Quantificazione degli effetti della protezione sul benthos di substrato duro: risultati di un esperimento condotto in 15 aree marine protette (AMP) Italiane.

PROSPETTIVE E CRITICITÀ SUL RUOLO DEL BENTHOS MEDITERRANEO NELLA DIRETTIVA SULLA MARINE STRATEGY

In Europe, the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) and the Water Framework Directive (WFD) are the main regulations for the protection of water bodies. The translation of their principles into valid and practical approaches is the main challenge for the scientific community. An additional and even more severe problem is related to the MSFD application in the Mediterranean area. The aim of the present contribution is to picture the present situation in Italy, as far as the benthic communities in the MSFD are concerned, pinpoint some conceptual and practical critical points, and possibly suggest some new tools useful for the definition of Good Ecological Status (GES).

Mediterranean rocky reefs in the Anthropocene: Present status and future concerns

Global change is striking harder and faster in the Mediterranean Sea than elsewhere, where high levels of human pressure and proneness to climate change interact in modifying the structure and disrupting regulative mechanisms of marine ecosystems. Rocky reefs are particularly exposed to such environmental changes with ongoing trends of degradation being impressive. Due to the variety of habitat types and associated marine biodiversity, rocky reefs are critical for the functioning of marine ecosystems, and their decline could profoundly affect the provision of essential goods and services which human populations in coastal areas rely upon. Here, we provide an up-to-date overview of the statu…