Page 2 - Mannino_Balistreri_2019

384 ANNA MARIA MANNINO & PAOLO BALISTRERI

Piazzi & Balata, 2008; Papini et al., 2013; Kat- two areas (Area 1, Area 2; see Fig. 1), characterized
sanevakis et al., 2014). by different sedimentation and hydrodynamic con-
Sicily and smaller surrounding Islands (includ- ditions. The different environmental conditions are
ing Marine Protected Areas “MPA”), located at the essentially linked to the presence (Area 1) or ab-
crossroads between the eastern and western sectors sence (Area 2) of calcarenitic blocks responsible for
of the Mediterranean Sea and characterized by in- the reduction of the hydrodynamism and the in-
tense maritime traffic, are particularly vulnerable crease of the sediment accumulation.
and suitable to biological marine invasions (Oc- Within each area, two sites were selected, one
chipinti-Ambrogi et al., 2011a, b; Coll et al., 2012; characterized by a high coverage of C. cylindracea
Papini et al., 2013; Katsanevakis et al., 2014). To and the other one by the presence of a few thalli of
plan effective management and conservation strate- the alga. At each site six replicated 400 cm 2
gies, reliable data on distribution, spread dynamics quadrats were placed in order to estimate the mean
and impacts of IAS are essential. For this reason, abundance values of the all recorded taxa.
regular monitoring and surveillance programs are
strongly needed. Since intensive monitoring pro-
grams could be very expensive, citizen science, in- RESULTS
volving citizens (e.g. tourists, fishermen, divers) in
the collection of data, could be a useful tool for pro- Significant differences between the two areas
viding data on IAS that would otherwise be impos- were observed whereas no remarkable differences
sible to collect because of limitations on time and
resources (Mannino & Balistreri, 2018). were highlighted between the two sites of each
We report first observations on the effects of C. area. In the area 1, characterized by a higher rate
cylindracea on the communities living along the of sedimentation, C. cylindracea was more abun-
coasts of the Island of Favignana (Egadi Islands dant (a mean % coverage of 46±8.1) and behaved
MPA), carried out during the citizen science project as a pioneer species (Fig. 2). The active mecha-
‘Caulerpa cylindracea - Egadi Islands’, aimed at nism of stolonisation allowed C. cylindracea to
monitoring the spread dynamics of C. cylindracea
within the Egadi Islands MPA.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Study area

The Egadi Islands MPA (Aegadian Archipel-
ago), instituted in 1991, is the largest Italian MPA.
This archipelago, located approximately 7–9 km
from the western coast of Sicily (Italy, Tyrrhenian
Sea), is composed of three main islands (Favignana,
Marettimo and Levanzo) and a few small islets (Ga-
leotta, Galera, Preveto, Formica and Maraone).
The study was carried out at Cala San Giuseppe,
one of the old calcarenitic opencast mine, currently
submerged by the sea, located in the northern side
of the Favignana Island (37°56’07.00’’N,
12°20’02.59’’E - Fig. 1).

Sampling
Figure 1. Map showing Cala San Giuseppe (Favignana
Samples were carried out in summer 2016 in Island, Sicily, Italy) and the sampling areas.