Proposer:

Name: Lisandro Benedetti-Cecchi

e-mail address: bencecc@discat.unipi.it

We propose 5 islands of the Tuscany Archipelago as primary sites for experimental monitoring of biodiversity. From north to south: Gorgona, Capraia, Pianosa, Montecristo and Giannutri.

The major source of pollution at the proposed sites is urban wastes and it is generally limited by the low number of visitors. There is no industrial or agricultural pollution on the islands, neither is there any activity of mining, dumping or dredging.

Figures of the resident population and the number of visitors per year at each site are reported in Table 1. There is no evidence of significant population growth for the last 5 years.

Pipelines discharge human wastes in narrow areas close to the coast. There is no treatment of wastes, but visual inspection suggests that the spatial extent of their influence on the biota is limited (10’s of m).

Commercial fishing is moderate at Capraia and Gorgona and it is not allowed on the other islands (Table 2). There are three professional fisherman at Capraia, whereas a moderate fishing activity is driven by prisoners at Gorgona. Enclosures for fish farming have been established at Capraia and Gorgona (1 circular enclosure of 15m in diameter on each island).

The average number of tourists visiting these sites over the last three years is illustrated in Table 3. The most common recreational activities include swimming, diving, trekking and boating. These activities are restricted to areas outside the protected areas.

The proposed sites provide the best examples of clear waters in this geographical area and there is no evidence of changes in salinity, or any other relevant environmental variable, that are atypical for the region. This is supported by the results of a multidisciplinary research programme on the physic, chemistry and biology of the Tuscany Archipelago (Nuccio 1993).

Rocky sea shores are the dominant habitat at the proposed sites. Soft bottom habitat occur in the subtidal and are represented mainly by the seagrass Posidonia oceanica alternating with sandy areas. All P. oceanica beds have been mapped in this geographical area (Cinelli et al. 1992). Rough estimates of the extension of the different habitats are indicated in Table 4 for each island.

The proposed sites are representative of the most common habitat of the region: rocky seashores. However, they do not include other habitats that can be important locally, such as sandy beaches and mudflats (these occur on the Islands of Elba and Giglio; these islands have not been proposed as primary sites because they are exposed to a range of anthropogenic disturbances).

Inventories of species are available for all the taxa mentioned below:

Macrobenthos: all major taxonomic groups (e.g. sponges, cnidarians, bryozoans, molluscs, crustaceans and polychaetes).

Meiobenthos: all major groups (e.g. polychaetes, nematodes, nemerteans, turbellarians).

Microbenthos: Protozoa

Zooplankton: all major taxonomic groups comprising the micro- and macro-zooplankton

Phytobenthos: Rhodophyta, Phaeophyta, Chlorophyta, seagrasses

The information above is disseminated in a number of papers and technical reports (Albertelli et al. 1984; Balduzzi et al. 1995; Santangelo et al. 1996; Benedetti-Cecchi 2000, 2001; Benedetti-Cecchi et al. 2000, 2001a, 2001b; Ferdeghini et al. 2000).

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The proposed sites are part of the National Park of the Tuscany Archipelago which is the largest marine park of the Mediterranean. The park was established in 1996 by the Presidential decrees of the 22^nd of July 1996. Legislation acts have been implemented by a decree of the Ministry for the Environment of the 19^th of December 1997. Responsibilities have then been transferred to the regional government increasing effectiveness in management and protection. All islands have restrictions in terms of fishing and human access, with areas where any kind of human activity is banned alternating to areas open to visitors. Public access was prohibited on some islands before 1996 because of the presence of prisons (Gorgona and Pianosa) or because the site was already a natural reserve (Montecristo). Surveillance is provided by the coast guard and by patrols operating continuously on each island. Further information on how the legislation has been implemented and on the design of the protected areas can be found at the web site http://www.islepark.it/.

All islands offer the possibility for accommodating research teams and setting up field laboratories. The University of Pisa can offer logistical support for field work, including permission and boating.

Funding for scientific activity is currently provided by the ‘Ente Parco’, the regional institution deputed to management of the Park.

All locations are accessible throughout the year by ferry (Gorgona, Capraia, Giannutri and Pianosa), or by renting a boat (Montecristo). Access is free at Capraia and Giannutri, whereas permissions are required for research activities at Gorgona, Pianosa and Montecristo. Permission is provided by the Ministry of Agricultural and Forestry and by the Ministry of the Environment; agreements exist with research institutions such as Universities to guarantee continuous research activities at all sites. Laboratory facilities at the University of Pisa can be reached within 5hrs from Gorgona, Capraia and Pianosa, 8hrs from Giannutri and 12hrs from Montecristo.

Temporary laboratories can be set up on all islands; this is already done at Capraia and Giannutri. Boats are available for renting everywhere; current research activities at Giannutri indicate that renting a boat of 21m with a skipper, providing any sort of facilities for accommodation and diving, is cheaper than renting a flat or living in an hotel. Facilities are available for guest researchers. Additional facilities for diving include the presence of diving centers at Capraia and Giannutri.

Source of funding for the last two years include grants from the ‘Ente Parco’, National Geographic and University of Pisa:

‘Ente Parco’: 60.000.000 Lit (30990 Euro)

National Geographic: 30.000.000 Lit (15490 Euro)

University of Pisa: 18.000.000 Lit (9296 Euro)

The proposed islands are perceived by the public as pristine sites offering a unique opportunity to watch species and habitats that are disappearing from many other coasts. Most of the tourism on these shores is, in fact, eco-tourism. Flourishing beds of canopy algae are still present in low-shore habitats whereas they have regressed from many shores on the mainland (Benedetti-Cecchi et al. 2001b). Remnant populations of species in danger of extinction still occur on these islands, such as the giant limpet Patella ferruginea. Predatory whelks such as Stramonita haemastoma and crabs such as Eriphia verrucosa still occur at high densities and large sizes on the islands, whereas they have been intensively exploited by humans on the mainland. In brief, these assemblages provide a unique opportunity for establishing baseline data on biodiversity and for investigating patterns and processes in the presence of key species that are lost from most rocky shores of the Mediterranean. Experimental monitoring of assemblages under such natural settings would provide insights on key issues of biodiversity, such as functional redundancy and the complexity-stability debate. Furthermore, the proposed sites provide the opportunity for assessing the effects of marine protected areas and can be used as reference sites in studies of environmental impact. Supporting ecological research on biodiversity at these sites would improve interactions between basic ecological understanding and management decisions, making ecology more incisive in addressing the societal need of preserving natural habitats.