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Boscolo Brusà R, Feola A, Cacciatore F, Ponis E, Sfriso A, Franzoi P, Lizier M, Peretti P, Matticchio B, Baccetti N, Volpe V, Maniero L, Bonometto A. Conservation actions for restoring the coastal lagoon habitats: Strategy and multidisciplinary approach of LIFE Lagoon Refresh. Front Ecol Evol 2022. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2022.979415] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The Habitat Directive of European Union lists Costal Lagoons (habitat code 1150*) among priority habitats because they are in danger of disappearance. Natural ecosystems may recover from anthropogenic perturbations; however, the recovery can follow natural restoration or it can be redirected through ecological restoration by anthropogenic intervention. Accordingly, by collecting the available theoretical indications for restoration of estuarine and coastal areas, a methodological approach was detailed andit can be summarised into five issues: (i) Environmental context from which it began; (ii) Desired state to be achieved; (iii) Policies and socio-economic context; (iv) Typology of recovery and/or improvement of habitats and ecosystems; and (v) Methods for monitoring the impact of the project. The project strategy, management and measures of LIFE Lagoon Refresh were also presented and discussed, as a case study for the implementation of the multidisciplinary approach for restoration ecology in transitional waters. The project takes place in the northern Venice Lagoon (Italy), started in 2017 and it lasts 5 years. In the Venice Lagoon, since the 20th century, strong reductions of the typical salinity gradient of buffer areas between lagoon and mainland, and of reedbed extensions have occurred due to historic human interventions, with negative consequences on coastal lagoon habitats. To improve the conservation status of habitats and biodiversity of the area, the LIFE Lagoon Refresh project included several conservative actions, which are (i) the diversion of a freshwater flow from the Sile River into the lagoon; (ii) the restoration of intertidal morphology, through biodegradable structures; (iii) the reed and aquatic angiosperm transplantations with the involvement of local fishermen and hunters, and (iv) the reduction of hunting and fishing pressures in the intervention area. To achieve the restoration of the lagoon environment, the strategy of the project covered a combination of different aspects and tools, such as planning activities, through the involvement of local Institutions and communities; stakeholder’s involvement to increase awareness of environment conservation and socioeconomic value improvement; an ecological engineering approach; numerical models as supporting tool for planning and managing of conservation actions; environmental monitoring performed before and after the conservation actions.
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Picciulin M, Zucchetta M, Facca C, Malavasi S. Boat-induced pressure does not influence breeding site selection of a vulnerable fish species in a highly anthropized coastal area. MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN 2022; 180:113750. [PMID: 35597000 DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2022.113750] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2022] [Revised: 05/09/2022] [Accepted: 05/10/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
The brown meagre (Sciaena umbra) is a vulnerable vocal fish species that may be affected by boat noise. The breeding site distribution along the anthropized Venice sea inlets was investigated, by using the species' chorusing activity as a proxy of spawning. Passive acoustic campaigns were repeated at 40 listening points distributed within the three inlets during three-time windows in both summer 2019 and 2020. The role of temporal, morphological, and hydrodynamic variables explaining the observed distribution patterns was evaluated using a GLM approach, considering also human-induced pressures among the candidate predictors. The GLM analysis indicates a higher probability of recording S. umbra chorus after sunset in deeper areas of the inlets, characterized by low water current, while the underwater noise overlapping the species' hearing range and boat abundance did not play any role. This suggests that the species' breeding site choice in the inlets was not influences by boat-induced pressure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marta Picciulin
- Department of Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics, Ca' Foscari, University of Venice, via Torino 155, Mestre, 30172 Venice, Italy.
| | - Matteo Zucchetta
- Institute of Polar Sciences, ISP-CNR, via Torino 155, Mestre, 30172 Venice, Italy.
| | - Chiara Facca
- Department of Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics, Ca' Foscari, University of Venice, via Torino 155, Mestre, 30172 Venice, Italy.
| | - Stefano Malavasi
- Department of Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics, Ca' Foscari, University of Venice, via Torino 155, Mestre, 30172 Venice, Italy.
