CONTEMPORARY SALT-MARSH FORAMINIFERAL DISTRIBUTION FROM THE ADRIATIC COAST OF CROATIA AND ITS POTENTIAL FOR SEA-LEVEL STUDIES

Salt-marsh foraminifera serve as proxy sea-level indicators due to a quantifiable relationship with elevation in the contemporary environment. In this paper, we document the distribution of salt-marsh foraminifera from two microtidal sites, Jadrtovac and Blace, along the Adriatic coast of Croatia and assess their suitability as proxies for elevation in transfer-function-based reconstructions of sea level, which has so far evaded the Mediterranean region. The assemblages are dominated by typical salt-marsh agglutinated taxa, Jadammina macrescens and Trochammina inflata, and the calcareous taxa Ammonia spp. and Quinqueloculina spp. Quantitative analyses revealed that the assemblages are divided into three faunal zones, which are elevation dependent, and where an assemblage dominated by J. macrescens and T. inflata extends to higher elevations in the intertidal frame. The training set was used to develop a tidal- level transfer function using linear regression due to the short environmental gradients observed. The model predicts sea level with a precision of ± 0.08 m. This study highlights the strong potential of salt-marsh foraminifera in reconstructing RSL trends for the Mediterranean region, where studies of past sea-level have previously been restricted to other indicators

Tectonic influences on late Holocene relative sea levels from the central-eastern Adriatic coast of Croatia

Differential tectonic activity is a key factor responsible for variable relative sea-level (RSL) changes during the late Holocene in the Adriatic. Here, we compare reconstructions of RSL from the central-eastern Adriatic coast of Croatia with ICE-7G_NA (VM7) glacial-isostatic model RSL predictions to assess underlying driving mechanisms of RSL change during the past ∼ 2700 years. Local standardized published sea-level index points (n = 23) were combined with a new salt-marsh RSL reconstruction and tide-gauge measurements. We enumerated fossil foraminifera from a short salt-marsh sediment core constrained vertically by modern foraminiferal distributions, and temporally by radiometric analyses providing sub-century resolution within a Bayesian age-depth framework. We modelled changes in RSL using an Errors-In-Variables Integrated Gaussian Process (EIV-IGP) model with full consideration of the available uncertainty. Previously established index points show RSL rising from −1.48 m at 715 BCE to −1.05 m by 100 CE at 0.52 mm/yr (−0.82-1.87 mm/yr). Between 500 and 1000 CE RSL was −0.7 m below present rising to −0.25 m at 1700 CE. RSL rise decreased to a minimum rate of 0.13 mm/yr (−0.37-0.64 mm/yr) at ∼1450 CE. The salt-marsh reconstruction shows RSL rose ∼0.28 m since the early 18th century at an average rate of 0.95 mm/yr. Magnitudes and rates of RSL change during the twentieth century are concurrent with long-term tide-gauge measurements, with a rise of ∼1.1 mm/yr. Predictions of RSL from the ICE-7G_NA (VM7) glacial-isostatic model (−0.25 m at 715 BCE) are consistently higher than the reconstruction (−1.48 m at 715 BCE) during the Late Holocene suggesting a subsidence rate of 0.45 ± 0.6 mm/yr. The new salt-marsh reconstruction and regional index points coupled with glacial-isostatic and statistical models estimate the magnitude and rate of RSL change and subsidence caused by the Adriatic tectonic framework. © 2018 Elsevier Lt

Meeting of the Ecosystem Approach Correspondence Group on on Pollution Monitoring (CorMon Pollution)

