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Anthropogenic Pressures on Marine Ecosystems
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Anthropogenic Pressures on Marine Ecosystems

A special issue of Water (ISSN 2073-4441). This special issue belongs to the section "Biodiversity and Functionality of Aquatic Ecosystems".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2023) | Viewed by 16580

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Lucia Rizzo

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. Institute of Sciences of Food Production, National Research Council (CNR-ISPA), Via Prov.le Lecce Monteroni, 73100 Lecce, Italy
2. Department of Integrative Marine Ecology, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Villa Comunale 1, 80121 Naples, Italy
3. National Inter-University Consortium for Marine Sciences (CoNISMa), Piazzale Flaminio 9, 00196 Roma, Italy
Interests: marine ecology; conservation; anthropogenic pressures; invasive species; benthic habitats; marine litter
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Tomás Vega Fernández

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn di Napoli-Istituto Nazionale di Biologia, Ecologia e Biotecnologie Marine, Villa Comunale, 80121 Naples, Italy
Interests: habitat structure, scale, interactions, disturbance, protection; resource management; Ecosystem Based Marine Spatial Management (EB-MSM), Marine Spatial Planning (MSP); Marine Protected Areas (MPAs); Fishery Reserve Areas (FRAs); stakeholder; conflict
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In the last several decades, organic pollution and eutrophication, habitat alteration and destruction, overexploitation of biological resources, changed sediment transportation and deposition rates, release of litter in the marine environment, spread of non-indigenous species, and alteration of biogeochemical cycles have often resulted in changes in the structure of communities and ecosystems. Shallow areas along coasts are affected by numerous pressures, since over one-third of the global human population live within 100 km of marine coast. For this reason, coastal areas are recognised as one of the most pressured and threatened habitats worldwide. Conversely, the effects of human activities on marine communities and ecosystems in the deepest ocean areas are largely unexplored and unknown.

Declines in species populations, habitat degradation, and ecosystem dysfunction and change occur ubiquitously, leading to the loss of marine ecosystem goods and services to human society. Consequently, new maritime management practices are being implemented and tested with the aim of mitigating these adverse effects.

This Special Issue explores the effects of anthropogenic pressures, including those driven by climate disturbances, on marine habitats, species, communities, and ecosystems. Multidisciplinary studies based on laboratory and field experiments, systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and syntheses of the available scientific information are encouraged.

Dr. Lucia Rizzo
Dr. Tomás Vega Fernández
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Water is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • stressors
  • pressures
  • impacts
  • marine litter
  • marine conservation
  • marine policies
  • ecosystem services
  • marine biodiversity
  • marine resource management

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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17 pages, 3253 KiB  
Article
Growth Performance of Mytilus galloprovincialis Lamarck, 1819 under an Innovative Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture System (IMTA) in the Mar Grande of Taranto (Mediterranean Sea, Italy)
by Daniele Arduini, Giuseppe Portacci, Adriana Giangrande, Maria Immacolata Acquaviva, Jacopo Borghese, Claudio Calabrese, Santina Giandomenico, Elisa Quarta and Loredana Stabili
Water 2023, 15(10), 1922; https://doi.org/10.3390/w15101922 - 19 May 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2065
Abstract
The cultivation of the Mediterranean mussel, Mytilus galloprovincialis Lamarck, 1819, has been tested in an innovative Integrated Multitrophic Aquaculture system (IMTA) in the Mar Grande of Taranto, as part of the EU-funded Remedialife project. This farming method could solve several problems including the [...] Read more.
The cultivation of the Mediterranean mussel, Mytilus galloprovincialis Lamarck, 1819, has been tested in an innovative Integrated Multitrophic Aquaculture system (IMTA) in the Mar Grande of Taranto, as part of the EU-funded Remedialife project. This farming method could solve several problems including the low growth rate in mesotrophic environments while reducing the environmental impact of fish mariculture. Three productive cycles have been carried out. The first (2018–2019, traditional experiment) was conducted in three long lines around six cages of the fish farm in order to evaluate total mussel production under the innovative IMTA system and quality for human consumption by analyzing the concentration of culturable heterotrophic bacteria, total and fecal coliforms, Escherichia coli and Salmonella spp. in mussel tissues. In addition, 17 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), including 16 EPA priority compounds and seven polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), which are indicators of PCB contamination in the environment, were analyzed using gas chromatography in conjunction with a mass spectrometer. The second cycle (2020–2021, horizontal distance experiment) aimed to test the influence of fish cages on mussel growth by placing mussels near and far from the fish cages. The third cycle (2021–2022, vertical distance experiment) aimed to overcome the phenomenon of “heat waves” that can occur in the Mar Grande of Taranto during summer by testing the growth performance of mussels at two different depths (1 and 12 m). The following parameters were measured: Shell Length, L (mm); Shell Dry Weight, SDW (g); Flesh Dry Weight, FDW (g); Condition Index, IC = FDW/SDW. The results showed that the best growth performance was obtained near the fish cages and at a depth of 12 m. Moreover, the indicators of microbial contamination and concentrations of chemical compounds analyzed in mussel tissues cultured under the innovative IMTA system were in compliance with the reference values of European regulations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Anthropogenic Pressures on Marine Ecosystems)
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18 pages, 2022 KiB  
Article
How Much Recurrent Outbreaks of the Moon Jellyfish May Impact the Dynamics of Bacterial Assemblages in Coastal Lagoons?
by Loredana Stabili, Lucia Rizzo, Rosa Caprioli, Giorgio Alabiso and Stefano Piraino
Water 2022, 14(23), 3908; https://doi.org/10.3390/w14233908 - 1 Dec 2022
Viewed by 1904
Abstract
The moon jellyfish Aurelia coerulea (Scyphozoa) is one of the most common and largest jellyfish inhabiting coastal lagoons, confined bays, and marinas of temperate and subtropical coastal waters. The annual population dynamics of A. coerulea along with some bacterial parameters (bacterial size and [...] Read more.
The moon jellyfish Aurelia coerulea (Scyphozoa) is one of the most common and largest jellyfish inhabiting coastal lagoons, confined bays, and marinas of temperate and subtropical coastal waters. The annual population dynamics of A. coerulea along with some bacterial parameters (bacterial size and biomass, total coliforms, faecal coliforms, intestinal enterococci, culturable Vibrio spp., and culturable bacteria at 37 °C), sea surface temperature (SST), salinity, and an array of nutrients (ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, phosphates, silicates, total nitrogen, and total phosphorus) were assessed in the Varano lagoon (Adriatic Sea) that is subject to anthropogenic pollution. Statistical analyses revealed that jellyfish outbreaks and their consequent biomass deposition significantly correlated to seawater temperature, total nitrogen, phosphates, and ammonia concentrations while negative correlations appeared with nitrite and nitrate concentrations. In addition, bacterial biomass and Vibrio abundance correlated with each other and temperature, jellyfish density, and total nitrogen. These findings suggest that environmental changes could trigger the occurrence of jellyfish bursts in the lagoon which, in turn, may act as one of the central drivers of processes regulating some bacterial components. The positive relationship between jellyfish flush-and-crash dynamics and SST suggests that ongoing global warming will seemingly increase jellyfish outbreaks. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Anthropogenic Pressures on Marine Ecosystems)
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Review

