Towards new marine-coastal Natura 2000 sites in the central Adriatic Sea.

Carranza, Maria Laura; Chiuchiarelli, I.; Francesco, Maria Carla de; Frate, Ludovico; Pagliani, Tommaso; Stanisci, Angela

doi:10.36253/978-88-5518-147-1.53

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…To identify the areas suitable for vegetation sampling (Figure 1), the distribution maps of the European Community Interest habitats were excerpted from reports of the European LIFE projects LIFE16 NAT/IT/000589 REDUNE, LIFE10 NAT/IT/000262 MAESTRALE and LIFE17 NAT/IT/000565 CALLIOPE [11,57,58].…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Identifying Critical Thresholds in the Impacts of Invasive Alien Plants and Dune Paths on Native Coastal Dune Vegetation

Francesco

Tozzi

Buffa

et al. 2022

Land

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Invasive alien plants (IAP) pose a major threat to biodiversity and have a negative impact on the integrity and conservation status of plant communities. Mediterranean dunes are widely exposed to IAP, due to their environmental heterogeneity and the anthropogenic pressures to which they are subjected. The current study explored the possible existence of critical thresholds of IAP cover/abundance and dune path impacts that may cause the decline in diagnostic species cover in shifting and transition dunes. A random sampling of 126 plots in areas invaded and not invaded by IAP across the Italian Adriatic dunes has been used and the recorded species have been classified in ecological guilds. In order to explore the effect of plant community composition and distances from dune paths on the diagnostic species cover, a Random Forest regression model has been fitted. The results revealed that three main critical thresholds can be detected concerning IAP total cover, IAP Oenothera stucchii Soldano abundance and the distance from dune paths and they work differently in shifting and transition dunes. The identification of such cut-off points provides useful insights for an array of actions to preserve the biodiversity of the Mediterranean coastal dunes.

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Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Identifying Critical Thresholds in the Impacts of Invasive Alien Plants and Dune Paths on Native Coastal Dune Vegetation

Francesco

Tozzi

Buffa

et al. 2022

Land

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“…Finally, we present a concrete application of the proposed approach in the context of N2K sites for delivering practical insights on the advantages provided by an integrated and multiscale monitoring framework, and for guiding effective monitoring of specific N2K conservation targets, despite the existing limitations. To this purpose, we selected N2K sites in the Adriatic Sea, where several sites are unmanaged and unmonitored, but where, nonetheless, the identification and expansion of the N2K network is underway (de Francesco et al, 2020). In order to help managers and scientists set and accomplish ad hoc monitoring programs, we focused on two practical case studies, both exemplary for their relevance in the Adriatic N2K sites: a target species-the common bottlenose dolphin, Tursiops truncatus, and a target habitatseagrass meadows.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An ecosystem-based system of variables to enhance marine species and habitat monitoring and conservation: The Adriatic Natura 2000 case study

Manea

Bergami²,

Pugnetti³

et al. 2022

Front. Mar. Sci.

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Implementing effective marine monitoring to detect and track ecosystem shifts, biodiversity alteration, and habitat loss is one of the most crucial challenges to meet the objectives set out by the Post-2020 Biodiversity Framework and by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The lack of coordinated and harmonized monitoring frameworks at different spatial scales and their weakness in accounting for ecological processes, due to incomplete sets of monitoring variables, strongly hinder the achievement of conservation objectives. Here, we propose an approach to build a coherent ecosystem-based system of monitoring variables for target marine species and habitats. The approach is designed to integrate the existing monitoring frameworks set up by the Water and the Marine Strategy Framework directives, and the Essential Ocean and Biodiversity Variables, with the aim to contribute to their harmonization and implementation. Furthermore, by embracing a holistic vision, it aims to incorporate ecological processes and socio-ecological aspects, considering the benefits of public engagement through citizen science, and of the ecosystem services approach for policies’ implementation. The study stems from the Ecological Observing System of the Adriatic Sea (ECOAdS), which was developed in the framework of the Interreg Italy-Croatia project ECOSS, using as exemplary monitoring test cases two relevant conservation targets for Natura 2000 sites of the Adriatic Sea, the common bottlenose dolphin and seagrass meadows. We test the potential of this approach in guiding the prioritization of monitoring variables under ecosystem-based criteria, and provide insights into the benefits delivered by an integrated system of observatories’ networks and monitoring frameworks to support marine conservation at both local and regional scales. The proposed approach can be transferred to other contexts and scales to help build a common knowledge and monitoring framework for conservation and management strategies, saving costs by relying on available resources and on consolidated and long-lasting approaches that might converge towards global initiatives.

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Modelling distribution and fate of coralligenous habitat in the Northern Adriatic Sea under a severe climate change scenario

Vitelletti

Manea²,

Bongiorni³

et al. 2023

Front. Mar. Sci.

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Due to their well-acknowledged capability in predicting habitat distributions, Habitat Suitability Models (HSMs) are particularly useful for investigating ecological patterns variations under climate change scenarios. The shallow coastal regions of the Northern Adriatic Sea, a sub-basin of the Mediterranean Sea, are studded with coralligenous outcrops recognized as important biodiversity hotspots exposed to the effects of climate change. In this research, we investigate the distributions of the Northern Adriatic Sea coralligenous habitats characterized by diverse species assemblages differently influenced by environmental factors, and provide a projection of how these might be impacted by climate change. Two models (Random Forest and MaxEnt), populated with occurrence data gathered from previous publications, environmental parameters’ from online databases (CMEMS, Bio-Oracle), and a set of dedicated ocean model simulations, are applied in recent past conditions and under a future severe climate change scenario (RCP 8.5). The model performance metrics confirm the ability of both approaches for predicting habitat distribution and their relationship with environmental conditions. The results show that salinity, temperature, and nitrate concentration are generally the most relevant variables in affecting the coralligenous outcrops distribution. The environmental variations projected under climate change conditions are expected to favour the spreading of opportunistic organisms, more tolerant to stressful conditions, at the expense of more vulnerable species. This will result in a shift in the distribution of these habitats, with a consequent potential loss of biodiversity in the Northern Adriatic Sea.

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Towards new marine-coastal Natura 2000 sites in the central Adriatic Sea.

Cited by 3 publications

References 17 publications

Identifying Critical Thresholds in the Impacts of Invasive Alien Plants and Dune Paths on Native Coastal Dune Vegetation

Identifying Critical Thresholds in the Impacts of Invasive Alien Plants and Dune Paths on Native Coastal Dune Vegetation

An ecosystem-based system of variables to enhance marine species and habitat monitoring and conservation: The Adriatic Natura 2000 case study

Modelling distribution and fate of coralligenous habitat in the Northern Adriatic Sea under a severe climate change scenario

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