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We live in the era of the fourth industrial revolution, where everything - from small objects to entire factories - is smart and connected, and we are also strongly accustomed to comforts and services, but emergent questions are arising. What are the consequences of human activities on terrestrial and aquatic/marine systems? And how does the loss o...
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... important challenge of our work is to increase the environmental awareness of students, decision makers, citizens, and tourists through actively engaging them in scientific research. Representatives of each target group participate on board the JDC's vessels under the citizen science activities and trainings on the complete guidelines for the design and conduction of Marine Mammals Surveys, threats and conservation implications are provided beforehand. The public participation in scientific research is essential to promote a more conscientious environmental education necessary to protect the marine heritage ( Figure 4). Students, tourists, citizen will live a unique experience discovering the surprising beauty of cetaceans in their natural environment. ...
Context 2
... important challenge of our work is to increase the environmental awareness of students, decision makers, citizens, and tourists through actively engaging them in scientific research. Representatives of each target group participate on board the JDC's vessels under the citizen science activities and trainings on the complete guidelines for the design and conduction of Marine Mammals Surveys, threats and conservation implications are provided beforehand. The public participation in scientific research is essential to promote a more conscientious environmental education necessary to protect the marine heritage ( Figure 4). Students, tourists, citizen will live a unique experience discovering the surprising beauty of cetaceans in their natural environment. ...
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Citations
... Biomass time series for each benthopelagic and demersal FG were obtained from MEDITS data collection (Spedicato et al., 2019), while biomass data on the 4 odontocetes were estimated using abundance data collected through monitoring surveys conducted by Jonian Dolphin Conservation using the distance sampling method (see Carlucci et al., 2017). Abundance data were transformed into biomass using the individual weight of investigated odontocetes using information on body-mass weight available for the study and surrounding areas (Piroddi et al., 2010;Ricci et al., 2020b;Ingrosso et al., 2022). ...
A modelling approach applied to the study of ecosystems from a management and conservation point of view allows their complexity to be investigated and represents a tool for meeting sustainability goals, part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Tying into Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 13 and 14, the human activities of fisheries and climate change represent two pivotal drivers for the marine environment, acting on keystone predators, such as odontocetes. A calibrated time-dynamic model (Ecopath with Ecosim) was developed to investigate the effects on the odontocetes and their main prey in the Northern Ionian Sea (Central Mediter-ranean Sea), according to changes in trawl fishery and primary productivity. In particular, the food web of the Gulf of Taranto (GoT) is described by 51 functional groups (FGs), with four odontocetes (striped, common bottlenose, Risso's dolphin and sperm whale) represented as a single FG, and 5 fishing fleets. The calibration of the Ecosim model was carried out during the period 2009-2018 using a combination of automatic and manual fitting procedures. Changes in trawling fishing effort (increases, reductions and bans) and in primary production were tested in the period until to 2040 to detect the effect on the biomass of odontocetes and their main prey. The cumulative effects of the two drivers were assessed using an Interaction Effect Index. Fishery showed negligible effects on all odontocetes, with the exception of the common bottlenose dolphin which respond in a negative way to an increase in fishing effort. The reduction in top-predators due to fishing seems to lead to a reduction in predation pressure on meso-consumers, and thus to an increase in predation pressure on basal prey. Similarly, the bottom-up effect due to increased primary production tends to be diluted towards the top of the trophic network, with slight effects on odontocetes. The trophic interaction pattern tends to mediate the effects tested in the model with a variety of different outcomes on prey. The application of the interaction effects index could contribute to disentangling the effects of fishing and climate on the food web, providing information to address the analysis required by the SDG 14 targets.
... Several fields of work experienced the application of citizen science mobile apps, for example, the Audubon Society's annual Christmas Bird Count, which drew >60,000 observers in 2009, or the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency's Volunteer Monitoring program, through which they trained volunteers to improve the monitoring of water quality in lakes and streams across the United States (Graham et al., 2011). The citizen science activity has also proved to be a winning weapon for the monitoring of cetaceans in the Gulf of Taranto, representing a useful tool to support the protection of highly important species for their ecological role in the marine food web and from the conservation point of view as threatened species listed in the Red List of International Union for Conservation of Nature (Carlucci et al., , 2017Maglietta et al., 2022;Ricci et al., 2021). ...
Plastic pollution is involving large coastal areas of the Mediterranean Sea. Innovative methods of plastic monitoring can be addressed through the citizen science approaches integrated with mobile phones. On the other hand, the availability of mobile phones is increasing among several users. Mobile phones can be integrated with a web mobile app, which allows to collect a lot of data for extended areas and in a short temporal range. In this study, the web service of iNaturalist was applied to implement a mobile phone-based tool to collect pictures of plastic items. At present, the web mobile app has been used to collect pictures of plastic debris in the Medi-terranean Sea. Results were compared with the Mediterranean hydrodynamic regime, to highlight the pathways and densities of the plastic items. The proposed mobile phone-based tool represented a citizen science approach useful for the acquisition of plastic observations in the marine and coastal environment.
