Scientific watch

Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are effective resource management and conservation measures, but their success is often hindered by non-compliant activities such as poaching. Understanding the risk factors and spatial patterns of poaching is therefore crucial for efficient law enforcement. This

Mesophotic habitats, hosting benthic assemblages totally unknown and unexpected in the early 2000s, are attracting an increasing interest from scientists. The mesophotic zone is characterized by environmental factors generally more stable than the shallow counterpart; therefore, it represents a refuge

Extensive loss of macroalgal forests advocates for large-scale restoration interventions, to compensate habitat degradation and recover the associated ecological functions and services. Yet, restoration attempts have generally been limited to small spatial extensions, with the principal aim of developing efficient

The term Blue Carbon (BC) was first coined a decade ago to describe the disproportionately large contribution of coastal vegetated ecosystems to global carbon sequestration. The role of BC in climate change mitigation and adaptation has now reached international prominence.

Thanks to several European directives and conventions there is a general increase of awareness regarding the key ecological role of coralligenous habitats in the Mediterranean Sea, addressing several research projects to standardize protocols for the description of its integrity. In

A rapid temperature increase in the 1980-90s has been accompanied by dramatic and unprecedented changes in the biota and communities of the Ligurian Sea. This review uses existing historical series to assess the extent and consequences of such changes. The

Ocean warming is expected to impinge detrimentally on marine ecosystems worldwide up to impose extreme environmental conditions capable to potentially jeopardize the good ecological status of scleractinian coral reefs at shallow and bathyal depths. This study integrated literature records with

The critically endangered “bamboo coral” Isidella elongata is a near-endemic protected species for which limited information exists in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. This study aimed to update the known geographical distribution of I. elongata in the Eastern Mediterranean by combining

Marine top predators, including marine mammals, are known to bio-accumulate persistent pollutants such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), a serious conservation concern for these species. Although PCBs declined in European seas since the 1970s – 1980s ban, considerable levels still persist

The effectiveness of monitoring programs in the marine environment is often limited by the scarcity of information concerning medium/long-term time series observations. Marine submerged caves have received relatively low research effort, as they are confined and difficult to access ecosystems.