First baseline assessment of seafloor litter on Italian coralligenous assemblages (Mediterranean Sea) in accordance with the European Marine Strategy Framework Directive

A monitoring programme for coralligenous assemblages was carried out in Italy for implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD), aiming to characterise the coralligenous' environmental status and litter distribution. A standardised monitoring protocol, based on ROV-imaging, has been applied; this paper analyses the data obtained during the first MSFD cycle (2015-2019). Ninety-five areas were monitored at depths ranging between 14 and 199 m in the three subregions bordering Italy. Overall, 4316 macrolitter items were recorded. The median litter density was 2 items 100 m^-2 (range: 0-120 items 100 m^-2), but significant subregional differences emerged in litter quantities and composition. Fishery-related litter (mainly lines and ropes) was the most common type (86 %), affecting vulnerable coralligenous reefs. A first baseline is proposed for assessing achievement toward Good Environmental Status and evaluation of the efficacy of the Italian MSFD measures aiming to eliminate the negative effects of marine litter on vulnerable reefs.

Distribution of seafloor litter and its interaction with benthic organisms in deep waters of the Ligurian Sea (Northwestern Mediterranean)

The Mediterranean Sea is one of the most polluted marine basins and currently serves as a hotspot for marine litter. The seafloor represents the ultimate sink for most litter worldwide. Nevertheless, the knowledge about litter distribution and its interactions with benthic organisms in deep water is poorly understood. In 2018, we investigated spatial patterns of macro- and micro-litter distribution, and their effects on benthic communities in the Ligurian Sea. An oceanographic survey was carried out with a remotely operated vehicle and a multibeam echosounder on seven seamounts and canyons, at depths ranging from 350 to 2200 m. High litter accumulations were discovered at the mouth of the Monaco canyon, where estimated densities of up to 3.8 × 10⁴ items km^-2 were found at 2200 m depth. The highest abundance of urban litter items was found on the soft substrate, at the bottom of the deeper parts of the submarine canyons, which seem to act as conduits carrying litter from the shelf towards deeper areas. In contrast, fishing-related items were most abundant in the upper layer of the seamounts (300-600 m depths). Furthermore, more than 10% of the observed deep gorgonian colonies were entangled by lost longlines, indicating the detrimental effects of this fishing gear on benthic habitats. The discovery of new litter hotspots and the evaluation of how deep-sea species interact with litter contribute to increasing the knowledge about litter distribution and its effects on the deep ecosystem of the Mediterranean basin. All the observations recorded in this study showed substantial and irreversible changes in the deep and remote areas of marine environments, and these changes were found to be caused by humans. Our findings further stress the need for urgent and specific measures for the management of deep-sea pollution and the reduction of litter inputs in the environment.

Combined effects of human pressures on Europe's marine ecosystems

Marine ecosystems are under high demand for human use, giving concerns about how pressures from human activities may affect their structure, function, and status. In Europe, recent developments in mapping of marine habitats and human activities now enable a coherent spatial evaluation of potential combined effects of human activities. Results indicate that combined effects from multiple human pressures are spread to 96% of the European marine area, and more specifically that combined effects from physical disturbance are spread to 86% of the coastal area and 46% of the shelf area. We compare our approach with corresponding assessments at other spatial scales and validate our results with European-scale status assessments for coastal waters. Uncertainties and development points are identified. Still, the results suggest that Europe's seas are widely disturbed, indicating potential discrepancy between ambitions for Blue Growth and the objective of achieving good environmental status within the Marine Strategy Framework Directive.

A review of the classification systems for marine benthic habitats and the new updated Barcelona Convention classification for the Mediterranean

