of substrate, continuity of the meadow, presence of dead matte, Cymodocea nodosa and benthic alien species (e.g. Caulerpa cylindracea) are reported. Results are crucial for enhancing the knowledge of the current distribution and status of the priority habitat 1120 and is basic for planning further concrete conservation and monitoring measures.

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Assessment of the conservation status of Posidonia oceanica beds in the marine Site of Community Importance in Villasimius (Italy) within the project LIFE+ RES MARIS

10.7287/peerj.preprints.1042v1 ◽

2015 ◽

Author(s):

Francesca Frau ◽

Maria-Francesca Cinti ◽

Valeria Masala ◽

Stefano Acunto

Keyword(s):

Protected Area ◽

Marine Protected Area ◽

Anthropogenic Impacts ◽

Conservation Status ◽

Posidonia Oceanica ◽

Habitats Directive ◽

Marine Habitats ◽

Marine Site ◽

Priority Habitat ◽

Project Life

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Monitoring the seagrass Posidonia oceanica to understand the effects of local disturbances in a marine protected area

10.1109/metrosea52177.2021.9611572 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Andrea Tursi ◽

Francesco Mastrototaro ◽

Federica Montesanto ◽

Giovanni Chimienti

Keyword(s):

Protected Area ◽

Marine Protected Area ◽

Posidonia Oceanica

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Importance of Posidonia oceanica meadows for the distribution of the mollusc bivalve Pinna nobilis (Linnaeus, 1758) in the Capo Carbonara Marine Protected Area

10.7287/peerj.preprints.1047v1 ◽

2015 ◽

Author(s):

Maria-Francesca Cinti ◽

Francesca Frau ◽

Fabrizio Atzori ◽

Stefano Corrias

Keyword(s):

Mortality Rate ◽

Protected Area ◽

Marine Protected Area ◽

Natura 2000 ◽

Posidonia Oceanica ◽

Average Height ◽

Average Depth ◽

North West ◽

Pinna Nobilis ◽

Sandy Substrate

Posidonia oceanica meadows are the preferential habitat for many plant and animal protected species including the mollusc bivalve Pinna nobilis. In this study, we evaluated the importance of the substrate structure for the distribution of the species in the Capo Carbonara Marine Protected Area (Sardinia south east), recognized as a Specially Protected Area of Mediterranean Importance (SPAMI) and Site of Community Importance (SCI ITB040020) of the Natura 2000 network. For this purpose four study areas, exposed to the North West and South East of the Capo Carbonara promontory, and characterized by P. oceanica meadows on both sandy and rocky substrates, with a total area of about 20ha, have been investigated. Visual sightings were conducted in situ during the months of September and October 2013 and 2014 along linear transects at depths between 1 and 10 meters to collect information on the presence, morphometric characteristics and depth of specimens of P. nobilis. A total of 139 individuals were recorded, 126 of them were alive (90.6%) and 13 were dead (9.4%); 51 individuals (36.7%) were found on rocky substrates, with a mortality rate of 6.2%, an average height of 34.4±9.9 cm, and at an average depth of 4.7±1.7 m. On sandy substrates, the number of individuals was 88 (63.3%), with a mortality rate of 11.4% and average height of 39.65±14.3 cm, at the average depth of 5.8±2.1 m. This study confirmed the importance of P. oceanica for the distribution of P. nobilis, which showed a preference for P. oceanica meadows set on sandy substrate. Therefore, for the management purposes of the Capo Carbonara Marine Protected Area, it would be interesting to understand which are the main causes of the greater mortality registered on sandy substrate and if these causes are related to environmental (i.e. sedimentation, predation) and/or anthropogenic (i.e. anchoring, collecting) factors.

