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LifeWatch ERIC, the e-Science European infrastructure for biodiversity and ecosystem research, launched an Internal Joint Initiative on Non-indigenous Species and Invasive Alien Species (NIS-IAS) as they are considered one of the major drivers of biodiversity and ecosystem change. Here, the case study focused on the trophic biogeography of invasive crustaceans is presented, describing the procedures, resources, and analytical web services implemented to investigate the trophic habits of these taxa by using carbon and nitrogen stable isotope data. The case study offers a number of analytical tools to determine the variability of the trophic position of invasive crustaceans in a spatially-explicit context and to model it as a function of relevant environmental predictors. Literature-based stable isotope data of the Atlantic blue crab Callinectes sapidus and of the Louisiana crayfish Procambarus clarkii have been used to evaluate the functionalities and outcomes of the workflow. The Tesseract Virtual Research Environment integrates all the analytical services offered by LifeWatch ERIC, including the ones developed for this case study, by means of a user-friendly interface. The analytical functions implemented for the crustacean workflow provide a proof of concept for future open e-science platforms focusing on NIS-IAS. The workflow conceptual structure can be adapted to a wide range of species, and can be further improved to support researchers in monitoring and predicting trophic-related impacts of NIS-IAS. In addition, it can support policymakers and stakeholders in the implementation of effective management and control measures to limit the negative effects of bioinvaders in recipient environments.

Biodiversity and ecosystem research deals with heterogeneous and distributed data resources generated from a large number of disciplines, which need to be integrated to advance the actual scientific knowledge. There is a clear need for integrative research, but at the same time, it is very challenging to provide appropriate solutions for the management of information. Within the biological and ecological informatics communities, recent efforts are devoted to the adoption of semantic web techniques, which provide a promising way to properly describe and interrelate different data sources to reduce barriers to data discovery and integration. In this respect, semantic harmonization, achieved with the development and use of thesauri, represents an essential precondition. The E-Biodiversity Research Institute of LifeWatch Italy (LW-ITA) developed thesauri, available as a web service (http://www.servicecentrelifewatch.eu/catalogue-of-services), on morphological traits of several groups of aquatic organisms, on alien and endemic species, and on genomics and barcoding. They were all implemented in Simple Knowledge Organization System (SKOS) and Resource Description Framework (RDF), using TemaTres, an open-source web-based platform for the collaborative management of thesauri, as well as a Linked Data interface and an RDF query language (SPARQL) endpoint. The development of LW-ITA thesauri is the result of an interdisciplinary collaboration of experts from both the specific domains and information and communication technologies. In this context, experts had a central role in the different phases of implementation of thesauri, resulting in the production of shared and stable versions of thesauri, and in the extension of the range of covered concepts.

Environmental Science is undergoing a period of big changes facing the challenge of data collection in an era driven by data. A big amount of data is pivotal when upscaling the study of ecological processes to the macro-ecological level, investigating multiple species distributed in multiple habitats. LifeWatch (LW), the European e-Science infrastructure on biodiversity and ecosystems, aims to strength the scientific research on biodiversity through the sharing biodiversity data making them Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable. According to this scenario, the LW Mediterranean Thematic Centre (MTC), together with the other TCs and the ICT members, developed a first case study collecting biodiversity data to investigate the vulnerability of ecosystems to biological invasions. The main scope of the Alien Species Show Case was assessing fragility of EUNIS habitat types to alien and invasive species and modelling their fragility to abiotic forcing. Occurrence records were gathered from specific datasets belonging to more than 30 public and private research institution. Overall a dataset on the occurrence of more than 12000 species from 560 sites (lagoon, marine, freshwater and terrestrial) across the Italian peninsula, was gathered. Records were organized and enriched with additional information to be useful to the further analysis. The data validation has been made through the data cleaning semi-automatic service in the LW dataportal, based on the lifewatch-ita Global Name Architecture, which refers to PESI, Worms, and COL. Here we report the steps that led to the show case development and the related results obtained, in terms of published scientific papers.

Biodiversity and ecosystem research is becoming central to major societal challenges as bioeconomy and climate action. To handle the scale and complexity of the scientific question being addressed, there is a strong need to integrate scientific knowledge. However, relevant data are heterogeneous, distributed and difficult to share. Initiatives to integrate data into viable resources for innovation in science and decision-making are being developed as local, regional, and global initiatives.The Data Portal of the LifeWatch Italy (LW-ITA) e-infrastructure aims at facilitating data sharing and stimulating collaborative and data-intensive science in the fields of biodiversity and ecosystem research. LW-ITA Data Portal functionalities ease data management through the Data Life Cycle (quality assurance and quality control, metadata creation, integration, data discovery, visualization and analysis). We present the currently available solutions for data management and sketch future developments. We aim to create a service-oriented e-infrastructure for biodiversity and ecosystem data, where all components are accessible through web services, in order to provide one single entry point to existing biodiversity and ecosystem data resources in Italy and to make them findable, accessible, interoperable and re-usable (FAIR principles) at all levels, from local to global.

