Ecological status improvement over a decade along the Ligurian coast according to a macroalgae based index (CARLIT)

Abstract

According to the Water Framework Directive, within 2015 European Union countries must reach and maintain the “good” Ecological Status (ES), quantified through indices based on key biological elements as indicators. Along the Ligurian shallow rocky coasts (NW Italy), a macroalgae based index (CARtography of LITtoral and upper-sublittoral benthic communities, CARLIT), calibrated according to national characteristics and management needs, has been applied by the Regional Environmental Agency over the last ten years. In 2015, at least a “good” ES was achieved in all Ligurian water bodies except one, located in the Eastern Ligurian coastline, characterized by the lack of the most sensitive species, Cystoseira amentacea var. stricta. A general ES improvement has been observed along the Ligurian coastline, also in comparison with other quality indices (macroinvertebrates and fecal bacteria), and in particular in the Genoa water body, as proved by a relevant increase of C. amentacea abundance, probably as a consequence of enhancement in wastewater treatments. In the present study, the reliability of the observed improvement of the ES over a decade has been assessed, teasing apart intra-seasonal and operator-related variability. These results support the reliability of monitoring procedures carried out though the CARLIT Index and highlight the need and the effectiveness of reduction measures for anthropogenic impacts in order to achieve the ES required by European directives.

Assessment of the ecological status of Sicilian coastal waters according to a macroalgae based index (CARLIT)

“…All the 24 Sicilian water bodies considered in the present study (with only two exceptions) reached the "good" ES that represents the WFD's goal by 2021 in the second management cycle. Such a result is in agreement with a general improvement of the ecological quality, based on CARLIT index, observed recently at a larger scale in the North-Western Mediterranean basin [10,14]. Moreover, this study highlights a remarkable positive trend that has always been maintained for over a decade since a first ecological quality assessment of the intertidal macroalgal assemblages has been carried out along the Sicilian coastline [1].…”

Balance between the Reliability of Classification and Sampling Effort: A Multi-Approach for the Water Framework Directive (WFD) Ecological Status Applied to the Venice Lagoon (Italy)

“…Previous theoretical studies proposed mixed models to estimate uncertainties in monitoring data, considering numerous different sources of variation that could affect an indicator, from the uncertainty related to sampling and analysis, to spatial and temporal variations and their interactions. However, when real data were considered, if some sources of uncertainty were small, they were disregarded by analysis [20][21][22][23][24][25][26]. In the current study, temporal variations were not considered, as the application of the MaQI index foresees to merge both spring and autumnal data collected in the year of monitoring, avoiding contribution from intra-annual variations to uncertainty [9].…”

“…However, when uncertainty is estimated from a larger dataset, pooling observations from multiple ecosystems with similar characteristics, with several spatial, temporal, and analytical method variations, it might be desirable to quantify every component at different scales [3,22]. In addition, as soon as data from subsequent monitoring cycles are available, inter-annual variability may also be assessed [7,[24][25][26].…”

Consequences of the marine climate and ecosystem shift of the 1980-90s on the Ligurian Sea biodiversity (NW Mediterranean)

“…Once considered rare (Boero 1984), P. huvei has recently increased its abundance and habitat occupancy. This stenothermal species possibly took advantage of the present phase of reduced winter cooling; the recent slow but progressive improvement of water quality (Asnaghi et al 2009;De La Fuente et al 2018) might also have played a role.…”