Efficacia delle AMP nella conservazione della biodiversità: i popolamenti a Cystoseira nell’AMP “Capo Gallo-Isola delle Femmine” (PA)

Abstract

Present-day Mediterranean marine biodiversity is undergoing rapid alteration. Species belonging to genus Cystoseira (biological “formers” of habitat structure) are strongly affected by variations of the environmental conditions (pollution, turbidity, etc.); modification, regression and disappearance of these “canopy-forming algae” have been yet observed in different areas of the Mediterranean Sea. Parks and MPAs, aimed at protecting marine environments, are certainly a central component of conservation strategies and a very successful way to preserve marine biodiversity. The aim of this paper was to assess the current state of Cystoseira assemblages inside the MPA “Capo Gallo-Isola delle Femmine” (PA), in order to test the efficacy of protection by quantifying possible differences between the assemblages present inside the MPA (A, B and C zones) and those present in two control areas. First results of the analysis of Cystoseira canopies within the MPA showed that the conservation status of assemblages is quite good. In particular, assemblages present in the C and B zones resulted better structured than populations present in the A zone; differences highlighted in the structure of these canopies are not the result of effects of protection (A, B and C zones) but they were essentially linked to the different geo-morphological and environmental conditions of the studied sites.