... The NIS includes several important habitats from a conservation point of view in shallow (including seagrass meadows and coralligenous outcrops), pelagic (upwelling sites) and deep-sea areas (including submarine canyon and cold-water coral banks) Bo et al., 2011;D'Onghia et al., 2016;Carlucci et al., 2018c;Castellan et al., 2019;Chimienti et al., 2019) ensuring favourable conditions for the support of a high biological diversity and providing diverse ecological services (Carlucci et al., 2021a). Moreover, the study area has been widely recognized as a critical area for the day-to-day life of striped dolphin Stenella coeruleoalba and common bottlenose Tursiops truncatus (Carlucci et al., 2016a;Carlucci et al., 2017;Carlucci et al., 2018b;Ciccarese et al., 2019;Santacesaria et al., 2019;Azzolin et al., 2020). In particular, the spatial distribution and areas where these dolphins realize feeding, resting, socializing, and traveling activities have been identified (Carlucci et al., 2018b;Papale et al., 2020). ...
The assessment of the spatial overlap between eligible cetacean conservation areas (CCAs) and fishing grounds could be a strategic element in the implementation of effective conservation measures in the pelagic offshore areas. A multi-species bio-economic modelling approach has been applied to estimate the fishing traits in eligible CCAs in the Northern Ionian Sea (NIS, Central Mediterranean Sea) between 10-800 m of depth, adopting the Spatial MAnagement of demersal Resources for Trawl fisheries model (SMART). Four possible CCAs were defined according to the distribution of cetacean species, their bio-ecological needs, as well as socio-economic needs of human activities, identifying a Blue, Red, Orange and Green CCAs in the NIS. SMART spatial domain was a grid with 500 square cells (15×15 NM). The analysis was conducted for the period 2016-2019, considering the Otter Trawl Bottom (OTB) fleet activities in the study areas through the Vessel Monitoring System. The spatial extension of fishing activities, hourly fishing effort (h), landings (tons) and economic value (euros) for each CCA and the NIS were estimated as yearly median values. Fishing activities were absent in the Blue CCA, where the presence of the submarine canyon head does not offer accessible fishing grounds. The hourly fishing effort in the Green area accounted for about 22% (3443 h) of the total hourly effort of the NIS, while the Orange and Red areas were about 8% (1226 h) and 2% (295 h), respectively. The Green CCA corresponded to about 14% (36 tons) of the total landings in the NIS, whereas the Orange and Red areas represented about 9% (22 tons) and 6% (16 tons), respectively. The Green CCA accounted for about 13% (156 thousand euros) of the total economic value of the NIS, while the Orange and Red areas represented about 6% (69 thousand euros) and 4% (44thousand euros), respectively. Results showed no or negligible negative effects on trawl activities by potential spatial restrictions due to the establishment of CCAs highlighting the importance to consider spatially integrated information during the establishment process of conservation areas for cetacean biodiversity according to the principles of Ecosystem Based Management.
... In the Gulf of Taranto (GoT, Northern Ionian Sea, Central Mediterranean Sea), a rich biodiversity of cetaceans occurs in the coastal and deep habitats [7,8,9,10], as well as several fishing grounds are exploited by fishery, where the trawling is the most important fleet [11,12,13]. Recently, a food web model of the entire ecosystem has been realized focusing the attention on the role of odontocetes, such as the striped dolphin (Stenella coeruleoalba), the common bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus), the Risso dolphin (Grampus griseus) and the sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) [14]. ...
... The complex morphology of the area, together with the circulation of water masses, involving the occurrence of seasonal and decadal upwelling currents [73][74][75][76], plays a significant role in sustaining productivity and the abundant presence of benthopelagic cephalopods [77][78][79][80]. These characteristics make the entire Gulf a hot spot of cetacean biodiversity [81], in which G. griseus represents an important top predator able to play top-down control roles activating trophic cascades in the food web [82,83]. Additionally, several human pressures or threats affect the basin resulting in possible direct and indirect impacts on cetaceans [84,85]. ...
