Università Politecnica delle Marche - Scalaccia South

Restoration Project

Università Politecnica delle Marche - Scalaccia South

Restoration Objective:

We carried out a study to select the most suitable sites for restoration intervention of Gongolaria barbata (Stackhouse) Kuntze along the Conero Riviera (Western-Central Adriatic Sea). We also compared two techniques of restoration based on in situ and ex situ recruitment. The success was measured by monitoring not only the survival of the restored populations but also the biodiversity recovery of the associated meio- and macrofauna.

Site Selection Criteria:

The restoration site was selected following a preliminary site-selection experiment comparing donor and potential receiving sites exposed to differing levels of anthropogenic pressure and environmental conditions. According to the data resulting from the selection of the site, the exposed and remote conditions (corresponding to the Scalaccia South site) were the most suitable for the restoration intervention

Cause Of Decline:

Species of Cystoseira s.l. are regressing in many areas of the Mediterranean Sea (Thibaut et al., 2005; Thibaut et al., 2014; Iveša et al., 2016; Tamburello et al., 2022), and their natural recovery has rarely been observed (Perkol-Finkel and Airoldi, 2010; Blanfuné et al., 2016).

Key Reasons For Decline:

Multiple

Scientific Paper

Macroalgal forest restoration: the effect of the foundation species

Bianchelli, S., Fraschetti, S., Martini, F., Lo Martire, M., Nepote, E., Ippoliti, D., ... & Danovaro, R. (2023).https://www.frontiersin.org/j...3389/fmars.2023.1213184/full

Organisation:

Università Politecnica delle Marche

Italy

Site Observations:

Observation Date

1st Jun 2021 – 1st Jun 2022

Action Summary:

Following an experiment to determine the optimal location for restoration, in situ and ex situ recruitment of Gongolaria barbata was conducted for one month prior to transplantation to the restoration site, where growth and associated biodiversity were monitored over a one-year period.

Natural pebbles and clay tiles fixed onto 50 cm long aluminium bar structures were positioned beneath the canopy of donor populations during the reproductive period for approximately one month.

Pebbles and artificial structures were transplanted to a 15 m² restoration site, where pebbles were fixed using epoxy putty and the artificial structures were anchored to the seabed using self-tapping dowels (Fischer) installed with a Nemo V2 HD underwater drill.

Lessons Learned:

Restoration success is strongly influenced by site selection, with low-impact locations showing the greatest survival and growth. In areas with natural nursery conditions, in situ recruitment approaches should be prioritised, while ex situ methods require optimisation and synchronisation with local environmental processes to improve post-transplant survival.

Project Outcomes:

We compared the feasibility and success of transplants of juveniles obtained with in situ and ex situ recruitment/cultivation techniques, avoiding any impact on adult individuals from the donor populations (Perkol-Finkel and Airoldi, 2010; Verdura et al., 2018). Contrary to previous studies (Verdura et al., 2018), in our case, the transplants of juveniles obtained with ex situ recruitment failed due to the lack of survival of the recruits 1 month after the transplant. This could be related to the small size of the juveniles (a few millimeters in height), which were possibly completely covered by the high sediment loads or by blooms of microphytobenthos, typically occurring in summertime (and indeed documented by the Regional Agency for the Environmental Protection) in the study area (e.g., the toxic dinoflagellate Ostreopsis ovata; Totti et al., 2010). Also, the high temperatures could have impaired the growth of small thalli; in this regard, it has been demonstrated that 2-month-old thalli can survive up to 29°C, whereas older thalli can survive at 30°C–31°C (Orfanidis, 1991).

We report here that the transplants of juveniles obtained with in situ recruitment were successful and characterized by significant growth (both in terms of heights and canopy cover) of individuals over time, reaching heights of the same order of magnitude measured in adults after 1 year from the implementation of the intervention. This restoration was successful regardless of the substrates used (i.e., both with natural pebbles and clay tiles fixed on artificial structures; Figure 5A). Such a fast growth in the natural environment was rather unexpected, especially when compared to previous studies conducted in the Adriatic Sea (Orlando-Bonaca et al., 2021).

Area of Restoration (Ha)

0.0015

Distance to nearest kelp forest (in metres)

300

Indicator Data:

Indicator:

Ending Value:

Starting Value:

Kelp Cover

94.5300
%
0.0000
%

Species richness

15.090011.9600
Transplant Info:
Life Stage:Juveniles
Source:Wild
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