Coralligenous reefs are the main biogenic construction of the Mediterranean Sea and one of the most sensitive habitats for which European legislation requires monitoring and quality assessment plans. The heterogeneity of reefs however requires the use of standardized habitat-specific methods allowing comparability of data over wide scale. Coralligenous cliffs are the reef type most widespread in shallow waters and are monitored by several ecological indices based on different approaches. This contribution summarizes the results of multi-year studies carried out on wide spatial scale with the aim of comparing and integrating the different methods into a single standardized sampling and data collection protocol. Downstream of a literature review, the STAndaRdized coralligenous evaluation procedure (STAR) was proposed and tested on subregion scale under different human pressures. Results confirmed the validity of descriptors chosen and the effectiveness of the protocol in assessing the ecological quality of coralligenous cliffs. STAR represents the first methodological guidelines proposed for the evaluation of the ecological quality of coralligenous cliffs in the Mediterranean Sea
ISPRA - Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research, Italy - ORCID: 0000-0002-4569-8209
University of Sassari, Italy - ORCID: 0000-0003-3061-0187
ARPAT, Italy - ORCID: 0000-0002-8910-891X
Institute of Marine Biology, Italy - ORCID: 0000-0003-4520-2741
Institute of Marine Biology, Italy - ORCID: 0000-0003-1071-3285
University of Genoa, Italy - ORCID: 0000-0002-3851-1880
Chapter Title
Monitoring and assessment of the ecological status of coralligenous cliffs by a standardized protocol
Authors
Paola Gennaro, Luigi Piazzi, Enrico Cecchi, Carla Morri, Carlo Nike Bianchi, Monica Montefalcone
Language
Italian
DOI
10.36253/979-12-215-0556-6.20
Peer Reviewed
Publication Year
2024
Copyright Information
© 2024 Author(s)
Content License
Metadata License
Book Title
Tenth International Symposium Monitoring of Mediterranean Coastal Areas: Problems and Measurement Techniques
Book Subtitle
Livorno (Italy) 11th-13th June 2024
Editors
Laura Bonora, Marcantonio Catelani, Matteo De Vincenzi, Giorgio Matteucci
Peer Reviewed
Publication Year
2024
Copyright Information
© 2024 Author(s)
Content License
Metadata License
Publisher Name
Firenze University Press
DOI
10.36253/979-12-215-0556-6
eISBN (pdf)
979-12-215-0556-6
eISBN (xml)
979-12-215-0557-3
Series Title
Monitoring of Mediterranean Coastal Areas: Problems and Measurement Techniques
Series E-ISSN
2975-0288