Scientific watch

Local, regional and global targets have been set to halt marine biodiversity loss. Europe has set its own policy targets to achieve Good Environmental Status (GES) of marine ecosystems by implementing the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) across member states.

The Port-Cros National Park (PCNP), established in 1963, was one of the earliest terrestrial and marine parks in the Mediterranean Sea. This protected area has been competently and efficiently managed since its creation, and protection and management measures have been

Marine protected areas (MPAs) are an important tool for conservation but can be victims of their success, as higher fish biomass within MPAs create incentives to poach. This insight underpins the finding that fishing persists in many MPAs worldwide, and

Non-motorized water sports requiring physical efforts such as swimming, scuba diving, kayaking, sailing and surfing are becoming increasingly popular in Mediterranean marine protected areas (MPAs). This research investigated the relationship between these types of water sports and practitioners’ psychological and

Extreme climatic events, including marine heatwaves (MHWs), are altering ecosystems globally, often with profound socioeconomic impacts. This paper examines how MHWs have affected the provision of ecosystem services and evaluate the socioeconomic consequences for human society. According to the study,

Marine protected areas (MPAs) are considered as a cornerstone for the protection of the marine heritage and promotion of the integrated management approach. These areas also facilitate environmental education, scientific research and tourism activities. Underwater trails (UWTs) as ecotourism activities

Mediterranean coralligenous outcrops are a biodiversity hotspot where cryptobenthic and epibenthic fish species conform an important proportion of the inhabiting fish assemblages. This study investigated the distribution of epibenthic fish assemblages in coralligenous outcrops, the contiguous detritic bottoms and the

Understanding the resilience of temperate reefs to climate change requires exploring the recovery capacity of their habitat-forming species from recurrent marine heatwaves (MHWs). This paper shows that, in a Mediterranean highly enforced MPA established more than 40 years ago, habitat-forming

Coralligenous structuring species (CSS) form a group of marine megabenthic species with an engineering capacity. Since they are highly vulnerable to anthropogenic activities, they have been selected for the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) monitoring programmes. This study assessed the

The assessment of effective and affordable restoration interventions is pivotal to developing new tools to mitigate habitat loss and enhance natural recovery. Gorgonians create important three-dimensional habitats in the Mediterranean Sea providing several ecosystems services associated with coralligenous reefs. In