The activities foreseen for the Action B2 “MONITORING OF THE PERFORMANCE OF EXISTING OCEANIC POSIDONIA TRANSPLANTS” are concluded.
The four transplant cases selected by the Life SEPOSSO project, Civitavecchia (Lazio), Augusta (Sicily), Ischia (Campania) and Piombino (Tuscany) were monitored over the course of two years, 2018 and 2019, by the project partners. The activities involved the divers of ISPRA, ARPA Toscana (ARPAT), University of Rome “Tor Vergata” (UNIBIORom2), University of Palermo (DISTeM), Port System Authority of the Northern Tyrrhenian Sea (AdSPMTS).
In addition to the project partners, dives open to stakeholders were organized with the participation of:
- University of Viterbo “La Tuscia”
- University of Rome “La Sapienza”
- Zoological Station Naples “Anton Dohrn”
The activities involved 15 divers, engaged in 50 dives for a total of 500 diving hours.
At the same time, the presence of scuba video operators made it possible to collect 10 hours of video-photographic footage for technical-scientific and divulgative purposes.
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During the dives, scuba operators monitored the conditions of the Posidonia oceanica transplants, carried out in Santa Marinella (RM) in 2004, in Ischia Porto in the “Punta San Pietro” area between 2008 and 2009, in the Gulf of Follonica in the 2014, and in Augusta / Priolo Gargallo in 2014.
In addition, during the project, the series was expanded to include additional monitoring sites, including:
– transplantation of Villasimius (CA)
– transplantation within the AMP Secche della Meloria (LI)
– transplants in Mondello (PA)
– transplant in Syracuse (SR)
For a summary on the framework of the 4 study sites, the transplants performed, the monitoring prior to the project and the activities carried out within the SEPOSSO project, we refer to the consultation of the summary pages prepared for each study site:
Civitavecchia / S. Marinella [ITA]
Augusta / Priolo Gargallo [ITA]
For further details on the monitoring activities carried out on each site during the two years of the project, please refer to the news published during the SEPOSSO project:
Activities 2018:
Life RES MARIS Final meeting, Villasimius, Sardinia
Field activities: scuba diving surveys on transplantation at Santa Marinella (RM), Lazio
Field activities of Life SEPOSSO: surveys on the experimental transplant of Priolo Gargallo (SR)
SEPOSSO Life activities on field: prospecting and surveys on the Ischia transplant (NA)
Life SEPOSSO Field Activities: prospecting and survey on Piombino Transplantation (LI)
Activities 2019:
Life SEPOSSO monitoring: surveys on Posidonia transplants in Sicily and in Priolo Gargallo (SR)
Activity Life SEPOSSO: surveys 2019 on S. Marinella transplantation
Activity Life SEPOSSO 2019: exploration and surveys on the Piombino (LI) transplant
Activity Life SEPOSSO 2019: monitoring and surveys on the transplant in Ischia (NA)
Life SEPOSSO transplant monitoring with RES MARIS in Villasimius (CA)
At the end of the monitoring activities, in December 2019 a geomorphological survey was carried out by means of a lateral sonar sounder (Side Scan Sonar) on the transplant site of Ischia (NA) to assess the current coverage status of the meadow 10 years after the transplant.
The mosaic of the Side Scan Sonar survey of 05/12/2019 on the transplant areas (R2, R3, R6, R7 and R8) and on the pipeline route in front of Punta San Pietro, Ischia (NA).
This made it possible to reach the project MILESTONE in line with the scheduled timetable.
As for the detailed data from the various monitoring systems, please refer to the forthcoming publication of specific reports for Action B2 during the project.