Acquatina is a small lagoon ecosystem (0.45 km2) located on the Adriatic coast only 5 km north of Lecce (Italy). The lagoon has a freshwater input in the northern part and a connection with the sea at the south edge, being characterised by a latitudinal gradient of salinity and an internal patchiness of habitats. Here, we have used the lagoons as a model to study the influence of these sources of variation on the spatial distribution of macrobenthis and fish fauna, using both taxonomic and on taxonomic descriptors. Results showed a non random distribution of both species and functional traits of macroinvertebrate and fish fauna within the lagoon, despite the relatively small surface area. Salinity had an higher inflence than boItom habitat patchiness on both macroinvertebrates and fishes; moreover, spatial co-variance of the two guilds was observed both at the taxonomic and at the size level. As regards fishes, these patterns were common to the dominant species (Atherina Boyeri) and to the rest of the fish guild. Results emphasise that common non random distribution patterns are observed even in small lagoons and for different guilds, including vagile fauna, as fish are. It suggest the occurrence of high intra-specific and inter-specific divergence in lagoon ecosystem allowing resource use optimisation through niche specialisation, available energy partitioning and individual energy budget adaptation.

Mediterranean lagoons are exposed to natural and anthropogenic disturbances, and the most unlikely conditions are the dystrophic and hypoxic events. These events determine dis-equilibrium conditions along temporal and spatial scales, which are linked to metabolism and life cycle of the biotic components. In summer 2008, Lesina lagoon (SE Italian coastline) was interested by a geographically localized dystrophic crisis which affected up to 8% of the total lagoon surface. Temporal dynamics of principal descriptors of abiotic (water, sediment) and biotic (phytoplankton, benthic macroinvertebrate) compartments have been followed during the 2008 by collecting data inside stressed and control lagoon areas before a dystrophic event and in the six months after the dystrophic event. The aim of the study was to analyse the pathways of ecosystem responses to dystrophic stress, searching for the characteristic scales of ecosystem compartment resistance and resilience. The characteristic time-scale of abiotic and biotic component time responses varied from days, for the selected markers of the water column, to year, for the benthic ones. Short-term biotic and abiotic responses in the water column were strongly coupled while biotic and abiotic responses at the sediment level were remarkably un-coupled. Dynamics and recovery time of water column and benthic components do not match in Lesina following the dystrophic crisis, highlighting an intrinsic individualistic behavior within the lagoon community driving ecosystem processes and ecosystem level responses. Taxonomic and non-taxonomic descriptors of benthic macroinvertebrates showed different response patterns as early warning signals and overall resilience. The emphasized differences in the stability components, i.e., resistance and resilience, of water column and sediment abiotic and biotic characteristics as well as of taxonomic and nontaxonomic descriptors has key implication in planning monitoring strategies and programs for transitional waters in the Mediterranean EcoRegion.

The loss of species is known to have a negative effect on ecosystem functioning, but detailed mechanisms of this relationship are still far from being fully understood. Several hypotheses have been proposed in the past to explain the functional response of ecosystems to species loss, but many studies still rely on using community structure as a surrogate for ecosystem functioning. This study investigates how the spatio-temporal distribution patterns of polychaetes and their associated functional patterns in six Mediterranean coastal lagoons change under simulated scenarios of species loss. The results show that each lagoon responds differently to potential species loss: in stressed lagoons with few dominating species the change of patterns is extremely variable and unpredictable, whereas lagoons characterised by complementarity seem to be more robust towards changes. The patterns between community structure and functioning in each lagoon show strong similarities in the lagoons dominated by few species, but the patterns diverge in complementary communities. The findings highlight the importance of considering the ideosyncratic effects of species loss on ecosystem function as well as the risk of using structural patterns as surrogates for functional patterns when taking decisions at a managerial level.

