Claudio Provenzani

BigBlueXplorers ASD

Due to their location, at the boundary between the marine and terrestrial domain, marine caves are very sensitive to environmental changes, but, at the same time, they are extremely vulnerable due to the enclosed setting. Despite their hostile conditions, they are reservoirs of biodiversity, and there is a need to improve their knowledge for conser...

This study was conducted in the Middle Branch of Bue Marino Cave (Sardinia, Italy) to reconstruct paleoecological conditions during the Holocene through microfaunal proxies in seven surface sediment samples and a short sediment core (BMD-2018, 18 cm), all collected in 2018 and another core sampled in 2021 (BMD-2021, 28 cm). The first attempt at dat...

A widespread population of the coral Dendrophyllia ramea has been revealed southeast of Syracuse (East Sicily, Italy) at around 75 m depth. Dendrophyllia ramea is an arborescent scleractinian coral, classified as “Vulnerable” in the Mediterranean IUCN Red List and listed in Annex B of the Barcelona Convention. It is considered rare because it is se...

Marine caves are considered extreme environments for aquatic life because, due to their enclosed setting, they are affected by extreme conditions for scarcity or absence of light, limited nutrient availability, the difficulty of larval dispersal, and possible hypoxic conditions. Moreover, caves connected with karst systems receive terrestrial contr...

In this research benthic foraminiferal response to shallow water methane (CH4) emissions located in the area around Scoglio d'Africa (Tuscan Archipelago, Northern Tyrrhenian Sea) was investigated. Methane (CH4) is an important greenhouse gas, with a global warming potential about 20 times as large as carbon dioxide (CO2) on a 100-year horizon. In t...

This study investigates for the first time the presence of microplastics in sediment, water, and benthic organisms (foraminifera) of a marine cave in the Gulf of Orosei (Sardinia, Italy). Microplastics were found in all water, and sediment samples with similar shapes, sizes, and compositions; identified items were mainly fragments and fibers consti...

In recent decades, microplastic pollution has been widespread all over the world affecting both marine and terrestrial environments. Marine caves, although generally considered as pristine environments, are potentially exposed to the supply of microplastics through contributions from both marine and continental waters. The Bue Marino cave system is...

An interesting site for the wider population of the coral Dendrophyllia ramea has been identified south-east of Syracuse (Sicilia Channel, Ionian Sea) at 75 water depth. Dendrophyllia ramea is a poorly known arborescent scleractinian coral, classified as ‘Vulnerable’ according to the Mediterranean IUCN Red List, listed in the Barcelona Convention (...

Being at the boundary between marine and continental realms, marine caves are affected by wide environmental variability for the interaction of marine and continental waters; for this, they are natural laboratories for studying the effects of seasonal and long-term environmental variability also in the perspective of global changes. The first studi...

Negli ultimi decenni, i cambiamenti globali determinati dall’emissione antropica di CO2, come il riscaldamento e l’acidificazione delle acque marine, hanno causato la perdita di habitat marini e di biodiversità. La risposta dei foraminiferi bentonici ai cambiamenti globali è di grande importanza perché rappresentano un totale di 2140 specie, con qu...

The coast of the Gulf of Orosei (Sardinia, Italy) consists of impressive cliffs set up on dolostones and limestones characterized by wide karst systems connected to the sea. Marine caves, which are part of these system flooded by seawater through marine entrances, may be considered as extreme environments because of wide spatial and temporal enviro...

As a result of their location at the boundary between marine and continental domains, marine caves are affected by wide spatial and seasonal environmental changes. Only recently have benthic foraminifera been recognized as reliable indicators for the ecological zonation of these environments. The present study is focused on two marine caves of the...

Dendrophyllia ramea is a stony cup coral and it is included in the Mediterranean IUCN red list (Anthozoans) as Vulnerable species (VU). Very few information are known about this species and there are no information about reproduction and feeding while is scarce the knowledge about its ecology. The research was focused to collect image and video to...

Submarine caves are subject to variable contributions of continental and marine type, which determine wide spatial and temporal changes of abiotic parameters. For this reason, they may be considered as natural laboratories to improve knowledge about environmental variability of marine system. The study of benthic foraminifera in submarine caves of...

Because submarine caves are affected by wide spatial and temporal environmental variability, they are ideal environments for studying the effects of environmental changes on ecological indicators. Benthic foraminifera are protozoa living in marine and transitional habitats, developing typical assemblages as a response to different environmental con...

Project Baseline is an ambitious project, started in 2010 by Global Underwater Explorers (www.gue.com), to involve divers around the world for increasing awareness about the aquatic habitats and their environmental conditions. The project is a way to encourage the preservation of these environments, documenting the changes, so that they do not go u...

Mediterranean marine caves are renowned for their biodiversity and ecological value yet are often poorly understood habitats due to the difficulties encountered in their exploration and monitoring. The present work illustrates the contents and outcomes of the exploratory research activities carried out by GUE, since 2014, in the karst marine caves...

The use of benthic foraminifera as ecological indicators in submarine caves of temperate seas have never been studied before and it represents a new approach, verified by this research. The Bel Torrente submarine cave (Gulf of Orosei, Sardinia, Italy) was surveyed by GUE (Global Underwater Explorers) scuba divers in order to georeferencing the cave...

Bel Torrente is a marine cave located in the northeastern coast of Sardinia (Italy), discovered and explored by Jochen Hasenmayer in the 1970s, while the first 500 m were surveyed in the 1990s. It is characterized by a 5-20 m wide tunnel with an average height of 5 m and a depth of 12 m. During the 20 th century, the caves in this area of Sardinia...

Benthic foraminifera are a group of marine protozoans very abundant in sediments, which rapidly respond to environmental changes due to their short life-cycle of some weeks/months. Most species have a hard shell, which may be agglutinated (built with sediment collected on site), calcareous perforate (hyaline) or calcareous imperforate (porcelaneous...

Benthic foraminifera are a group of marine protozoans very abundant in sediments, which quickly respond to environmental changes due to their short life-cycle. Most species have a hard shell, which may be agglutinated (built with sediment collected on site), calcareous perforate (hyaline) or calcareous imperforate (porcelaneous) and that may be pre...