A comparison study between 10 Mediterranean lagoons has been carried out by means of the 3-D numerical model SHYFEM. The investigated basins are the Venice and Marano-Grado lagoons in the Northern Adriatic Sea, the Lesina and Varano lagoons in the Southern Adriatic Sea, the Taranto basin in the Ionian Sea, the Cabras Lagoon in Sardinia, the Ganzirri and Faro lagoons in Sicily, the Mar Menor in Spain, and the Nador Lagoon in Morocco. This study has been focused on hydrodynamics in terms of exchange rates, transport time scale, and mixing. Water exchange depends mainly on the inlet shape and tidal range, but also on the wind regimes in the case of multi-inlet lagoons. Water renewal time, which is mostly determined by the exchange rate, is a powerful concept that allows lagoons to be characterized with a time scale. In the case of the studied lagoons, the renewal time ranged from few days in the Marano-Grado Lagoon up to 1 year in the case of the Mar Menor. The analysis of the renewal time frequency distribution allows identifying subbasins. The numerical study proved to be a useful tool for the intercomparison and classification of the lagoons. These environments range from a leaky type to a choked type of lagoons and give a representative picture of the lagoons situated around the Mediterranean basin. Mixing efficiency turns out to be a function of the morphological complexity, but also of the forcings acting on the system.

This research presents a set of multi-objective spatial tools for sea planning and environmental management in the Adriatic Sea Basin. The tools address four objectives: 1) assessment of cumulative impacts from anthropogenic sea uses on environmental components of marine areas; 2) analysis of sea use conflicts; 3) 3-D hydrodynamic modelling of nutrient dispersion (nitrogen and phosphorus) from riverine sources in the Adriatic Sea Basin and 4) marine ecosystem services capacity assessment from seabed habitats based on an ES matrix approach. Geospatial modelling results were illustrated and analysed for three biogeographic subdivisions, Northern-Central-Southern Adriatic Sea. The paper discusses model results for their spatial implications, relevance for sea planning, limitations and concludes with an outlook towards the need for more integrated, multi-functional tools development for sea planning.

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