In accordance with the UNEP/MAP Programme of Work adopted by COP 21 for the biennium 2020-2021, the United Nations Environment Programme/Mediterranean Action Plan-Barcelona Convention Secretariat (UNEP/MAP) and its Programme for the Assessment and Control of Marine Pollution in the Mediterranean (MED POL) organized the Meeting of the Ecosystem Approach Correspondence Group on Pollution Monitoring (CorMon on Pollution Monitoring). The Meeting was held via videoconference on 26-27 April 2021. 2. The main objectives of the Meeting were to: a) Review the Monitoring Guidelines/Protocols for IMAP Common Indicator 18, as well as the Monitoring Guidelines/Protocols for Analytical Quality Assurance and Reporting of Monitoring Data for IMAP Common Indicators 13, 14, 17, 18 and 20; b) Take stock of the state of play of inter-laboratory testing and good laboratory practice related to IMAP Ecological Objectives 5 and 9; c) Analyze the proposal for the integration and aggregation rules for IMAP Ecological Objectives 5, 9 and 10 and assessment criteria for contaminants and nutrients; d) Recommend the ways and means to strengthen implementation of IMAP Pollution Cluster towards preparation of the 2023 MED Quality Status Report

First record of Po brook lamprey, Lethenteron zanandreai (Cephalaspidomorphi: Petromyzontiformes: Petromyzontidae), in the Hutovo Blato wetland, Bosnia and Herzegovina

On 14 July 2007 two metamorphosed males of the Po brook lamprey, Lethenteron zanandreai (Vladykov, 1955), were caught in the Hutovo Blato wetland, Neretva River basin (Adriatic Sea watershed) in Bosnia and Herzegovina. This is the first report on the occurrence of this species in the waters of Bosnia and Herzegovina. New evidence of their original distributional range extended eastward is presented

First record of Po brook lamprey, Lethenteron zanandreai (Cephalaspidomorphi: Petromyzontiformes: Petromyzontidae), in the Hutovo Blato wetland, Bosnia and Herzegovina

On 14 July 2007 two metamorphosed males of the Po brook lamprey, Lethenteron zanandreai (Vladykov, 1955), were caught in the Hutovo Blato wetland, Neretva River basin (Adriatic Sea watershed) in Bosnia and Herzegovina. This is the first report on the occurrence of this species in the waters of Bosnia and Herzegovina. New evidence of their original distributional range extended eastward is presented

First substantiated record of the black-striped pipefish, Syngnathus abaster (Actinopterygii: Syngnathiformes: Syngnathidae), in the freshwaters of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Although the ichthyofauna of Bosnia and Herzegovina has been relatively well studied, the knowledge remains incomplete. This report confirms the occurrence of the black-striped pipefish Syngnathus abaster Risso, 1827 in the freshwaters of Bosnia and Herzegovina. A sample specimen of the black-striped pipefish was obtained from the Neretva River in Bosnia and Herzegovina in July 2011. The morphometric measurements and meristic counts were taken. Although the black-striped pipefish has previously been reported to exist in this region, the data were not reliable or conclusive. Therefore the finding reported herewith can be considered the first substantiated record from Bosnia and Herzegovina and extends the previously known distribution range for this species into freshwaters

Northernmost occurrence of the white grouper, Epinephelus aeneus (Perciformes: Serranidae), in the Mediterranean area

Background. On 5 March 2006 an adult specimen of white grouper, Epinephelus aeneus (Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1817), was caught with long-line gear off the Island Dugi otok (between islets Mužanj and Sakarun, eastern Adriatic Sea, Croatian coast, 44°06′46.9″N; 14°53′47.08″E) on a soft, sandy bottom at a depth of 40 meters. The capture location is around 400 km north of the northern range of distribution in the Adriatic and around 800 km north of the northern limit of distribution published earlier. This is the northernmost occurrence of the white grouper in the Mediterranean area. As a top carnivorous species and among the largest coastal fish species, groupers could probably influence ecology of many native fish species and affect local artisanal fishery

The first record of non-native largemouth black bass, Micropterus salmoides (Actinopterygii: Perciformes: Centrarchidae), in Bosnia and Herzegovina

This paper describes the first record of the largemouth black bass, Micropterus salmoides (Lacepède, 1802)—a non-native fish species—in the freshwaters of Bosnia and Herzegovina. A single specimen was captured in the Sava River near the small town of Kaoci (northern Bosnia and Herzegovina) in December 2014. The origin of this introduction is not known, but most probably it was a dispersal from neighbouring freshwater habitats from other parts of the Sava River basin in Croatia and the Danube River in Serbia