La certificación del Parque Nacional del Circeo (Italia central) : evaluación de la calidad de las aguas superficiales

Se ha evaluado la calidad biológica de las aguas corrientes del Parque Nacional del Circeo (Italia Central) en el ámbito de un proyecto de Certificación de esta Área Protegida según la Norma Internacional UNI EN ISO 14001. La calidad ambiental ha sido analizada en 25 estaciones de 13 cursos de agua (Fosso Bagnara, Fosso Fontana delle Rose, Fosso Arciglioni, Fosso Capogrosso, Rio Nocchia, Canale Cicerchia, Diversivo Nocchia, Canale Caterattino, Fiume Ninfa, Collettore Acque Medie, Rio Martino, Canale Papale, Rio Torto) a través de métodos de monitoreo biológico (tests toxicológicos del sedimento e índices biológicos) en el período comprendido entre el invierno del 2000 y la primavera del 2001. Los tests toxicológicos han comprendido el test de inhibición de la bioluminiscencia de la bacteria Vibrio fischeri y el test de germinación de semillas de 3 especies vegetales. Han sido calculados los índices bióticos I.B.E y B.M.W.P.', basados en las comunidades de macroinvertebrados bentónicos (muestreadas con red de mano), y los índices G.I.S., basados sobre las comunidades de macrófitos acuáticos. Ha sido también calculado el índice de funcionalidad fluvial (I.F.F.) en base a las características bióticas y abióticas del sistema acuático y del sistema terrestre asociado. En general la baja calidad de las aguas corrientes examinadas puede relacionarse con las modificaciones artificiales del álveo y a la contaminación química de origen urbana, agrícola e industrial. Estos factores antrópicos han causado la simplificación de las estructuras de las comunidades bentónicas (dominadas por pocas especies resistentes) y la alteración de la funcionalidad de los cursos de agua.An evaluation of the biological quality of running waters of the Circeo National Park (Central Italy) was performed according to the Certification Project of this Protected Area considering the International Standard UNI EN ISO 14001. The environmental quality was analysed in 25 sampling sites of 13 watercourses (Fosso Bagnara, Fosso Fontana delle Rose, Fosso Arciglioni, Fosso Capogrosso, Rio Nocchia, Canale Cicerchia, Diversivo Nocchia, Canale Caterattino, Fiume Ninfa, Collettore Acque Medie, Rio Martino, Canale Papale, Rio Torto) utilizing methods of biological monitoring (sediment toxicity tests and biological indexes) between winter 2000 and spring 2001. Toxicity tests included bio-luminescence inhibition of the bacterium Vibrio fischeri, and seed germination of 3 plant species. Biotic indexes (I.B.E and B.M.W.P') were calculated in relation to the macroinvertebrate communities (sampled with handheld net) and G.I.S. indexes were calculated in relation to aquatic macrophyte communities. The Fluvial Functionality Index was also calculated, taking into account the biotic and abiotic features of the aquatic system and its associated terrestrial system. Generally, the low quality of the studied watercourses can be related to artificial changes and chemical pollution coming from urban, agricultural and industrial areas. These anthropogenic factors have led to simplified benthic communities (dominated by a low number of tolerant species) and have altered the functionality of the watercourses

Cumulative Spatial and Temporal Analysis of Anthropogenic Impacts in the Protected Area of the Gran Paradiso National Park in the NW Alps, Italy