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15 pages, 1042 KiB  
Review
Can the Invasive Seaweed Caulerpa cylidracea Represent a New Trophic Resource in the Mediterranean Sea?
by Lucia Rizzo and Tomás Vega Fernández
Water 2023, 15(11), 2115; https://doi.org/10.3390/w15112115 - 2 Jun 2023
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2335
Abstract
Non-indigenous species (NIS) represent one of the greatest threats to biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, altering invaded habitats, competing with native species, and eventually becoming pests. The Mediterranean Sea is a marine biodiversity hotspot, with its coasts being densely populated and its living resources [...] Read more.
Non-indigenous species (NIS) represent one of the greatest threats to biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, altering invaded habitats, competing with native species, and eventually becoming pests. The Mediterranean Sea is a marine biodiversity hotspot, with its coasts being densely populated and its living resources fished since ancient times. As a result of such a long history of exploitation, the whole basin is exposed to a wide array of human pressures, with their combined effects on marine ecosystems being amplified by ongoing climate change. Caulerpa cylindracea Sonder, 1845, is a non-indigenous invasive seaweed widely distributed in the coastal habitats of the Mediterranean Sea, which ultimately affects marine biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. Here, a systematic literature analysis on the consumption of the NIS Caulerpa cylindracea by Mediterranean native and NIS species is provided, focusing on the benefits and drawbacks for the native biota and human health. The present review aims to synthetise knowledge and provide tools to manage the occurrence of the invasive seaweed C. cylindracea in the Mediterranean Sea, encouraging an ecosystem-based approach to the management of the ecological, economic, and social effects of the successful expansion of this NIS. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Anthropogenic Pressures on Marine Ecosystems)
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21 pages, 363 KiB  
Review
An Overview of Ecological Indicators of Fish to Evaluate the Anthropogenic Pressures in Aquatic Ecosystems: From Traditional to Innovative DNA-Based Approaches
by Maurizio Pinna, Francesco Zangaro, Benedetta Saccomanno, Chiara Scalone, Fabio Bozzeda, Lucia Fanini and Valeria Specchia
Water 2023, 15(5), 949; https://doi.org/10.3390/w15050949 - 1 Mar 2023
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 9341
Abstract
In order to halt the loss of global biodiversity and considering the United Nations Decade for Ocean Conservation Agenda, increasing efforts to improve biomonitoring programs and assessment of ecosystem health are needed. Aquatic environments are among the most complex to monitor, requiring an [...] Read more.
In order to halt the loss of global biodiversity and considering the United Nations Decade for Ocean Conservation Agenda, increasing efforts to improve biomonitoring programs and assessment of ecosystem health are needed. Aquatic environments are among the most complex to monitor, requiring an array of tools to assess their status and to define conservation targets. Although several parameters need to be considered for a comprehensive ecological status assessment, it is important to identify easy-to-apply high-resolution monitoring methods. Shifts in fish composition and abundance are often good indicators of ecosystem health status in relation to anthropogenic activities. However, traditional monitoring methods are strictly related to the habitat under study and cannot be applied universally. This review summarizes the importance of ecological indicators for aquatic environments subjected to anthropogenic stressors, with a particular focus on fish communities and transitional water ecosystems. We describe the main characteristics of both traditional and novel methods for fish monitoring, highlighting their advantages and shortcomings in an attempt to identify simple and reliable ways for a correct evaluation of the dynamics of aquatic ecosystems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Anthropogenic Pressures on Marine Ecosystems)
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