0000000000079407

AUTHOR

Pasquale Baiata

showing 4 related works from this author

Effects of recreational scuba diving on Mediterranean fishes: evidence of involuntary feeding?

2013

Despite a large body of literature assessing the impacts of recreational scuba diving on marine habitats, little attention has been paid to the potentially harmful effects this has on fishes. The aim of this study was the assessment of the immediate response of different fish species to divers’ activities. A decrease of fishes’ natural diffidence towards divers is shown, probably due to an enhanced availability of their prey as a result of divers’ contacts with the substrate.

Mediterranean climatelcsh:SH1-691Settore BIO/07 - EcologiaEnvironmental EngineeringEcologyMarine habitatsFish speciesfish behaviourshort-term effectScuba divingAquatic ScienceOceanographylcsh:Aquaculture. Fisheries. AnglingScuba diving fish behaviour short-term effect Mediterranean SeaPredationScuba divingFisheryGeographyScuba diving fish behaviour short-term effect Mediterranean Sea.Mediterranean Sea.Recreationhuman activitiesEcology Evolution Behavior and Systematics
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Can recreational scuba divers alter natural gross sedimentation rate? A case study from a Mediterranean deep cave

2010

Abstract Di Franco, A., Ferruzza, G., Baiata, P., Chemello, R., and Milazzo, M. 2010. Can recreational scuba divers alter natural gross sedimentation rate? A case study from a Mediterranean deep cave. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 67: 871–874. Submarine caves are environments with features distinguishing them from other littoral habitats but, despite their ecological importance, their response to anthropogenic disturbance has been seldom verified. One potential threat affecting natural communities within caves is represented by recreational scuba diving. Divers' disturbance within marine caves is mainly related to physical contacts and increased sediment resuspension potentially affecti…

Mediterranean climategeography.geographical_feature_categoryEcologyscuba divingAquatic ScienceSedimentationOceanographyNatural (archaeology)Scuba divingOceanographyGeographyresuspensionCavesedimentsubmarine cavessediment trapRecreationasymmetrical experimental designEcology Evolution Behavior and Systematics
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Developing a scuba trail vulnerability index (STVI): a case study from a Mediterranean MPA

2008

Scuba diving is now one of the major form of commercial use of marine protected areas (MPAs) around the world and the control of its potential impacts on the marine environment represents a fundamental key to manage this recreational activity in highly dived areas. A potential tool to tackle such issues has been thought to be the definition of a value of recreational carrying capacity of an area, but this approach has been rarely considered management-effective. Therefore, the first step for effectively managing scuba-diving should be ‘bottom-up’: characterizing the benthic communities potentially affected by diving and evaluating their vulnerability. Aim of this paper is to propose a tool …

Settore BIO/07 - EcologiaEcologyVulnerability indexbusiness.industryComputer scienceDivingEnvironmental resource managementMarine protected areaVulnerabilityVulnerabilityScuba divingIndexFuzzy logicSustainabilityMarine protected areaEnvironmental impact assessmentbusinessRecreationEcology Evolution Behavior and SystematicsEnvironmental qualityNature and Landscape Conservation
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Scuba diver behaviour and its effects on the biota of a Mediterranean marine protected area

2009

The effects of diving activity in different Mediterranean subtidal habitats are scarcely known. This study evaluates diver behaviour (for example time spent in each habitat), use (contacts made with the substrate) and immediate effects of diver contact on benthic species in a marine protected area (MPA) in Sicily. Over a two-year period, intentions of 105 divers were observed within seven subtidal habitats: algae on horizontal substrate, algae on vertical substrate, Posidonia oceanica, encrusted walls, caves, sand and pebbles. Divers selected a habitat in proportion to its availability along the scuba trail. On average, each diver made 2.52 contacts every seven minutes, and no differences w…

Settore BIO/07 - EcologiaAstroides calycularisfood.ingredientbiologyved/biologyEcologyHealth Toxicology and Mutagenesisved/biology.organism_classification_rank.speciesManagement Monitoring Policy and Lawbiology.organism_classificationPollutionScuba divingfoodBenthosHabitatEunicella singularisBenthic zonePosidonia oceanicahabitat selection impact marine protected area Mediterranean Sea scuba divingEnvironmental scienceMarine protected areaNature and Landscape ConservationWater Science and TechnologyEnvironmental Conservation
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