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Distribution, diversity, and conservation of coral reefs and coral communities in the largest marine protected area of Pacific Panama (Coiba Island)

Environmental Conservation ◽

10.1017/s0376892904001250 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 31 (2) ◽

pp. 111-121 ◽

Cited By ~ 37

Author(s):

HECTOR M. GUZMAN ◽

CARLOS A. GUEVARA ◽

ODALISCA BREEDY

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Coral Reefs ◽

Protected Area ◽

Marine Protected Area ◽

Coral Cover ◽

Scleractinian Corals ◽

Live Coral ◽

Marine Habitats ◽

Live Coral Cover ◽

Coral Communities

Sampling scale and lack of attention to taxa other than scleractinian corals have limited the capacity to protect coral reefs and coral communities in Pacific Panama. The distribution of coral habitats (live coral cover) and their species richness in the largest marine protected area of Panama, the Coiba National Park (270 125 ha), is described using quadrat transects and manta tows. The species richness of scleractinian corals and octocorals was lower in coral reefs than in coral communities, and a close relationship between richness and live coral cover was observed only in coral communities. The distribution of high live coral cover in coral communities overlapped with areas of high coral species richness. Average live coral cover in communities was 64%, compared to 28% in reefs, whereas algae cover was 30% and 49%, respectively. Twenty-two coral and 34 octocoral species were observed, many only now detected in Panama as endemic or new species. Analysis of satellite imagery showed 80% of terrestrial habitats were mostly primary forest, and coral reefs and coral communities covered 1700 ha, about 2% of marine habitats. Shallow marine environments (< 20 m) had up to 60% calcareous red algae cover (rhodolite beds). Based on the distribution of live coral cover and species richness, three conservation units were identified as priority, with the southern and northernmost sides of the marine protected area as the most significant. These three areas encompass most of the rare and endemic species or populations, as well as species previously regarded as endangered.

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SfM-Based Method to Assess Gorgonian Forests (Paramuricea clavata (Cnidaria, Octocorallia))

Remote Sensing ◽

10.3390/rs10071154 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 10 (7) ◽

pp. 1154 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Marco Palma ◽

Monica Casado ◽

Ubaldo Pantaleo ◽

Gaia Pavoni ◽

Daniela Pica ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Population Structure ◽

Protected Area ◽

Marine Protected Area ◽

Methodological Approach ◽

Dry Weight ◽

Marine Habitats ◽

Paramuricea Clavata ◽

Maximal Height ◽

Maximal Width ◽

The Mediterranean

Animal forests promote marine habitats morphological complexity and functioning. The red gorgonian, Paramuricea clavata, is a key structuring species of the Mediterranean coralligenous habitat and an indicator species of climate effects on habitat functioning. P. clavata metrics such as population structure, morphology and biomass inform on the overall health of coralligenous habitats, but the estimation of these metrics is time and cost consuming, and often requires destructive sampling. As a consequence, the implementation of long-term and wide-area monitoring programmes is limited. This study proposes a novel and transferable Structure from Motion (SfM) based method for the estimation of gorgonian population structure (i.e., maximal height, density, abundance), morphometries (i.e., maximal width, fan surface) and biomass (i.e., coenenchymal Dry Weight, Ash Free Dried Weight). The method includes the estimation of a novel metric (3D canopy surface) describing the gorgonian forest as a mosaic of planes generated by fitting multiple 5 cm × 5 cm facets to a SfM generated point cloud. The performance of the method is assessed for two different cameras (GoPro Hero4 and Sony NEX7). Results showed that for highly dense populations (17 colonies/m2), the SfM-method had lower accuracies in estimating the gorgonians density for both cameras (60% to 89%) than for medium to low density populations (14 and 7 colonies/m2) (71% to 100%). Results for the validation of the method showed that the correlation between ground truth and SfM estimates for maximal height, maximal width and fan surface were between R2 = 0.63 and R2 = 0.9, and R2 = 0.99 for coenenchymal surface estimation. The methodological approach was used to estimate the biomass of the gorgonian population within the study area and across the coralligenous habitat between −25 to −40 m depth in the Portofino Marine Protected Area. For that purpose, the coenenchymal surface of sampled colonies was obtained and used for the calculations. Results showed biomass values of dry weight and ash free dry weight of 220 g and 32 g for the studied area and to 365 kg and 55 Kg for the coralligenous habitat in the Marine Protected Area. This study highlighted the feasibility of the methodology for the quantification of P. clavata metrics as well as the potential of the SfM-method to improve current predictions of the status of the coralligenous habitat in the Mediterranean sea and overall management of threatened ecosystems.

