WP3 Field work activities

Sessile invertebrate’s transplantation: ABBaCo and MERCES project

In the framework of a collaboration between ABBACO and MERCES project, a plan of benthic sessile invertebrate’s transplantation (i.e. sponges and scleractinians; fig. 1) has been carried out by UNIVPM and the Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn (SZN) in the Bagnoli area (Bay of Pozzuoli, Tyrrhenian Sea). Its main aim was to remove these organisms (with a particular focus on the colonial scleractinian Cladocora caespitosa, included in the Annex II of the SPA/BIO Protocol), from the central and southern docks, which will be dismantled, and to transplant them on the natural rocky bottoms of the neighboring Nisida Island (fig. 2). 

Figure 1. Above: colonies of the colonial scleractinian Cladocora caespitosa. Below: specimens of the sponge Sarcotragus sp.

 

Figure 2. Aerial view of the Bagnoli area (Tyrrhenian Sea), with marked the collection and transplant sites.

 

The activities have begun in May 2018 and to date 50 colonies of C. caespitosaand 10 specimens of Sarcotragussp. have been transplanted (fig. 3). A periodic monitoring of the health status of the organisms is still ongoing, but after 9 months from the first transplant almost all of them are in healthy conditions, suggesting the feasibility of this techniques for a possible restoration plan after the recovery of the area (fig. 4). 

 

 

Figure 3. On the left: the removal of the organisms from the docks. On the right: the transplant on the natural substrate, with the use of an epoxy putty. 

 

Figure 4. On the left: three colonies of C. caespitosa just transplanted. On the right: the same colonies after 9 months. 


WP3 Training session

WP3 training session (Barcelona-L‘Estartit-Blanes Spain, 2-5 May 2017). A great event in which WP3 partners shared and displayed the restoration protocols in the field and in the lab. This training was very successful and allowed to set up more consistent methodologies among partners for restoration activities

 

  

 

 


Restoration of coralligenous ecosystems (Italian NW coast) - UNIVPM and GAIA

Gallinara Island and Portofino Promontory, on the Italian NW coast, are two of the sites selected for the restoration of coralligenous habitats. This will be done both in shallow (30 m of depth) and mesophotic (70 m of depth) conditions. Before proceeding, a general characterization of the seafloor has been performed in both areas. To optimize research efforts currently running in the frame of another EU project (Green Bubbles RISE www.greenbubbles.eu), UNIVPM and GAIA team used the data collected by an innovative underwater photogrammetric approach, developed by UBICA srl, a SME partner in the Green Bubbles project, with the support of UNIVPM.

Preparation of gorgonian transplants at Gallinara Island


Restoration actions for mesophotic Cystoseira forests (Northwestern Mediterranean Sea) - UB

One of the main MERCES project’s goal involve the design of restoration tools for mesophotic habitat-forming species. These include Mediterranean mesophotic habitats dominated by Cystoseira zosteroides. During last summer, UB team tested different restoration techniques in the Medes Islands Marine Protectes Area. Different techniques were selected to test the restoration effectiveness, and also to minimize the impact on the scarce well-preserved populations of C. zosteroides

Picture of a recruitment plate, with the different substrates to test, inside a C. zosteroides population (a), detail of the recruits thriving on two different substrates (b)

 

Restoration of coralligenous ecosystems (Italian NW coast) - UNIVPM and GAIA

Gallinara Island and Portofino Promontory, on the Italian NW coast, are two of the sites selected for the restoration of coralligenous habitats. This will be done both in shallow (30 m of depth) and mesophotic (70 m of depth) conditions. Before proceeding, a general characterization of the seafloor has been performed in both areas. To optimize research efforts currently running in the frame of another EU project (Green Bubbles RISE www.greenbubbles.eu), UNIVPM and GAIA team used the data collected by an innovative underwater photogrammetric approach, developed by UBICA srl, a SME partner in the Green Bubbles project, with the support of UNIVPM.

Preparation of gorgonian transplants at Gallinara Island


Restoration actions for mesophotic Cystoseira forests (Northwestern Mediterranean Sea) - UB

One of the main MERCES project’s goal involve the design of restoration tools for mesophotic habitat-forming species. These include Mediterranean mesophotic habitats dominated by Cystoseira zosteroides. During last summer, UB team tested different restoration techniques in the Medes Islands Marine Protectes Area. Different techniques were selected to test the restoration effectiveness, and also to minimize the impact on the scarce well-preserved populations of C. zosteroides

Picture of a recruitment plate, with the different substrates to test, inside a C. zosteroides population (a), detail of the recruits thriving on two different substrates (b)


Marine Reserve in Porto Cesareo: drilling and caging to have Cystoseira back - CoNISMa and UniSalento