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An Integrated Approach for Evaluating the Restoration of the Salinity Gradient in Transitional Waters: Monitoring and Numerical Modeling in the Life Lagoon Refresh Case Study. ENVIRONMENTS 2022. [DOI: 10.3390/environments9030031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/10/2022]
Abstract
Large lagoons usually show a salinity gradient due to fresh water tributaries with inner areas characterized by lower mean values and higher fluctuation of salinity than seawater-dominated areas. In the Venice Lagoon, this ecotonal environment, characterized in the past by oligo-mesohaline waters and large intertidal areas vegetated by reedbeds, was greatly reduced by historical human environmental modifications, including the diversion of main rivers outside the Venice Lagoon. The reduction of the fresh water inputs caused a marinization of the lagoon, with an increase in salinity and the loss of the related habitats, biodiversity, and ecosystem services. To counteract this issue, conservation actions, such as the construction of hydraulic infrastructures for the introduction and the regulation of a fresh water flow, can be implemented. The effectiveness of these actions can be preliminarily investigated and then verified through the combined implementation of environmental monitoring and numerical modeling. Through the results of the monitoring activity carried out in Venice Lagoon in the framework of the Life Lagoon Refresh (LIFE16NAT/IT/000663) project, the study of salinity is shown to be a successful and robust combination of different types of monitoring techniques. In particular, the characterization of salinity is obtained by the acquisition of continuous data, field campaigns, and numerical modeling.
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Sfriso A, Buosi A, Facca C, Sfriso AA, Tomio Y, Juhmani AS, Wolf MA, Franzoi P, Scapin L, Ponis E, Cornello M, Rampazzo F, Berto D, Gion C, Oselladore F, Boscolo Brusà R, Bonometto A. Environmental restoration by aquatic angiosperm transplants in transitional water systems: The Venice Lagoon as a case study. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2021; 795:148859. [PMID: 34328918 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.148859] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2021] [Revised: 06/30/2021] [Accepted: 07/01/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
The paper reports the results obtained after 4 years of aquatic angiosperm transplants in areas of the Venice Lagoon (North Adriatic Sea, Mediterranean) where meadows almost disappeared due to eutrophication, pollution and overexploitation of clam resources. The project LIFE12 NAT/IT/000331-SeResto, funded by the European Union, allowed to recolonize the Habitat 1150* (coastal lagoons) in the northernmost part of the lagoon, by extensive manual transplants of small sods or single rhizomes of Zostera marina, Zostera noltei, Ruppia cirrhosa and, in some stations also of Cymodocea nodosa. Over the 4 years of the project more than 75,000 rhizomes were transplanted in 35 stations with the support of local stakeholders (fishermen, hunters and sport clubs). Plants took root in 32 stations forming extensive meadows on a surface of approx. 10 km2 even if some failures were recorded in areas affected by outflows of freshwater rich in nutrients and suspended particulate matter. The rapid recovery of the ecological status of the involved areas was the result of this meadow restoration, which was in compliance with Water Framework Directive (WFD 2000/60/EC) objectives. Moreover, the monitoring of environmental parameters in the water column and in surface sediments allowed to identify the best conditions for successful transplants. Small, widespread interventions and the participation of local stakeholders in the environmental recovery, make this action economically cheap and easily transposable in other similar environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adriano Sfriso
- Dipartimento di Scienze Ambientali, Informatica e Statistica (DAIS), Università Ca' Foscari Venezia, Via Torino 155, 30170 Mestre, Ve, Italy.
| | - Alessandro Buosi
- Dipartimento di Scienze Ambientali, Informatica e Statistica (DAIS), Università Ca' Foscari Venezia, Via Torino 155, 30170 Mestre, Ve, Italy.