Anthropogenic threats are responsible for habitat degradation and biodiversity decline. The mapping of the distribution and intensity of threats to biodiversity can be useful for informing efficient planning in protected areas. In this study, we propose a cumulative spatial and temporal analysis of anthropogenic impacts insisting on an alpine protected area, the Gran Paradiso National Park. The applied methodology starts with the construction of a spatial and temporal dataset of anthropogenic impacts and normalization based on relative intensity. The impacts analyzed include overgrazing, helicopter flights, road networks, built-up areas, worksites, derivations and discharges, sports activities, and dams and hydroelectric power plants. Each impact was assigned a weight based on its temporal persistence. Threats maps obtained from the collected, normalized, and weighted geodata are thus obtained. Finally, the risk map is calculated by combining the impact map with the vulnerability map, estimated through the methodology outlined in the Green Guidelines of the Metropolitan City of Turin. The risk map obtained was cross-referenced with the Park’s cartography to highlight any critical issues to specific habitats. Results show that most of the territory falls in low-risk (63%) or no-risk (35%) areas. However, there are some habitats that are totally or nearly totally affected by some degree of risk, although different to zero, such as the “Lentic waters with aquatic vegetation [incl. cod. 3130]”, the “Lentic waters partially buried”, the “Mountain pine forests (Pinus uncinata) [cod. 9430]”, and the “Mixed hygrophilous woods of broad-leaved trees [incl. cod. 91E0]”. This study highlights both the potential of these analyses, which enable informed management and planning of the fruition of protected areas, and the limitations of such approaches, which require in-depth knowledge of the territory and ecosystems and how they respond to threats in order to refine the model and obtain realistic maps

La valutazione e il monitoraggio degli ecostistemi fluviali attraverso l'uso di metodologie di biondicazione

Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche - Biblioteca Centrale - P.le Aldo Moro, 7 Rome / CNR - Consiglio Nazionale delle RichercheSIGLEITItal

Studio delle macrofite acquatiche per la caratterizzazione di alcuni corsi d'acqua della CalabriaRisorsa elettronica

Dottorato di Ricerca in Biologia Vegetale, XXI Ciclo,a.a.2008-2009Università della Calabri

Response of macrophyte communities to flow regulation in mountain streams. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment

River macrophytes are widely used in fresh- tation procedure. Plant similarity between sites was water ecosystem assessment because of their sensitivity evaluated at the level of phylum, and indicator species to anthropogenic pressures, even if there are only a few analysis was performed to identify the taxa most sensi- studies that investigated how macrophytes respond to tive or tolerant to water regulation. We found that the water regime alterations. In this study, we analyzed the effects of dams on river macrophyte communities overall environmental setting overwhelms the dam im- pact and that the influence of hydrological alteration through a comparison between upstream and down- became apparent when comparing upstream and down- stream sides from 18 dams located in Alps and stream assemblages at the same dam. In particular, we Apennines. A co-inertia analysis and a Mantel test were found that most of taxa had a higher affinity with the applied to assess if the analysis of environmental pa- downstream side and that in general, stream regulation rameters could be effective in predicting macrophyte increases plant richness and coverage, but reduces com- community structure. We analyzed morphological and physicochemical inter-site differences and tested the munity evenness. Analyses based on higher taxonomic groups (phyla) demonstrated that this community can be influence of dams on various aspects of community effectively used in bioassessment even at phylum level structure (composition, richness, diversity, dominance, analysis. In particular, we found that bryophytes, strictly linked with changes in substrate stability, show particu- Electronic supplementary material The online version of this lar sensitivity to water regulation in mountain streams

Distribution and ecology of red algae in Italian rivers

reshwater red algae are rarely documented in Italy, although their presence is quite common in European watercourses. The few data available about this algal group are reported in broader studies concerning algal flora of Italian rivers. This paper is aimed to broaden the knowledge on red algae in Italian running waters, by providing new findings on this algal group occurrence in Italy. Samples of Lemanea fluviatilis, Batrachospermum gelatinosum, Bangia atropurpurea, Compsopogon caeruleus, Hildenbrandia rivularis and samples at sporophytic Chantransia stage, were collected from 29 sites along 16 watercourses of central Italy. For each species, we provided a review on the geographical distribution, mainly at European and Italian scale. We also contributed to better define the autoecology of these species, by increasing data on their ecology and defining quantitatively their ecological responses to main environmental factors. In this study we recorded the first finding of a spontaneous population of the subtropical C. caeruleus in Italy