Effects of Natural and Anthropogenic Stressors on Fucalean Brown Seaweeds Across Different Spatial Scales in the Mediterranean Sea

Este artículo contiene 14 páginas, 8 figuras, 3 tablas.Algal habitat-forming forests composed of fucalean brown seaweeds (Cystoseira, Ericaria, and Gongolaria) have severely declined along the Mediterranean coasts, endangering the maintenance of essential ecosystem services. Numerous factors determine the loss of these assemblages and operate at different spatial scales, which must be identified to plan conservation and restoration actions. To explore the critical stressors (natural and anthropogenic) that may cause habitat degradation, we investigated (a) the patterns of variability of fucalean forests in percentage cover (abundance) at three spatial scales (location, forest, transect) by visual estimates and or photographic sampling to identify relevant spatial scales of variation, (b) the correlation between semi-quantitative anthropogenic stressors, individually or cumulatively (MA-LUSI index), including natural stressors (confinement, sea urchin grazing), and percentage cover of functional groups (perennial, semi-perennial) at forest spatial scale. The results showed that impacts from mariculture and urbanization seem to be the main stressors affecting habitat-forming species. In particular, while mariculture, urbanization, and cumulative anthropogenic stress negatively correlated with the percentage cover of perennial fucalean species, the same stressors were positively correlated with the percentage cover of the semi-perennial Cystoseira compressa and C. compressa subsp. pustulata. Our results indicate that human impacts can determine spatial patterns in these fragmented and heterogeneous marine habitats, thus stressing the need of carefully considering scale-dependent ecological processes to support conservation and restoration.This study was supported by the European Union’s EASME (Executive Agency for Small and Medium Enterprise) and EMFF (European Maritime and Fisheries fund) as part of the project AFRIMED, “Algal Forest Restoration in the Mediterranean Sea” (under grant agreement no. 789059), http:// afrimed-project.eu/.Peer reviewe

The assessment of water quality of shushica river (vlora) based on preliminary data of benthic macro invertebrates

This study was carried out on Shushica River, a branch of Vjosa River, located in the Vlora district south west Albania, during 2017. This river flows from the Kuçi area parallel with the main road in all her longitude. The recent process of rehabilitation of this road and the process of human population growth in this region is expected to have a severe impact in watershed and water quality of this area through reduction of microhabitat diversity and its associated biodiversity. During this study three stations were chosen randomly on the stream and samples were taken seasonally (Spring and Summer 2017). Here we are presenting the preliminary data based on the identification of a total number of 841 organisms. The collected samples include organisms from class: Annelid (Oligochaeta) and Insecta. Insects are dominating throughout all the sampling period. Between organisms of class Insecta dominant are the families Chironomidae and Simulidae (Diptera), Elmidae (Coleoptera), Hydropsychidae (Trichoptera), and Heptagenidae (Ephemeroptera). Based on the collected data the EPT index (abundances in the sample of the organisms belonging to the orders Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera and Trichoptera in comparison to the total number of organisms in the sample) was calculated. Based on the published data of different recent studies the water quality of the river is related directly with the higher relative abundance of those taxa

EVALUATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL SITUATION IN NARTA LAGOON, VLORA, ALBANIA : Received: 07th March 2022; Revised: 09th April 2022, 14th June 2022, 24th June 2022; Accepted: 25th June 2022

Narta Lagoon is one of the biggest Lagoons in Albania. It is situated in the southern part of the Vjosa River delta. Two canals in the northwest and southwest parts of the lagoon connect it to the Adriatic Sea. These artificial canals enable the water exchange process with the sea during tidal flow. Vjose - Narta area is considered a Protected Landscape, so environmental monitoring is important. Setting and design: Water samples were taken monthly, at six evenly distributed sample stations. The study was conducted from January – to December 2018. Materials and methods: The assessment of microbial contamination was performed with the MPN method. Total coliform, fecal coliform, and fecal streptococci were tested as fecal contamination indicators. PH and salinity were the physicochemical parameters analyzed. Conclusions: the cleanest sampling station is the one near contact with the seawater. The most polluted stations are stations 2, 4, and 6. Temperature values range from 5 oC in January to 33 oC in August. Lagoon pollution is caused by an anthropogenic factor as well as a lack of appropriate cleaning strategies