Relationships between size and abundance in beach plastics: A power-law approach

Sandy beaches are one of the most relevant coastal environments in terms of socio-ecological and economical value. So, the presence and accumulation of plastic litter determines a degradation of these values, and calls for management actions for cleaning are required. In this research, we investigated the features of plastic litter distribution on a Mediterranean beach in relation to size and abundance of the sampled items. Simple allometric models were applied with the aim to provide a parsimonious tool for estimating the amount and sizes of the beach plastic litter. The results show effective relations between size and abundance of plastic items according to the power-law distribution. This relationship could support decision-makers to estimate the total amount of beach plastics through the application of a simple model instead of more complex models requiring the estimation of many parameters and the availability of large datasets

Between a rock and a hard place: Environmental and engineering considerations when designing coastal defence structures

Coastal defence structures are proliferating as a result of rising sea levels and stormier seas. With the realisation that most coastal infrastructure cannot be lost or removed, research is required into ways that coastal defence structures can be built to meet engineering requirements, whilst also providing relevant ecosystem services—so-called ecological engineering. This approach requires an understanding of the types of assemblages and their functional roles that are desirable and feasible in these novel ecosystems. We review the major impacts coastal defence structures have on surrounding environments and recent experiments informing building coastal defences in a more ecologically sustainable manner. We summarise research carried out during the THESEUS project (2009–2014) which optimised the design of coastal defence structures with the aim to conserve or restore native species diversity. Native biodiversity could be manipulated on defence structures through various interventions: we created artificial rock pools, pits and crevices on breakwaters; we deployed a precast habitat enhancement unit in a coastal defence scheme; we tested the use of a mixture of stone sizes in gabion baskets; and we gardened native habitat-forming species, such as threatened canopy-forming algae on coastal defence structures. Finally, we outline guidelines and recommendations to provide multiple ecosystem services while maintaining engineering efficacy. This work demonstrated that simple enhancement methods can be cost-effective measures to manage local biodiversity. Care is required, however, in the wholesale implementation of these recommendations without full consideration of the desired effects and overall management goals

Information gain and loss between masterlists and intermediary-level protocols for the sampling of beached macrolitter

The compared performance of citizen scientists with respect to professional scientists is still an open debate. In particular, marine litter was found to be a topic where relevant inputs proceed from citizen scientists. Here we compared two protocols for marine litter items and material identification, i.e. the OSPAR masterlist and its intermediary version adapted to citizen actions by NGOs, in terms of information structuring (Principal Component Analysis and Normalized Entropy Criterion) and correlation with beach ecology variables (Random Forest regression). Differences between results from different protocols were found related to two main causes: a) the sporadic occurrence of less common items only present in the OSPAR masterlist, and b) the engagement of citizens in specific campaigns proposed by NGOs. Models from both protocols returned high percentages of variability explained. In particular, those referring to the general categories of “materials” resulted best performing than those referring to the more detailed “items” categories. Among ecological variables, beach width was confirmed the most informative one, outperforming exposure and season (at least for the case study considered). This matches with the vision backing the Coast Cleanliness Index, proposed to relate marine litter to beach available area

Best practices, good practices and guidelines: a critical review based on different management options in protected areas of cross-boundary Adriatic-Ionian region

Best practices are, by definition, the best ways to reach a specific goal. In the environmental field, best practices are experiences and quality projects carried out in the territory, by institutions, companies or citizens, that produce benefits in different environmental sectors applied to solve a concrete problem. Relevant features of best practices are their validation and replicability in time and space. In the context of the EU Co-funded BIG (Improve governance, management and sustainable valorization of coastal and rural protected areas and contributing to the implementation of the Natura 2000 provisions in Greece and Italy) best practices have been collected through a web search and questionnaires submitted to the managers of the protected areas to build a reference database/atlas. The database critical analysis has highlighted some gaps about the effective presence and applicability of these best practices. Moreover, their effectiveness has been analyzed on the base of the specific characteristics of the Italian and Greek areas involved in the BIG project. Some contrasting problems to the best practice definition have been highlighted

Chapter 7. Case studies worldwide. Section 7.6 Risk Assessment and Mitigation in a Low-lying Coastal Area: Cesenatico, Northern Italy

The Emilia Romagna littoral is located in the northeast of Italy and comprises 130 km of low and sandy coast, most of which are strongly urbanized. The Emilia Romagna beaches face the Northern Adriatic Sea, a relatively shallow epi-continental shelf with low tidal amplitude. A general erosive tendency is mainly caused by the reduced sediment transport rates of the rivers and by the increased anthropogenic subsidence. Subsidence, eustatism, and erosion of dunes pose a serious threat for coastal flooding. Cesenatico municipality is included in the province of Forl\u131`-Cesena. The site is famous for its marina and is a well-known tourist resort with a sandy beach rich in bathing facilities