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Assessment of Marine Litter in the Coralligenous Habitat of a Marine Protected Area along the Ionian Coast of Sicily (Central Mediterranean)

Journal of Marine Science and Engineering ◽

10.3390/jmse8090656 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 8 (9) ◽

pp. 656

Author(s):

Luca Giuseppe Costanzo ◽

Giuliana Marletta ◽

Giuseppina Alongi

Keyword(s):

Protected Area ◽

Marine Protected Area ◽

Anthropogenic Impacts ◽

Central Mediterranean ◽

Fishing Activity ◽

Protection Measures ◽

Marine Litter ◽

Long Time ◽

High Degree ◽

Organism Interactions

In the Mediterranean Sea, the coralligenous is an extremely important habitat for its biodiversity and role in carbon sequestration. However, coralligenous biocenosis is sensitive to many anthropogenic impacts, among which one of the major threats is the marine litter. The aim of the present work was to evaluate the marine litter present in the coralligenous habitat of the Marine Protected Area (MPA) Isole Ciclopi (Sicily, Italy). Through the analysis of frames obtained by Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROV) videos, data on the type of marine litter, grade of organisms’ coverage, litter-organism interactions, and seabed coverage of items were gained. Through ROV surveys, a low number of marine litter items was observed and most of them were fishing gears. On the found items there was a high degree of organisms’ coverage, which suggests that probably the marine litter was abandoned or lost since a long time. Overall, it was observed that in recent years the fishing activity in the MPA has not affected the coralligenous habitat. The present study represents a baseline for future monitoring programmes, which will be useful to develop protection measures and sustainable fishing, in order to preserve the coralligenous habitat of the MPA.

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Boat anchoring on Posidonia oceanica beds in a marine protected area (Italy, western Mediterranean): effect of anchor types in different anchoring stages

Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology ◽

10.1016/j.jembe.2003.09.003 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 299 (1) ◽

pp. 51-62 ◽

Cited By ~ 73

Author(s):

Marco Milazzo ◽

Fabio Badalamenti ◽

Giulia Ceccherelli ◽

Renato Chemello

Keyword(s):

Protected Area ◽

Marine Protected Area ◽

Posidonia Oceanica ◽

Western Mediterranean

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Colonization on Pinna nobilis at a marine protected area: extent of the spread of two invasive seaweeds

Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom ◽

10.1017/s002531541400037x ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 94 (5) ◽

pp. 857-864 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Maite Vázquez-Luis ◽

Gàlia Banach-Esteve ◽

Elvira Álvarez ◽

Salud Deudero

Keyword(s):

Protected Area ◽

National Park ◽

Marine Protected Area ◽

Posidonia Oceanica ◽

Western Mediterranean ◽

Balearic Islands ◽

Caulerpa Racemosa ◽

Seagrass Meadows ◽

Pinna Nobilis ◽

North Western

Introduction of species is a major driver of global change and loss of biodiversity in ecosystems. The Mediterranean Sea is the most heavily invaded region in the world by introduced seaweeds. The fan mussel Pinna nobilis is the largest Mediterranean bivalve, and a protected species, present at depths from 0.5 m to 60 m. In Cabrera National Park marine protected area (MPA) (Balearic Islands, north-western Mediterranean) the population of P. nobilis is affected by the invasive seaweeds Lophocladia lallemandii and Caulerpa racemosa; however the extent of this colonization on the bivalve is unknown. Therefore, the main aims of the present study were to: (1) determine the extent of invasion of L. lallemandii and C. racemosa on the P. nobilis population; and (2) test if this invasion showed differences with depth. This is the first study assessing invasion by seaweeds on a large bivalve in a high density P. nobilis population. Pinna nobilis was distributed in all seagrass meadows surveyed within the MPA; we found a total of 872 live P. nobilis individuals, 449 and 423 of which were found at 10 and 20 m depth, respectively. High cover of L. lallemandii and low presence of C. racemosa were detected in the P. nobilis population, being quantified in 49.37% and 1.38% of the population of P. nobilis, respectively. Bathymetric differences on Lophocladia epizoism over P. nobilis has been recorded in this study; with increasing values of L. lallemandii cover index, biomass and volume at deeper depths. Pinna nobilis could be a preferential substratum for L. lallemandii in Posidonia oceanica meadows in deeper waters, acting as a stepping-stone for invasive seaweeds and facilitating the invasion throughout seagrass meadows.

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