Relatively scant information is available on the Risso’s dolphin in comparison to the other species regularly present in the Mediterranean Sea. Recently, its conservation status has been updated to Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in this Sea. Therefore, the need to increase information on its biology and ecology is even more urgent. This study reports the first preliminary information on the behavioral traits of the species occurring in the Gulf of Taranto (Northern Ionian Sea). Data on predominant behavioral activity states and on a set of group composition variables (group formation, cruising speed, dive duration and interaction between individuals) were collected from April 2019 to September 2021, applying the focal-group protocol with instantaneous scan sampling. Group size, depth and group composition variables were compared between activity states. Results highlight that both the group size and the several variables considered varied significantly depending on activity state. The group size was significantly smaller during feeding than resting and traveling and a characterization in terms of group formation, cruise speed, dive duration and interaction between animals is provided for the different activity states. Moreover, a list of behavioral events which occurred, as well as their relative frequency of distribution among activity states, is reported. Finally, details on the sympatric occurrences between Risso’s and striped dolphins, as well as the repetitive interaction observed between adult individuals and plastic bags floating on the sea surface, are reported and discussed.
... The odontocetes Stenella coeruleoalba, Tursiops truncatus, Grampus griseus and Physeter macrocephalus, as well as the mysticetes Balaenoptera physalus, have all been regularly recorded in the Gulf of Taranto (Northern Ionian Sea, Central Mediterranean Sea) (Dimatteo et al. 2011;Fanizza et al. 2014;Carlucci et al. 2017). However, the ecological roles of these cetaceans and their overlapping with the fishing resources within the food web have not yet been fully and appropriately investigated. ...
The exploitation of fishery resources acts as a driving force on cetaceans both directly, by determining their fishing mortality or injury as by-catch species, and indirectly, through the lowering the availability of their prey. This competitive overlap between fishing and cetaceans often results in inadequate solutions so that in some cases there have been cases of intentional cetacean culling to maximize fishing production. A modelling approach applied to investigate the ecological roles of cetaceans in the food web could prove more effective to integrate ecological and fishing aspects and to provide suggestions for management. The comparative analysis carried out in the Gulf of Taranto (Northern Ionian Sea, Central Mediterranean Sea) showed that fishing exploitation provides impacts on the investigated food web greater than those due to cetacean predation. Trawling was estimated to be the most negatively impacting fishing gear considering the mortality rates and consumption flows. On the other hand, the striped dolphin was the main impact on the food web due to its highest consumption flows. Analysis showed a negative and non-selective impact on the exploited species due to the fishing gears, while the odontocetes proved to select their prey species and provide a positive impact in the assemblage. In particular, while the fishing gears are primarily size selective, targeting mostly large and economically valuable fish, the odontocetes seem to follow a co-evolution process with their prey, developing a specialization in their resources, providing control of the meso-consumers and ensuring a trophic stability in the ecosystem.
... The odontocetes Stenella coeruleoalba, Tursiops truncatus, Grampus griseus and Physeter macrocephalus, as well as the mysticetes Balaenoptera physalus, have all been regularly recorded in the Gulf of Taranto (Northern Ionian Sea, Central Mediterranean Sea) (Dimatteo et al. 2011;Fanizza et al. 2014;Carlucci et al. 2017). However, the ecological roles of these cetaceans and their overlapping with the fishing resources within the food web have not yet been fully and appropriately investigated. ...
In the original publication of the article, the given name and surname of the authors are inverted in the author’s affiliation and in the citation of the article.
... In this study, we focus on cetaceans as a conservation priority for the Gulf of Taranto (Northern Ionian Sea, Central-eastern Mediterranean Sea, Fig. 1). This area is important for different dolphin and whale species, as shown by empirical evidence and long-term monitoring (Dimatteo et al., 2011;Carlucci et al., 2016Carlucci et al., , 2017Carlucci et al., , 2018aCarlucci et al., ,b, 2020aFanizza et al., 2018;Ciccarese et al., 2019;Azzolin et al., 2020;2018;Papale et al., 2020). Starting from the maritime and land-based human activities in the Gulf of Taranto, the cause-effect relationships of direct and indirect human-induced pressures on cetaceans were explored adopting a risk-based approach (Stelzenmüller et al., 2018(Stelzenmüller et al., , 2020. ...
Despite the recognized important ecological role that cetaceans play in the marine environment, their protection is still scarcely enforced in the Mediterranean Sea even though this area is strongly threatened by local human pressures and climate change. The piecemeal of knowledge related to cetaceans' ecology and distribution in the basin undermines the capacity of addressing cetaceans' protection and identifying effective conservation strategies. In this study, an Ecosystem-Based Marine Spatial Planning (EB-MSP) approach is applied to assess human pressures on cetaceans and guide the designation of a conservation area in the Gulf of Taranto, Northern Ionian Sea (Central-eastern Mediterranean Sea). The Gulf of Taranto hosts different cetacean species that accomplish important phases of their life in the area. Despite this fact, the gulf does not fall within any area-based management tools (ABMTs) for cetacean conservation. We pin down the Gulf of Taranto being eligible for the designation of diverse ABMTs for conservation, both legally and non-legally binding. Through a risk-based approach, this study explores the cause-effect relationships that link any human activities and pressures exerted in the study area to potential effects on cetaceans, by identifying major drivers of potential impacts. These were found to be underwater noise, marine litter, ship collision, and competition and disturbance on preys. We draw some recommendations based on different sources of available knowledge produced so far in the area (i.e., empirical evidence, scientific and grey literature, and expert judgement) to boost cetaceans' conservation. Finally, we stress the need of sectoral coordination for the management of human activities by applying an EB-MSP approach and valuing the establishment of an ABMT in the Gulf of Taranto.
