1. Performance Assessment of Posidonia oceanica (L.) Delile Restoration Experiment on Dead matte Twelve Years after Planting—Structural and Functional Meadow Features
- Author
-
Filippo Luzzu, Agostino Tomasello, Mauro Assenzo, Vincenzo Raimondi, Sebastiano Calvo, Federica Paola Cassetti, Roberta Calvo, Calvo S., Calvo R., Luzzu F., Raimondi V., Assenzo M., Cassetti F.P., and Tomasello A.
- Subjects
Settore BIO/07 - Ecologia ,0106 biological sciences ,lcsh:Hydraulic engineering ,010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences ,Geography, Planning and Development ,Irregular shape ,Posidonia oceanica ,Aquatic Science ,habitat recovery ,Carbon stock, Dead matte, Habitat recovery, Long-term monitoring, Seabed mapping, Seagrass transplantation, Posidonia oceanica ,010603 evolutionary biology ,01 natural sciences ,Biochemistry ,seabed mapping ,lcsh:Water supply for domestic and industrial purposes ,lcsh:TC1-978 ,seagrass transplantation ,0105 earth and related environmental sciences ,Water Science and Technology ,lcsh:TD201-500 ,biology ,carbon stock ,long-term monitoring ,dead matte ,Reforestation ,Sowing ,biology.organism_classification ,Transplantation ,Seagrass ,Habitat ,Agronomy ,Settore BIO/03 - Botanica Ambientale E Applicata ,Shoot ,Environmental science - Abstract
Following the restoration of natural conditions by reducing human pressures, reforestation is currently considered a possible option to accelerate the recovery of seagrass habitats. Long-term monitoring programs theoretically represent an ideal solution to assess whether a reforestation plan has produced the desired results. Here, we report on the performance of a 20 m2 patch of Posidonia oceanica transplanted on dead matte twelve years after transplantation in the Gulf of Palermo, northwestern Sicily. Photo mosaic performed in the area allowed us to detect 23 transplanted patches of both regular and irregular shape, ranging from 0.1 to 2.7 m2 and an overall surface close to 19 m2. Meadow density was 331.6 ± 17.7 shoot m−2 (currently five times higher than the initial value of 66 shoots m−2), and it did not show statistical differences from a close by natural meadow (331.2 ± 14.9). Total primary production, estimated by lepidochronology, varied from 333.0 to 332.7 g dw m2/year, at the transplanted and natural stand, respectively. These results suggest that complete restoration of P. oceanica on dead matte is possible in a relatively short time (a decade), thus representing a good starting point for upscaling the recovery of the degraded meadows in the area.
- Published
- 2021
- Full Text
- View/download PDF