Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/18248
Title: Descriptors of Posidonia oceanica meadows : use and application
Authors: Borg, Joseph A.
Boudouresque, Charles Francois
Boumaza, Salima
Cossu, Andrea
Maida, Germana di
Dural, Berrin
Francour, Patrice
Gobert, Sylvie
Pergent, Gerard
Relini, Giulio
Romero, Javier
Sanchez-Lizaso, Jose Luis
Schembri, Patrick J.
Pergent-Martini, Christine
Leoni, Vanina
Pasqualini, Vanina
Ardizzone, Giandomenico Domenico
Balestri, Elena
Bedini, Roberto
Belluscio, Andrea
Belsher, Thomas
Bouquegneau, Jean Marie
Buia, Maria Cristina
Calvo, Sebastiano
Cebrian, Just
Charbonnel, Eric
Cinelli, Francesco
Lepoint, Gilles
Meinesz, Alexandre
Molenaar, Heike
Mansour, Hanady M.
Panayotidis, Panayotis
Peirano, Andrea
Piazzi, Luigi
Pirrotta, Maria
Semroud, Rachid
Shili, Abdessalem
Tomasello, Agostino
Velimirov, Branko
Keywords: Posidonia oceanica
Indicators (Biology)
Coastal biodiversity conservation
Marine ecosystem management
Issue Date: 2005
Publisher: Elsevier
Citation: Borg, J. A., Boudouresque, C. F., Boumaza, S., Cossu, A., Maida, G., Dural, B., ... Velimirov, B. (2005). Descriptors of Posidonia oceanica meadows : use and application. Ecological Indicators, 5(3), 213-230.
Abstract: The conservation of the coastal marine environment requires the possession of information that enables the global quality of the environment to be evaluated reliably and relatively quickly. The use of biological indicators is often an appropriate method. Seagrasses in general, and Posidonia oceanica meadows in particular, are considered to be appropriate for biomonitoring because of their wide distribution, reasonable size, sedentary habit, easy collection and abundance and sensitivity to modifications of littoral zone. Reasoned management, on the scale of the whole Mediterranean basin, requires standardized methods of study, to be applied by both researchers and administrators, enabling comparable results to be obtained. This paper synthesises the existing methods applied to monitor P. oceanica meadows, identifies the most suitable techniques and suggests future research directions. From the results of a questionnaire, distributed to all the identified laboratories working on this topic, a list of the most commonly used descriptors was drawn up, together with the related research techniques (e.g. standardization, interest and limits, valuation of the results). It seems that the techniques used to study meadows are rather similar, but rarely identical, even though the various teams often refer to previously published works. This paper shows the interest of a practical guide that describes, in a standardized way, the most useful techniques enabling P. oceanica meadows to be used as an environmental descriptor. Indeed, it constitutes the first stage in the process.
Description: This work benefited partly from the financial support of the European program ΓNTERREG IIIA Corsica, Sardinia. Tuscany
URI: https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar//handle/123456789/18248
Appears in Collections:Scholarly Works - FacSciBio

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