Assessment and quantification of the anthropic impact on the posidonia oceanica seagrass meadow

Abstract

The regression of seagrass meadows has been extensively studied over the past few years. Although the causes of this regression may be locally natural, it is more generally related to human impact. In the framework of the HalGolo (2010) and CoralCorse (2013) oceanographic campaigns, acoustic data (mosaic of sonograms and bathymetry), validated by field data (Scuba diving, ROV), were acquired at depths of -10 m and -50 m at the NATURA 2000 site “Grand Herbier de la Plaine Orientale” (Western Mediterranean, Corsica). Processing of this data provided evidence of the scale of this mechanical degradation (trawling scars, mooring, etc.), and enabled its quantification with regard to surface area and scar density. The main degradation was observed between -20 and – 40 m depth (98%); the surface area of seagrass meadow destroyed is estimated at 280 ha with more than 40 scars per hectare recorded in the northern part of the site. Given the slow growth rate of the meadow, assuming the hypothesis of the ending of these practices, it would require almost 150 years to recover these scars