Citizen science as a tool for the environmental quality assessment of the Mediterranean coastal habitats

The growing need to assess the environmental status of the Mediterranean coastal marine habitats and the large availability of data collected by Reef Check Italia onlus (RCI) volunteers suggest the possibility to develop innovative and reliable indices that may support decision makers in applying conservation strategies. The aims of this study were to check the reliability of data collected by RCI volunteers, analyse the spatial and temporal distribution of RCI available data, resume the knowledge on the biology and ecology of the monitored species, and develop innovative indices to asses the ecological quality of Mediterranean subtidal rocky shores and coralligenous habitats. Subtidal rocky shores and coralligenous were chosen because these are the habitats more attractive for divers; therefore mlst data are referring to them, moreover subtidal rocky bottom are strongly affected by coastal urbanisation, land use, fishing and tourist activities, that increase pollution, turbidity and sedimentation. Non-indigenous species (NIS) have been recognized as a major threat to the integrity of Mediterranean native communities because of their proliferation, spread and impact on resident communities. Monitoring of NIS’ spreading dynamics at the basin spatial scale is difficult but urgent. According to a field test, the training provided by RCI appears adequate to obtain reliable data by volunteers. Based on data collected by RCI volunteers, three main categories of indices were developed: indices based on species diversity, indices on the occurrence non-indigenous species, and indices on species sensitive toward physical, chemical and biological disturbances. As case studies, indices were applied to stretches of coastline defined according to management criteria (province territories and marine protected areas). The assessments of ecological quality in the Tavolara Marine Protected Area using the species sensitivities index were consisten with those previously obtained with traditional methods.

The effect of temperature on pressure tolerance of the shallow-water shrimp Palaemon serratus

Tolerance to low temperature and high pressure may allow shallow-water species to extend bathymetric range in response to changing climate, but adaptation to contrasting shallow-water environments may affect tolerance to these factors. The brackish shallow-water shrimp Palaemon varians demonstrates remarkable tolerance to elevated hydrostatic pressure and low temperature, but inhabits a highly variable environment: environmental adaptation may therefore make P. varians tolerances unrepresentative of other shallow-water species. Critical thermal maximum (CTmax), critical hydrostatic pressure maximum (CPmax), and acute respiratory response to hydrostatic pressure were assessed in the shallow-water shrimp Palaemon serratus, which inhabits a more stable intertidal habitat. P. serratus’ CTmax was 22.3°C when acclimated at 10°C, and CPmax was 5.9, 10.1, and 14.1 MPa when acclimated at 5, 10, and 15°C respectively: these critical tolerances were consistently lower than P. varians. Respiratory responses to acute hyperbaric exposures similarly indicated lower tolerance to hydrostatic pressure in P. serratus than in P. varians. Contrasting tolerances likely reflect physiological adaptation to differing environments and reveal that the capacity for depth-range extension may vary among species from different habitats.