1 - Mediterranean lagoons are naturally exposed, during the dry season, to dystrophic and hypoxic events determining dis-equilibrium conditions along temporal and spatial scales, which are linked to metabolism and life cycle of the biotic components. 2 - In summer 2008, Lesina lagoon (SE Italian coastline) was interested by a geographically localized dystrophic crisis which affected up to 8% of the total lagoon surface. 3 - Temporal dynamics of principal descriptors of abiotic (water, sediment) and biotic (phytoplankton, benthic macroinvertebrate) compartments have been followed during the 2008 by collecting data inside stressed and control lagoon areas before a dystrophic event and in the six months after the dystrophic event. 4 - The aim of the study was to analyse the pathways of ecosystem responses to dystrophic stress, searching for the characteristic scales of ecosystem compartment resistance and resilience. 5 - The characteristic time-scale of abiotic and biotic component time responses varied from days, for the selected markers of the water column, to year, for the benthic ones. Short-term biotic and abiotic responses in the water column were strongly coupled while biotic and abiotic responses at the sediment level were remarkably un-coupled. Dynamics and recovery time of water column and benthic components do not match in Lesina following the dystrophic crisis, highlighting an intrinsic individualistic behavior within the lagoon community driving ecosystem processes and ecosystem level responses. 6 - Taxonomic and non-taxonomic descriptors of both phytoplankton and benthic macroinvertebrates showed different response patterns as early warning signals and overall resilience. The emphasized differences in the stability components, i.e., resistance and resilience, of water column and sediment abiotic and biotic characteristics as well as of taxonomic and non-taxonomic descriptors has key implication in planning monitoring strategies and programs for transitional waters in the Mediterranean and Black Sea EcoRegions. © 2013 University of Salento - SIBA.

Lagoons are ecotone ecosystems, naturally exposed to immigration from their freshwater and marine input environments; strictly lagoonal species are rare, if ever occurring, and lagoon community are likely to be organised through loItery competition processes. These evidences suggest the study of lagoons as models address ecosystem fragility to alien species. Here, we present an analysis of lagoon guild fragility to alien species carried out using the e-Science facilities of LifeWatch, the European Research Infrastructure on biodiversity and ecosystem research. The analysis has been performed on two EUNIS habitat (X02 and X03) using data existing on 18 Italian lagoons. The analysis has been carried out taking into account that rarity, redundancy and singularity are key properties of different guilds in lagoon ecosystems at every geographical area, affecting B (Beta) and y (Gamma) diversity. At every area an high regional biodiversity is determined by a large number of rare species and a high dissimilarity among lagoons. Life cycle traits and the behaviour of larval stages, at the species level, as well as lagoon openness and vigour, at the ecosystem level, seem to have a major role to explain the difference in patterns of biodiversity between study areas at a biogeographical scale. The same species and ecosystem level properties, together with spatial patchiness, seem also to be key factors downscaling biodiversity analysis at the landscape level.

The loss of species is known to have negative impacts on the integrity of ecosystems, but the details of this relationship are still far from being fully understood. This study investigates how the distribution patterns of polychaete species and their associated biological trait patterns in six Mediterranean coastal lagoons change under computationally simulated scenarios of random species loss. Species were progressively removed from the full polychaete assemblage and the similarity between the full assemblage and the reduced matrices of both species and trait patterns was calculated. The results indicate the magnitude of changes that might follow species loss in the real world, and allow consideration of the resistance of the system's functional capacity to loss of species, expressed through the species' biological traits as an approximation to functioning. Comparisons were made between the changes in the distribution of species and of traits, as well as between the six different lagoons. While the change of species and trait patterns was strongly correlated within most lagoons, different lagoons showed distinctly different patterns. In disturbed lagoons, the dominance of one or few species was the major driver for the observed patterns and the loss of these species caused extreme changes. Less disturbed lagoons were less susceptible to extreme changes and had a greater resistance towards species loss. Species richness appears to be less important for the ability of the lagoons to buffer changes, instead the initial composition of the assemblage and the identity of the lost species determine the response of the system and our ability to predict changes of the assemblage's functional potential. © 2014 Elsevier B.V.

In recent times many benthic indices have been proposed to assess the ecological quality of marine waters worldwide. In this study we compared single metrics and multi-metric methods to assess coastal and transitional benthic status along human pressure gradients in five distinct environments across Europe: Varna bay and lake (Bulgaria), Lesina lagoon (Italy), Mondego estuary (Portugal), Basque coast (Spain) and Oslofjord (Norway). Hence, 13 single metrics (abundance, number of taxa, and several diversity and sensitivity indices) and eight of the most common indices used within the European Water Framework Directive (WFD) for benthic assessment were selected: index of size spectra (ISS), Benthic assessment tool (BAT), Norwegian quality index (NQI), Multivariate AMBI (M-AMBI), Benthic quality index (BQI), (Benthic ecosystem quality index (BEQI), Benthic index based on taxonomic sufficiency (BITS), and infaunal quality index (IQI). Within each system, sampling sites were ordered in an increasing pressure gradient according to a preliminary classification based on professional judgement. The different indices are largely consistent in their response to pressure gradient, except in some particular cases (i.e. BITS, in all cases, or ISS when a low number of individuals is present). Inconsistencies between indicator responses were most pronounced in transitional waters (i.e. IQI, BEQI), highlighting the difficulties of the generic application of indicators to all marine, estuarine and lagoonal environments. However, some of the single (i.e. ecological groups approach, diversity, richness) and multi-metric methods (i.e. BAT, M-AMBI, NQI) were able to detect such gradients both in transitional and coastal environments, being these multi-metric methods more consistent in the detection than single indices. This study highlights the importance of survey design and good reference conditions for some indicators. The agreement observed between different methodologies and their ability to detect quality trends across distinct environments constitutes a promising result for the implementation of the WFD's monitoring plans. Moreover, these results have management implications, regarding the dangers of misclassification, uncertainty in the assessment, use of conflicting indices, and testing and validation of indices. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd.