| | - Chiara Facca
- Dipartimento di Scienze Ambientali, Informatica e Statistica (DAIS), Università Ca' Foscari Venezia, Via Torino 155, 30170 Mestre, Ve, Italy.
| | - Andrea Augusto Sfriso
- Dipartimento di Scienze Ambientali, Informatica e Statistica (DAIS), Università Ca' Foscari Venezia, Via Torino 155, 30170 Mestre, Ve, Italy.
| | - Yari Tomio
- Dipartimento di Scienze Ambientali, Informatica e Statistica (DAIS), Università Ca' Foscari Venezia, Via Torino 155, 30170 Mestre, Ve, Italy.
| | - Abdul-Salam Juhmani
- Dipartimento di Scienze Ambientali, Informatica e Statistica (DAIS), Università Ca' Foscari Venezia, Via Torino 155, 30170 Mestre, Ve, Italy.
| | - Marion Adelheid Wolf
- Dipartimento di Scienze Ambientali, Informatica e Statistica (DAIS), Università Ca' Foscari Venezia, Via Torino 155, 30170 Mestre, Ve, Italy.
| | - Piero Franzoi
- Dipartimento di Scienze Ambientali, Informatica e Statistica (DAIS), Università Ca' Foscari Venezia, Via Torino 155, 30170 Mestre, Ve, Italy.
| | - Luca Scapin
- Dipartimento di Scienze Ambientali, Informatica e Statistica (DAIS), Università Ca' Foscari Venezia, Via Torino 155, 30170 Mestre, Ve, Italy.
| | - Emanuele Ponis
- Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale (ISPRA), Loc. Brondolo, 30015 Chioggia, Ve, Italy.
| | - Michele Cornello
- Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale (ISPRA), Loc. Brondolo, 30015 Chioggia, Ve, Italy.
| | - Federico Rampazzo
- Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale (ISPRA), Loc. Brondolo, 30015 Chioggia, Ve, Italy.
| | - Daniela Berto
- Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale (ISPRA), Loc. Brondolo, 30015 Chioggia, Ve, Italy.
| | - Claudia Gion
- Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale (ISPRA), Loc. Brondolo, 30015 Chioggia, Ve, Italy.
| | - Federica Oselladore
- Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale (ISPRA), Loc. Brondolo, 30015 Chioggia, Ve, Italy.
| | - Rossella Boscolo Brusà
- Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale (ISPRA), Loc. Brondolo, 30015 Chioggia, Ve, Italy.
| | - Andrea Bonometto
- Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale (ISPRA), Loc. Brondolo, 30015 Chioggia, Ve, Italy.
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Lagoon Resident Fish Species of Conservation Interest According to the Habitat Directive (92/43/CEE): A Review on Their Potential Use as Ecological Indicator Species. WATER 2020. [DOI: 10.3390/w12072059] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Transitional waters are fragile ecosystems with high ecological, social and economic values, that undergo numerous threats. According to the information provided by European Member States in the framework of the European Directive 92/43/EEC (Habitat Directive), the main threat to these ecosystems is represented by morphological and hydrological changes. The present work focuses on six lagoon fish species included in the Habitat Directive annex II (species requiring conservation measures: Aphanius fasciatus, A. iberus, Knipowitschia panizzae, Ninnigobius canestrinii, Valencia hispanica and V. letourneuxi) that spend their entire life cycle in the Mediterranean priority habitat 1150* “Coastal lagoons”. The overview of the current scientific literature allowed us to highlight how the presence and abundance of these species may provide important indications on the conservation status of coastal lagoon habitats. In fact, their occurrence, distribution and biology depend on the presence of peculiar structures, such as salt marshes, small channels, isolated pools and oligohaline areas. Coastal lagoon fragmentation and habitat loss have led to a significant reduction in genetic diversity or local population extinction. Although Aphanius and gobies have been shown to survive in eutrophic environments, it is clear that they cannot complete their life cycle without salt marshes (mainly Aphanius) and wetland areas (mainly gobies).
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