Preprint volume - SIBM

Pre-print Volume - Oral presentations
Topic 1: BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION SCIENCE: CONTRIBUTING TO MANAGEMENT
will be tested performing also genetic analysis; d) floristic surveys confirmed the
presence of species reported from literature of the island but also some autochthonous
and alien species, new for the island, were found.
Conclusions – Both projects provided original data on community composition and an
population structure of marine and terrestrial (plants) organisms in the two study areas.
Marine research activities, being conducted in snorkeling, focused on a particularly
delicate zone of MPA: from 0-5 m depth - the supra, medium and superior infralittoral
fringe - corresponding to the most impacted zone by bathers, and ecologically, to
recruitment sites for many marine organisms. Snorkelers data supply provides a real
added value to conventional scientific research that usually focus on the inferior
infralittoral fringe (common methodologies involve scuba diving, scientific vessels and
remote equipment, e.g. ROV) by completing data collection and conservation status
assessment. Volunteer and students research activities can be structured both in order
to monitor community composition (e.g. SVMP) or population structure of key species
(e.g. invasive alien species, For-Mare). In conclusion, as already demonstrated by other
experience (Dehrr et al., 2007; Bell et al., 2008), people science’s education programs
for scientific purposes should be considered as useful research tools for conservation
biology purposes in Italian MPAs. A well structured and integrated management of
data output from volunteers programs could represent a clever system to fill gaps of
knowledge caused by limited research funding, with the associated side-effect of
developing people motivation for environmental protection and sustainable tourisms in
MPAs. Taking into account the above considerations, the establishment of a national
network of interest that guarantees scientific level and quality control of data output
from such volunteer programs (see www.for-mare.eu aims and objectives) could be an
important issue to discuss amongst SIBM.
Acknowledgements: Area Marine Protetta delle ‘Cinque Terre’, Area Marina Protetta ‘Isole Pelagie’, Parco
Naturale Regionale di Porto Venere, Polo Nord Diving, Gruppo Seawatching, Commissione Scientifica For-Mare,
Associazione Culturale ‘Il Melograno’, Provincia e Comune di Pavia, Comune di Piacenza, Istituto
omnicomprensivo L. Pirandello Lampedusa-Linosa, Centro Recupero Tartarughe, Scubapro, FIAS, Legambiente
Liguria, Associazione Nomofazu-Lecce.
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