The degree of development and operability of the indicators for MSFD using Descriptor 1 (D1)Biological

Invasive aquatic plants can cause local losses of species diversity throughout the world and they can also contribute to water quality deterioration. Although widely studied elsewhere, little information exists about invasive aquatic plants and their impacts in China. This study summarizes the taxonomy, origin, vector of introduction, current distribution, and the ecological impacts of invasive aquatic plants in China. This study provides useful information for the management of freshwater habitats and suggests strategies for curtailing the increasing problem of invasive aquatic plants and their impacts. We integrated data based upon original research and a literature review to compile an inventory of invasive aquatic plants in China. In total, we found 152 invasive aquatic plant species belonging to 84 genera and 39 families, representing four major growth forms including emergent (57.24%), submerged (27.63%), rooted floating leaf (9.87%), and free floating (5.26%) categories of aquatic plants. The Poaceae (Gramineae) (23 species) was the most represented and species-rich family, followed by Alismataceae (14 species), Cyperaceae (13 species), Nymphaeaceae and Araceae (both with 10 species). The majority of the invasive aquatic plant species were introduced from South America, and there were also many from North America, Asia, Africa, and Oceania. Most of these species (96.05%) are obligate freshwater species, while a minority (3.95%) is limited to marine or intertidal habitats. The ornamental trade has been the most frequent historic pathway for the introduction of invasive aquatic plants.

The polychaeteGallardoneris ibericawas described in soft-bottom benthic habitats from the Atlantic Iberian Peninsula coasts in 2012. Since then, successive studies have found this species in Spain, Italy and Croatia. The present study is the first to reportG. ibericafor Greece and Cyprus (42 new records) confirming its wide geographic distribution on southern European coasts. Taxonomic accounts and ecological preferences based on a large survey and review of available literature are being presented. The species was frequently found in habitats characterized by infralittoral muddy sands with variable organic matter and ‘Moderate’ ecological quality status; nevertheless it was also recorded in coarser and finer sediments, circalittoral mixed sediments, phytal substrates and undisturbed sites. Its relative abundance per sample was always lower than 2%. A review of the available ecological and geographic data of the otherGallardonerisspecies and a worldwide taxonomic key toGallardonerisspecies are provided.

Reducing the carbon emissions from hotels on non-interconnected islands (NII) is essential in the context of a low carbon future for the Mediterranean region. Maritime tourism is the major source of income for Greece and many other countries in the region, as well as hot-temperate and tropical regions worldwide. Like many NIIs, Rhodes attracts a high influx of tourists every summer, doubling the island’s energy demand and, given the high proportion of fossil fuels in the Rhodian energy supply, increasing carbon emissions. Using the theoretical framework ‘FINE’, this paper presents the optimisation of a medium-sized hotel’s energy system with the aim of reducing both cost and carbon emissions. By introducing a Photovoltaic (PV) net metering system, it was found that the carbon emissions associated with an NII hotel’s energy system could be reduced by 31% at an optimised cost. It is suggested that large-scale deployment of PV or alternative renewable energy sources (RES) in NII hotels could significantly reduce carbon emissions associated with the accommodation sector in Greece and help mitigate climate change.

Substratum collected during diving surveys of sublittoral communities off the Greek island of Rhodes (Dodecanese, South-East Aegean) in late 2015 was incubated in the laboratory. Among the emerging macroalgal germlings, there was the second-ever record and isolate of the small benthic multicellular alga Schizocladia ischiensis of the poorly known monotypic Schizocladiophyceae, the sister group of the brown algae (Phaeophyceae). Its nuclear ribosomal small subunit, Rubisco spacer (rbcL, psaA, and psbC sequences (in total 5237 bp)) were similar to those of the only previous isolate of the species from Ischia, western Mediterranean. Our new strain formed branched upright thalli attached to the substratum by an amorphous substance secreted at the bottom of the basal cell. It is possible that S. ischiensis is a common member of the infralittoral and circalittoral communities in the Mediterranean and generally overlooked because of its minute size. Germling emergence appears to represent the method of choice to reveal benthic algae of this small size.

Gracilaria vermiculophylla, a red macroalga from the West Pacific, was discovered in western Germany (the Wadden Sea) in 2002 and has since also been observed in Sweden (from about 70 km south to about 80 km north of Göteborg), Denmark (Wadden Sea, Horsens Fjord, Limfjorden, Vejle Fjord, Holckenhavn Fjord, Øster Hurup Harbor) and eastern Germany (Kiel Bay). Today, less than 5 years following its first observation in the Wadden Sea the invader is common in many invaded regions, often being amongst the most abundant macroalgal species. G. vermiculophylla is successful in shallow protected soft-bottom estuaries and bays, typically in association with ubiquitous native invertebrates (lugworms, tube-building worms, mussels, cockles, snails). The invertebrates provide substratum for holdfast attachment and thalli incorporation, most likely increasing the stability of local G. vermiculophylla populations. We hypothesize that this substratum provision is highly important for its general invasion success. We also confirm that G. vermiculophylla can maintain growth at all salinities experienced along Danish coastlines (8.5-34 psu). In addition, laboratory experiments indicate that the ubiquitous grazer Littorina littorea has the potential to control G. vermiculophylla growth under specific environmental conditions, but also that L. littorea may facilitate small-scale dispersal within invaded locations, because grazing increases thalli fragmentation rates. Given its widespread distribution, rapid range expansion, and known ecological traits, G. vermiculophylla is clearly a permanent resident of northern European waters.