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Seagrass (Posidonia oceanica) monitoring in western Mediterranean: implications for management and conservation

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Abstract

The seagrass Posidonia oceanica is extensively monitored in Mediterranean coastal waters and is an ideal candidate for an eco-regional assessment of the coastal ecosystem. The aim of this study is to evaluate the potential of P. oceanica as eco-regional indicator for its assessment at the scale of Mediterranean basin. For this purpose, regional and national P. oceanica monitoring programmes are identified, and their data and metadata are collected and compared in terms of objectives, strategies, sampling designs and sampling methods. The analysis identifies a number of issues concerning data quality, reliability and comparability. In particular, the adoption of different sampling designs and methods may introduce relevant errors when comparing data. The results of this study stress the necessity of carefully planning monitoring programmes. Moreover, it highlights that the adoption of a number of common tools would facilitate all Mediterranean monitoring activities and allows an optimisation of management efforts at an eco-regional scale.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Inland and Marine Waters Department, APAT, Agency for Environmental Protection and TS, via Brancati 48, 00144, Rome, Italy

    Cecilia Lopez y Royo & Gianna Casazza

  2. Faculty of Sciences, University of Corsica, EqEL, 20250, Corte, France

    Cecilia Lopez y Royo & Gérard Pergent

  3. Regional Activity Centre for Specially Protected Areas, United Nations Environmental Programme, Tunis, Tunisia

    Christine Pergent-Martini

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  1. Cecilia Lopez y Royo
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  2. Gérard Pergent
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  3. Christine Pergent-Martini
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  4. Gianna Casazza
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Correspondence to Cecilia Lopez y Royo.

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Lopez y Royo, C., Pergent, G., Pergent-Martini, C. et al. Seagrass (Posidonia oceanica) monitoring in western Mediterranean: implications for management and conservation. Environ Monit Assess 171, 365–380 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-009-1284-z

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