1Palude della Rosa

5Valle Ca’ da Riva 10

Vecchia stazione Ca’ Zane

15Lio Piccolo

12Canale S. Lorenzo sud

8Valle Lanzoni Nord

16Canale del Colpo

17Palude Maggiore

Land

Saltmarshes

Natural seagrass meadows

Channels

Shallow waters

Seagrass restorationmonitoring stations

4

2

313

14

11

9

6

7

Other seagrass restoration stations

MaQI

M-AMBI

HFBIspring

autumn

Ecological Status Classification

High

Good

Moderate

Poor

Bad

FIRST ASSESSMENT OF THE ECOLOGICAL STATUS IN SEAGRASS RESTORATION SITES OF THE NORTHERN VENICE LAGOON:

APPLICATION OF MACROPHYTE, MACROZOOBENTHOS AND FISH INDICESPRIMA VALUTAZIONE DELLO STATO ECOLOGICO IN SITI DI RIPRISTINO DI PRATERIE DI FANEROGAME NELLA LAGUNA NORD DI VENEZIA:

APPLICAZIONE DI INDICI BASATI SU MACROFITE, MACROZOOBENTHOS E FAUNA ITTICA

Scapin L.1, Facca C.1, Zucchetta M.1, Bonometto A.2, Oselladore F.2, Boscolo R.2, Franzoi P.1, Sfriso A.1

The LIFE project N° LIFE12 NAT/IT/000331 “SeResto”

started in 2014 aiming at restoring seagrass meadows in

the northern basin of Venice lagoon (Facca et al., Sfriso et

al., this congress), and enhancing the overall ecological

status (sensu WFD; Dir. 2000/60/EC) of the area.

The aim of this study was to assess the ecological status

during the first year of restoration by applying three

WFD-compliant indices: the Macrophyte Quality Index

(MaQI) (Sfriso et al., 2014), the Multivariate-Azti Marine

Biotic Index (M-AMBI) (Muxika et al., 2007) and the

Habitat Fish Bioindicator Index (HFBI) (Zucchetta et al.,

in preparation).

Biological samplings were carried out in spring, few weeks

after the transplantations, and in autumn 2014. Eight

stations, selected for their representativeness of the whole

project area, were considered.

MaQI - Based on visual census and collection

of macroalgae and aquatic

angiosperm species. Species richness, percent

cover and abundance are considered, yelding

one annual MaQI score (Sfriso et al., 2014).

M-AMBI - Based on bottom grab sampling of

macrozoobenthos. Species richness and

abundance are considered, yelding one annual

M-AMBI score (ISPRA, 2008).

HFBI - Based on seine net sampling of fish

fauna (Franco et al., 2006). Richness, diversity

and biomass of species functional groups are

considered, yelding two seasonal HFBI scores

(Zucchetta et al., in preparation).

INDICES APPLIED

The project is funded by European Union's LIFE+ financial instrument and contributes to the environmental recovery of a Natura 2000 site (SIC IT3250031 - Northern Venice Lagoon).

1CEMAS - Center for Estuarine, coastal and MArine Sciences c/o DAIS - Department of Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics, Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia, Castello 2737/b - 30122 Venezia, Italy.

luca.scapin@stud.unive.it2Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale, ISPRA.

The ecological status as assessed by MaQI ranged between “High” and

“Poor”, showing a higher spatial variability as compared to M-AMBI and

HFBI scores, which ranged between “Good” and “Poor”. While the

trophic status and water turbidity are likely a major cause of differences

in MaQI scores between stations (Facca et al., Sfriso et al., this congress),

the generally lower scores of M-AMBI and HFBI suggest a more

mediated response of consumers. Faunal colonisation of restored

seagrass meadows can indeed be slow (Bell et al., 2008).

The first assessment of ecological status at newly restored seagrass

sites represents an important benchmark for the evaluation of the

recovery success. The future application of these indices may allow to

detect the faunal response to the ongoing habitat recovery process, as

well as to assess the overall effectiveness of the LIFE restoration project.

ECOLOGICAL STATUS

Macrophyte-, macrozoobenthos- and fish-based indices were applied at eight newly-recreated seagrass sites in the northern lagoon of Venice according to the requirements of the Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC). Here the results of the ecological status assessment during the first year of restoration under the project LIFE12 NAT/IT/000331 “SeResto” are presented.

www.lifeseresto.eu

Life SeResto

REFERENCESBELL S.S., TEWFIK A., HALL M.O., FONSECA M.S. (2008) - Evaluation of seagrass planting and monitoring techniques: Implications for assessing restoration success and habitat equivalency. Restor. Ecol., 16: 407-416.FACCA C., BONOMETTO A., BOSCOLO R., BUOSI A., CENTANNI E., PARRAVICINI M., PONIS E., RAMPAZZO F., SFRISO A. (2015) - Interventi di ricolonizzazione di angiosperme acquatiche: risultati del primo anno di trapianti nell'ambito del progetto Life SeResto (LIFE12 NAT/IT/000331). This congress.FRANCO A., FRANZOI P., MALAVASI S., RICCATO F., TORRICELLI P., MAINARDI D. (2006) - Use of shallow water habitats by fish assemblages in a Mediterranean coastal lagoon. Estuar. Coast. Shelf Sci., 66: 67–83.ISPRA (2008) - Protocolli per il campionamento e la determinazione degli elementi di qualità biologica e fisico-chimica nell’ambito dei programmi di monitoraggio ex 2000/60/CE delle acque di transizione. Documenti tecnici ISPRA 2008, Roma: 37 pp.MUXIKA I., BORJA A., BALD J. (2007) - Using historical data, expert judgement and multivariate analysis in assessing reference conditions and benthic ecological status, according to the European Water Framework Directive. Mar. Pollut. Bull., 55: 16–29. SFRISO A., FACCA C., BONOMETTO A., BOSCOLO R. (2014) - Compliance of the macrophyte quality index (MaQI) with the WFD (2000/60/EC) and ecological status assessment in transitional areas: The Venice lagoon as study case. Ecol. Indic., 46: 536–547. SFRISO A., FACCA C., BUOSI A., CENTANNI E., BERTO D., RAMPAZZO F., GION C., BONOMETTO A., BOSCOLO R. (2015) - Stato trofico e stato ecologico dell'area settentrionale della laguna veneta. This congress.

Graphics: Luca Scapin

Venice Lagoon Northern basin

Venice Lagoon