Studies on water resources salinization along the Italian coast: 30 years of work

The population density on the Italian coasts is twice the national average. Numerous urban, economic, and productive settlements lie along the coast, which in many areas have altered the natural characteristics of the territory. Moreover, recent climate change studies forecast large impacts on the hydrologic cycle in the Mediterranean. Thus, in the next years, coastal water resources will be gradually more stressed. This in turn may result in a progressive salinization, which is a widespread and worrying phenomenon worldwide. In this paper, the historical and geographical distribution of peer-review studies focusing on the salinization of water resources along the Italian coasts will be critically discussed.

Polychaete Diversity Related to Different Mesophotic Bioconstructions along the Southeastern Italian Coast

In the different mesophotic bioconstructions recently found along the Southeastern Italian coast, polychaetes have been proved to show high species richness and diversity, hitherto never investigated. In the present study, the species composition and functional role of polychaete assemblages were analysed; the updated key to identification of the Mediterranean species of genus Eunice was presented and some taxonomic issues were also discussed. On the total of 70 species Serpulidae and Eunicida were the dominant polychaetes. Facing similar levels of α-diversity, the polychaete assemblages showed a high turnover of species along the north-south gradient, clearly according to the current circulation pattern, as well as to the different bioconstructors as biological determinants. Indeed, Serpulidae were dominant on the mesophotic bioconstructions primarily formed by the deep-sea oyster Neopycnodonte cochlear, while the Eunicida prevailed on the mesophotic bioconstructions mainly built by scleractinians. Lastly, the record of Eunice dubitata was the first for the Mediterranean and Italian fauna and proved this species to be characteristic of mesophotic bioconstructions.

Citizens’ Eyes on Mnemiopsis: How to Multiply Sightings with a Click!

Monitoring the spreading of marine invasive species represents one of the most relevant challenges for marine scientists in order to understand their impact on the environment. In recent years, citizen science is becoming more and more involved in research programs, especially taking advantage of new digital technologies. Here, we present the results obtained in the first 20 months (from 12 July 2019 to 8 March 2021) since launching avvistAPP. This new app was conceived to track the spreading of the invasive ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi in the Adriatic Sea; it was also designed to collect sightings of 18 additional marine taxa (ctenophores, jellyfish, sea turtles, dolphins, salps and noble pen shell). A total of 1224 sightings were recorded, of which 530 referred to Mnemiopsis, followed by the scyphozoan jellyfish Rhizostoma pulmo (22%), Cotylorhiza tuberculata (11%) and Aurelia spp. (8%). avvistAPP produced data confirming the presence of Mnemiopsis (often in abundances > 20 individuals m−2) along almost the entire Italian coast in the summer of 2019 and 2020.

Belarima violacea (Lucas, 1847) (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae), a new genus and species for the European fauna

Belarima violacea (Lucas) is an uncommon species of the Galerucini tribe (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae, Galerucinae) distributed in Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia, and recorded here for the first time for the European fauna. One male and one female were found, not far from each other, wandering on the sand among the vegetation of the shifting dunes of the Tuscan coast (Rosignano Solvay, Spiagge Bianche). Some hypotheses are proposed to explain the presence of B. violacea on the Italian coast. Morphological descriptions of external habitus, aedeagus and spematheca, the latter here described for the first time, are also provided, accompanied by micro-photographs.

An Operational Supporting System for Oil Spill Emergencies Addressed to the the Italian Coast Guard

Oil spill models are used to simulate the evolution of an oil slick that occurs after an accidental ship collision, malfunctioning of oil extraction platforms, or illegal discharges intentionally released by ships into the marine environment. We present an integrated operational oil spill prediction system that improves capacities in preventing and mitigating maritime risks from oil spills. The objective is to provide forecast information about the transport and the fate of a hypothetical oil spill under Nearly-Real Time hydrodynamic conditions in the western and central Mediterranean Sea. This complex forecast system is developed in the framework of the project SOS-Piattaforme & Impatti Off-Shore to the needs of Italian Coast Guard and other institutions, such as the Ministry of the Environment. This service has been operational since July 2020. The innovative aspect of this work is a graphical user interface (the GUI), which allows to select properties, time, and location of a potential oil spill and show the evolution of oil slick concentration and oil fate parameters. This platform represents the first component of a future Decision Support System aimed to identify the risk assessment of oil spills in order to better manage emergencies and minimize economic damages.

Le fortificazioni costiere austroungariche sulla frontiera italiana nell’Istria e Dalmazia dagli studi dello Scacchiere orientale

Austro-Hungarian coastal fortifications on the Italian border at Istria and Dalmatia from the studies on the eastern areaRight after the Unification of Italy, land’s topography, with landscape acquisition and restitution through explorations across borders, and in particular regarding Austro-Hungarian fortification on the Italian land and sea border, were immediately observed by Major State’s officials. In early 1900 the long and jagged stretch of Dalmatian coast between Pola and Cattaro, full of natural ports and coastal canals formed by many islands sometimes arranged in multiple orders along the coast, and in the past defended by many works which are now mostly radiated or abandoned (except for S. Nicolò fort, near Sebenico), can count on some works realized in Lussinpiccolo (Monte Asino): Ragusa wall has been entirely unarmed and defensive organization of Cattaro’s cannons is only maritime, in fact, for the part towards the land the Austrians provided to organize the defensive arming against neighboring Montenegro; Pola maritime square instead includes a sea front and a land front, so it can obtain protection by gulf, city’s arsenal and Fasana Canal. Archive’s material consulted in Kriegsarchiv of Vienna, historical cartography of Austro-Hungarian fortification system detected by Italian officers during Major State journeys on a side, together with many Memories on Austrian maritime fortifications between Cattaro and Pola, published by Major State Command, operations Division, allow to investigate and deepen Austro-Hungarian forts system along Italian coast, in Istria and Dalmatia.

Dolphin bounty hunting in the history of the Italian fishery

In the Mediterranean, at the end of the 19thcentury, dolphins were identified as pest species for their disruptive actions during some fishing phases. Numerous fishermen organizations asked for permission to hunt dolphins, and the killing of a dolphin was often institutionally favoured by several national laws. We provide a picture of the systematic culling campaigns for dolphins in Italy up to the absolute prohibition of capture, analysing the governmental measures implemented against dolphins, the official number of individuals killed and their value (in Italian liras) in 11 Italian Maritime Compartments from 1927 to 1937. Officially, over 6,700 dolphins were killed in 10 years along the Italian coast and rewards distributed for about 360,160 Italian liras, which, at the current exchange rate, correspond to 355,000 euros, for a contribute of about 52 euros for each dolphin. Considering that the meat was consumed both at the family level or sold, mainly as salted and dried meat, the dolphin hunting could be considered a profitable activity in those years for the fishermen. Due to the scarce information available on the size of the dolphin populations around the Italian coast, it is difficult to estimate the impact of the bounty fishing on the Italian populations during the studied period. Nevertheless,it is possible to hypothesizethat it could have affected all the local recruitment, producing an effect on the local population far from being negligible.