La performance di descrittori ed indicatori ecologici (IE) può dipendere dallo sforzo di campionamento e dalla precisione nell’analisi dei campioni. La stima di metriche tassonomiche e dimensionali richiede un grande impegno per raccogliere ed identificare gli organismi e misurarne la taglia corporea. Nei macroinvertebrati bentonici (MB), la setacciatura è una fase critica che può influenzare l’accuratezza delle metriche quando si utilizzano maglie con bassa efficienza; i costi economici ed il tempo complessivo aumentano con maglie ad alta efficienza. Nel monitoraggio, questi due elementi sono spesso vincolanti ed impongono la riduzione dei siti di campionamento. L’obiettivo della ricerca è analizzare l'effetto della setacciatura con differenti maglie su descrittori ed IE. Campioni di MB furono raccolti in 7 siti della Laguna di Lesina, distribuiti lungo un gradiente di perturbazione, e setacciati su maglie di 2mm, 1mm e 0,5mm. La robustezza dei descrittori tassonomici e dimensionali, e degli IE fu analizzata confrontando i MB trattenuti sulla maglia 2mm con quelli trattenuti sulla maglia 1mm e 0,5mm. I risultati evidenziarono che i descrittori quantitativi e le dimensioni corporee furono sensibili alle maglie. Con la frazione “2mm”, la classificazione ecologica dei siti coincise nel 69% dei casi; l'efficienza fu dell’80% e l'analisi costi/benefici molto favorevole. Gli IE non mostrarono differenze tra siti, mentre i descrittori in taglia evidenziarono il sito più perturbato. Nella Laguna di Lesina, la frazione “2mm” sembra essere vantaggiosa ed utilizzabile nel biomonitoraggio rapido, ulteriori indagini sulla potenziale applicazione nella definizione dello stato ecologico di riferimento delle lagune sono ancora necessarie.

1 - The importance to community assembly of species selection mechanisms based on functional traits (i.e. niche filtering) is the object of intense debate. In this study, the influence of selection mechanisms was estimated in an ecosystem, the Margherita di Savoia Salt Pans, where the salinity gradient is expected to constitute a strong selective constraint. 2 - The spatial and seasonal variations of organisation of the macrobenthic communities was studied along a salinity gradient. At the taxonomic level, species richness, numerical abundance of individuals and diversity were found to vary with gradient levels while not directly with salinity. 3 - Under the most extreme conditions (the highest gradient level) benthic macroinvertebrate guilds became highly simplified, with Chironomus salinarius being dominant. 4 - In terms of dimensional structure, the individuals sampled ranged across five orders of magnitude, and were divided into 19 octaves of abundance. In general, size-abundance distributions indicated equal resource partitioning with body size; the distributional parameters showed significant variations with salinity. 5 - The relative importance of the main “niche oriented” and “body size oriented” organization mechanisms of benthic macroinvertebrates guilds along the salinity gradient was evaluated and discussed.

The Water Framework Directive (WFD) recognizes benthic macroinvertebrates as a good biological quality element for transitional waters as they are the most exposed to natural variability patterns characteristic of these ecosystems, due to their life cycles and space-use behavior. Here, we address the ecological status classification issue for three lagoons in Apulia, using benthic macroinvertebrates and three proposed multimetric indices (namely M-AMBI, BITS and ISS), likely to respond differently to different sources of stress and natural variability. Lagoon classification is based on discretization by standard classification boundaries with only partial consideration of the natural variability of ecosystem properties and possible inaccuracies of the classification procedures. In order to investigate the possible contrasting behavior of the three classifications, we propose Bayesian hierarchical models in which the multimetric indices and their discrete counterparts are jointly modeled as function of abiotic covariates, external anthropogenic pressures indicators and spatio-temporal effects.

The preliminary results of a research aimed to characterise the spawning period of Abra ovata (Mollusca, Bivalvia, Semelidae) from the Lesina lagoon (Southern Adriatic Coast, Italy) are herein reported. The A. ovata density showed a seasonal trend, with the highest levels in May and June, a decline during the winter period followed by a new increase according to the temperature increase. A.ovata mature specimens were recovered from May to August, with a peak in June-July.