Action B.2: Monitoring the performance of the existing Posidonia oceanica transplantations
In the whole of this action, new and additional data will be collected to assess the performance of Posidonia oceanica transplants existing in Italy and to define specific monitoring protocols to evaluate their effectiveness. The activities will take place with two underwater activities (spring-summer 2018 and 2019) in three sites, where have been carried out P. oceanica transplants following various anthropic impacts, Piombino (Tuscany), Ischia (Campania) Civitavecchia (Lazio ) and Augusta (Sicily), where a transplant was carried out with the aim of recovering the pre-existing Posidonia habitat.
Civitavecchia – S. Marinella (Lazio)
In these sites, various transplanting techniques have been used, selected according to the substrate type (sand or mat) and the extension of the transplant to be performed (from 1000 m2 to 10000 m2). Besides, transplants were carried out in different years and different were the monitoring plans ( duration, frequency, investigated parameters) developed to evaluate their effectiveness. the monitoring activities will take place in each site so that each project partner can actively participate, sharing the planning, data collection and results obtained.
Each monitoring will be not distructived and planned according to the age of the transplant. Shoots will be counted, and assessing their survival and re-colonisation status will be performed. Data on the main phenological parameters will be collected in situ (for example: the length of the longest adult leaf) as well as ecological data, (for example: estimating the cover of the epiphytes community). These data will be compared with those optained from surronding natural meadows.