... Consequently, the range of cetacean species and their habitat distribution, extent and condition, represent fundamental indicator classes, providing a common currency for evaluating the impacts of different human activities on the habitat suitability and ecosystem functioning. Long-term photo-identification (photo-ID) studies provide insight into habitat use, movements and life history characteristics of cetaceans [1]- [3]. The photo-ID is a non-invasive technique used by scientists around the world, based on the general hypothesis that each individual in its population is unique and has some specific physical characteristics that are useful for its discrimination. ...
This study aims to develop a CNN-based system for dolphins' photo-identification. Starting from 1,960 photos of dolphin fins each one labeled with the related dolphin name, we have developed a predictive model able to classify unknown fins. In particular, the system is composed by two different CNNs. The first one automatically learns how to create a mask to extract the foreground, i.e. the fin, from each original image. Then, these masks are used as starting point for the GrabCut algorithm, which creates more precise binary masks. Finally, the obtained masked images are given as input to the second CNN, which aims to recognize an unknown dolphin's fin, providing a probability for each known individual.
... The main anthropic pressures on the marine environment derive directly from the increase of the human population and its consumptions (Bugnot et al., 2019). Together with the widespread urbanization of the shorelines (Mazaris and Germond, 2018), tourism (Huang et al., 2016), agriculture (Xu et al., 2016), fishing (Fu et al., 2018), aquaculture (Lauria et al., 2018), industrial activities (Carlucci et al., 2017) and maritime transport (Rodríguez-Rodríguez et al., 2015) are the main factors that determine the overall impact on the marine environment, causing degradation of natural habitats and producing consequent decrease and loss of biodiversity (Marignani et al., 2017). These effects are mainly due to the following causes: a) nutrient pollution (nitrogen compounds and phosphorus), which causes eutrophication of coastal waters (Garnier et al., 2018), often accompanied by blooms of toxic algae and phenomena of anoxia (absence of dissolved oxygen) (Howarth, 2008); b) pollution from Hazardous and Noxious Substances (HNS) (Astiaso Garcia et al., 2013), such as trace elements (heavy metals) (Moura et al., 2018), and organohalogenated compounds, such as DDT and PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls mainly used as additives for pesticides), which accumulate in the marine food chain and contaminate tissues of organisms (Jepson and Law, 2016); c) oil and hydrocarbon pollution (Al Shami et al., 2017;Gugliermetti et al., 2007); d) pollution from pathogenic microorganisms (Curren and Leong, 2019); e) impoverishment of species caused by over-fishing (Hinz et al., 2013); f) Disturbance and damage caused to the aquatic fauna by the presence of an increasing number of various vessels, from watercraft to super-tankers ; g) marine litter, and especially the micro-plastics and their degradation products (Hardesty et al., 2017); h) increased levels of underwater noise with both acute and chronic effects on marine life (Tasker, 2016). ...
Getting an overall view of primary data available from existing Earth Observation Systems and networks databases for the Mediterranean Sea, the main objective of this paper is to identify temporal and geographic data gaps and to elaborate a new method for providing a prioritisation of missing data useful for end-users that have to pinpoint strategies and models to fill these gaps. Existing data sources have been identified from the analysis of the main projects and information systems available. A new method to perform the data gap analysis has been developed and applied to the whole Mediterranean basin as case study area, identifying and prioritise geographical and temporal data gaps considering and integrating the biological, geological, chemical and physical branches of the total environment. The obtained results highlighted both the main geographical data gaps subdividing the whole Mediterranean Sea into 23 sub-basins and the temporal data gaps considering data gathered since 1990. Particular attention has been directed to the suitability of data in terms of completeness, accessibility and aggregation, since data and information are often aggregated and could not be used for research needs. The elaborated inventory of existing data source includes a database of 477 data rows originated from 122 data platforms analysed, able to specify for each dataset the related data typologies and its accessibility. The obtained results indicate that 76% of the data comes from ongoing platforms, while the remaining 25% are related to platforms with non-operational monitoring systems. Since the large amount of analysed records includes data gathered in inhomogeneous ways, the prioritisation values obtained for each identified data gap simplify the data comparison and analysis. Lastly, the data gaps inventory contains geographic and temporal information for any missing parameter at the whole basin scale, as well as the spatial resolution of each available data.
