FIELD WORK

 

ISMAIL QEMALI VLORE UNIVERSITY (UV) MONITORED THE MPA AREA OF SAZAN KARABURUNI

AFRIMED staff from Ismail Qemali Vlore University (UV) monitored the MPA area of ​​Sazan Karaburuni. The purpose of the campaign was:

i) The fauna associated with the Cystoseira meadows.
ii) The collection of genetic samples and samples for the herbarium.
iii) The evaluation of the possible areas to be restored for next October.

 

  IDENTIFICATION OF DAMAGED ALGAL FOREST IN MEDITERRANEAN BASIN – (WP1) 

Habitat loss is one of the most pervasive threats to the diversity, structure and functioning of coastal ecosystems and the goods and services they provide. In the Mediterranean Sea, macroalgal forests, as Cystoseira meadows, represent one of the most valuable, but rapidly disappearing habitats. Furthermore, the geographical distribution and key drivers and abiotic variables that influence the distribution of Cystoseira species are still unknown. This knowledge is crucial to understand ecological and evolutionary processes, and in managing direct and indirect anthropogenic changes.
This is the main objective of the WP1, that identify, standardise and aggregate spatial data relating to the historical and current distribution and trajectories of change of macroalgal forests. This will result in a map, that can be used to identify degraded Cystoseira meadows in the Mediterranean Sea that are suitable for restoration.

We have selected some splendid photos of the WP1 field activities on the Mediterranean coast of Morocco, taken by the team of Universite Chouaib Doukkali and of the Italian coast (Portonovo area, central Adriatic Sea) conducted by the team of the Polytechnic University of Marche (Department of Life Sciences and of the Environment-Univpm).
Many extraordinary sites have been visited along the Mediterranean coast of Marocco (i.e. Cap de l’eau, Timerssad, Boujertil, Kariat Arekmane and other interesting sites), sometimes challenging to access but the effort was rewarded by beautiful surprises and exciting results on the distribution of Cystoseira species, their population status and potential sites for future restoration actions (WP1-3).

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  FIELD-BASED REFINEMENT AND RESTORATION IN MEDITERRANEAN BASIN – (WP3)

WP3 will focus on two main issues related to the restoration of macroalgal forests:

  • enhancement of transplantation methodology of Cystoseira habitat-forming species to areas in which the macroalgae is documented and the causes of their decrease are known;
  • limitation of herbivory, by mean of actions minimising the effects of grazers, to support the recovery of macroalgal beds

Whilst herbivory rates have been identified as a key determinant of their survival, our current knowledge comes from outside an applied restoration context and is limited to small spatial scales.

Furthermore, it is also unknown how these interactions change in different ecological contexts and how these affect the effectiveness of restoration measures.
By conducting pilot examples and joint actions across the Mediterranean Sea (Albania, Italy, Morocco, Tunisia), WP3 will investigate how restoration success varies across different environmental frameworks with the aim to identify general mechanisms that can be utilized in future policies.
WP3 field activities have started! 
We have selected some photos of the WP3 field activities on the restoration pilot actions on the Cystoseira meadow in Portonovo, one of the pilots’ site of the central Adriatic Sea, conducted by the Polytechnic University of Marche teams.