The Mediterranean Sea supports high levels of biodiversity and complexity but is facing increasing human pressures, so that strategies to protect and recover its ecosystems must be a priority in environmental policies. Benthic cartography represents the first step of marine spatial planning for the proper management and protection of our sea. Univocal habitat classification systems are thus needed to map, monitor, and inventory marine habitats, and to guarantee common and shared frames for a harmonized interpretation of the Mediterranean habitat types. In this paper we reviewed the existing classification systems of marine benthic habitats, to discuss the process of revision and updating of one of the first system developed under the Barcelona Convention (BC) in 1998 and adopted by all the Mediterranean countries. The BC classification was revised including the new habitats discovered in the last 30 years, and consistently with the criteria used to revise the EUropean Nature Information System (EUNIS), which is a comprehensive pan-European system for habitat identification. The updated BC classification is hierarchical with 5 levels, which allows representing the most suitable habitat level with respect to the restitution scale of the map. Each habitat is univocally identified by an alpha-numeric code, name and general description following the bionomic approach traditionally adopted in the Mediterranean benthic cartography since the late nineteen century. The new BC classification lists 128 main habitats up to the level 4, which may also contain sub-habitats at the level 5, i.e. associations and facies, totalising 394 habitat types (54% of new habitats with respect to the first BC classification). The updated BC classification system has been used for the selection of reference marine habitats that support two fundamental processes of environmental management: i) identification of Specially Marine Protected Areas according to the SPA/BD Protocol of Barcelona Convention; ii) selection of habitats to be monitored, as requested by the Integrated Monitoring and Assessment Programme and the European Directives (e.g., Water Framework and Marine Strategy). The new list of reference habitats, selected because of their high ecological and conservation value, contains 267 habitats, corresponding to 68% of the total habitats listed in the updated BC classification.

Marine litter from fishery activities in the Western Mediterranean sea: The impact of entanglement on marine animal forests

The anthropogenic marine debris, especially abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded Fishing Gear (ALDFG), represents a rising concern, because of its potential harmful impact on the marine animal forests. We carried out 13 km of video recordings, by means of a remotely operated vehicle, from 10 to 210 m depth, in an anthropised area of the Tyrrhenian Sea (Mediterranean Sea). This site, for its high ecological importance and biodiversity value, has been identified for the establishment of a new marine protected area (MPA). The aim of this paper was to assess marine litter abundance and its effects on the benthic fauna. The debris density, in the study area, ranged from 0.24 to 8.01 items/100 m², with an average of 3.49 (±0.59) items/100 m². The derelict fishing gear, mainly fishing lines, were the main source of marine debris, contributing 77.9% to the overall litter. The impacts of debris on the benthic fauna were frequently recorded, with 28.5% of the litter entangling corals and impacting habitats of conservation concern. These impacts were exclusively caused by the derelict fishing gear (91.2% by longlines), and the highest percentage (49.1%) of ALDFG causing impacts was observed from 41 to 80 m depth, in the coralligenous biocenosis. The results of the present study will help the fulfilment of "harm" monitoring, as recommended by the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) and the UN Environment/MAP Regional Plan on the marine litter management in the Mediterranean Sea. Regarding the actions to reduce the derelict fishing gear, preventive measures are usually preferred instead of the extensive removals based on cost-effectiveness and sustainability. The establishment of a new MPA in the area could be a good solution to reduce ALDFG, resulting in the improvement of the ecological status of this coastal area.

Visualizing allometry: Geometric morphometrics in the study of shape changes in the early stages of the two-banded sea bream, Diplodus vulgaris (Perciformes, Sparidae)

The sea bream, Diplodus vulgaris, is a marine teleost widely distributed in the Mediterranean and eastern Atlantic coastal waters. The larvae colonize shallow waters along rocky shores where, after a short period spent in the water column, they settle. Such habitat transition is characterized by important shape changes, mostly related to their swimming capacity and feeding behavior. In this study, geometric morphometrics has been used to characterize shape changes during early juvenile life. All specimens were collected in a single locality in the Gulf of Tigullio (Ligurian Sea), and data relative to their position in the water column and to the habitat selected were recorded. A total of 14 landmarks were collected on 82 specimens (range of standard length 11.2-82.8 mm). Landmark configurations were superimposed, and residuals were modeled with the thin-plate spline interpolating function: shape changes were visualized as splines. Growth trajectories were computed using relative warp analysis. Shape changes in the observed size range concern an overall broadening along the dorsoventral axis, a displacement of the mouth position, and a negative allometry of the head region. The growth trajectory resembles a theoretical saturating growth curve: shape change is fast for small sizes and slows down at standard lengths of approximately 28 mm, where an increase in size is not accompanied by a change in shape. This size value corresponds roughly to the size at which the settlement and the successive phase of dispersion of D. vulgaris have been observed in the area of study. This approach provides quantitative descriptors of shape changes and allows for the visualization of allometry. This method implies the definition of a new space for biological shapes in which shape trends and clusters can also be identified in relation to nonmorphological variables. As such it might contribute to the definition of the morphospace in the context of ecomorphology. J. Morphol. 237:137-146, 1998. © 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc.