Biophilic Design is a design system based on Stephen Kellert and E.O. Wilson's Biophilia Hypothesis. Biophilia is literally ‘love for life’ – a feeling distinguished by the fascination evoked in human beings for Nature provoked by contact with Nature and by the affiliation that human beings establish with Nature. Biophilia is an evolutionary adaptation consisting of a set of innate learning rules that shape a spectrum of emotions, ranging from biophilia to biophobia. Two exaptations have been recognised in Biophilia, which occurred due to two moments of rupture of humankind from Nature: the first occurred in the Neolithic Age, the second with the Industrial Revolution which led to most humans becoming urbanized, disconnecting them from Nature. Designers following the principles of Biophilic Design seek to reconnect humans to Nature using our knowledge of biophilia as a guide for the design of artificial environments. Today, Biophilic Design is called to move away from empiricism, and instead implement the experimental tests of the Biophilia Hypothesis.

Citizen Science (CS) is more than just scientific research, it is about active civic participation. It is about going beyond reading news and watching documentaries, and actually getting involved in the scientific process. This deep and active involvement and the opportunity to collaboratively generate knowledge with others has significant impacts on society. This is particularly true in environmental science, where direct participation in scientific projects is closely linked to the opportunity to share knowledge and, in turn, make shared decisions on behaviors to change and practices to undertake. The democratization of the environment is a fairly recent idea that focuses on making environmental science more accessible to the wider community, with the aim of increasing scientists' awareness of local knowledge. CS initiatives serve as a foundational step in cultivating the necessary knowledge base, instigating behavioral shifts, and enhancing social capital through direct engagement with stakeholders and the wider community. Communication is a crucial part of CS activities, as without citizens there is no CS. It plays a vital role in recruiting, inviting, and maintaining participants’ motivation. Communication involves a continuous effort to maintain transparency throughout every phase of the scientific process, from formulating the research question to publication, and requires attention in the development phase to include all the fundamental actors defined by Pietro Greco in 4 dimensions on a territory (institutional, business, scientific and citizenship dimensions). Here is presented the PCSI communication plan, a project dedicated to assessing a methodology for the quality-quantitative analysis of microplastics in seawater surfaces and beaches through a CS approach. The communication plan has structured the target of local actors on different levels: i. political structures, ii. law enforcement and related structures, iii. scientific institutions, iv. entrepreneurial structures, v. educational institutions, vi. artistic structures and cultural organizations and vii. social media.

Riparian zones are crucial for regulating geomorphological processes and supporting ecosystems, offering essential services like water quality improvement and biodiversity support. However, they are often overlooked in protocols assessing the ecological status of watercourses, as outlined by the Water Framework Directive. Many citizens view these areas as dangerous or unattractive, not understanding their importance. To address this, the "RiVe" methodology for Citizen Science activities was developed to assess the quality of riparian forests using accessible techniques. The RiVe methodology consists of three main phases: training, data collection, and analysis. Citizen scientists are initially trained through workshops and educational materials, equipping them with the skills to identify riparian plant species and use monitoring tools like the ODK Collect app or paper forms. During the data collection phase, participants monitor twelve target species, categorized into three ecological groups as indicators of habitat health, and record information about the river ecosystem. The data is analyzed to calculate the RiVe index, which assesses the quality of the riparian forest. This index ranges from 0 to 120, categorizing each survey into one of five quality classes, thus guiding management and conservation strategies. Effective management of riparian zones can restore ecological connectivity and integrate ecological corridors, especially in plains and agroecosystems, into a trans-European nature network, as supported by the recent Nature Restoration Law. A case study on the Idice stream shows that the RiVe protocol effectively identifies areas of significant degradation and assesses the local quality of riparian forests, while also increasing data collection and raising citizen awareness and interest in conserving local rivers.

Recent transdisciplinary research demonstrates that interaction with Nature provides numerous benefits for human health and well-being. While this provides a valuable opportunity to reconnect people with Nature and offers healthcare professionals with a context to suggest “Green Prescriptions", which are recommendation to engage with natural environments, it also poses ecological risks. Engaging individuals in outdoor activities within environmentally sensitive areas can in fact disturb biodiversity and ecosystem functions, potentially triggering feedback that not only harm the resilience of the ecosystem itself but also reduce the effectiveness of these areas in providing restoration and supporting healing processes. To address these issues, we have developed “Gaia’s Maps”, a framework for mapping and evaluating natural areas to help people respect the environment and cooperate in taking care of ecosystem health as well as their own physical health, according to the Planetary Health perspective. The framework is based on an initial remote-sensing based identification of suitable locations for outdoor activities and Green Prescriptions, that is enriched with open-data and information collected in the field by visitors, who are encouraged to follow criteria suggested by a team of ecologists. An intuitive tool is then created, based on an index depicting the naturalness of the areas and their sensitivity to disturbance: this detects the areas that, although highly beneficial for human well-being, must be respected and protected to uncontrolled outdoor activities to avoid harm. This way, Gaia’s Maps framework promotes environmental education and enables informed and sustainable use of natural spaces. Additionally, it strengthens the relationship between healthcare professionals, who monitor and restore human health, and ecologists, who monitor and restore ecosystem health, underscoring the crucial importance of ecologists in ensuring that both people and ecosystems can thrive together.

Globally, biodiversity and ecosystems are experiencing irreversible losses caused by anthropogenic threats. Species are being lost at an unprecedented rate, causing degradation of ecosystem functioning and services. To address these questions, accurate and up-to-date data covering a wide geographical and temporal scale are needed. However, to support these efforts, there needs to be a concerted focus on education and outreach, to raise awareness for these issues, which in turn can increase bottom-up action and environmental stewardship, as well as democratise the fields of ecology and conservation. Citizen Science (CS) is a powerful approach for gathering the data required to address large-scale research questions and engaging the public in environmental issues. The development of citizen science initiatives and the use of citizen science data has increased in recent decades.

In this framework, a new CS project - CS4Rivers - has defined an innovative approach to measuring the Habitat Quality to facilitate the sustainable management of river ecosystems.

CS4Rivers guided by the University of Siena, within the NBFC with NRRP funds, is active in the Ombrone river basin (South Tuscany), throughout different monitoring activities: chemical water quality, macroinvertebrate community and riparian vegetation.

For macroinvertebrate and riparian vegetation monitoring, CS4Rivers employs a simplified protocol. The Data Quality is verified through comparisons with expert assessment data. Support materials and initial training have been developed for each activity. Preliminary results show the Habitat Quality value obtained by macroinvertebrate community analysis using the simplified and official protocol, and the Data Quality of coverage plant species percentages collected by citizens.

Within CS4Rivers, a pilot project in the Idice river basin (Emilia Romagna), involves 1 school and 3 groups of citizens who monitor the macroinvertebrate community in 7 stations and the riparian vegetation in 20.

Corals are fundamental elements of rocky shore ecosystems, which are threathened by wastewater and river discharges, tourism and climate change. Among many threats, that posed by emerging contaminants still needs to be throughly investigated. The aim of this study was to test wether a prolonged exposure to low concentrations of pharmaceuticals and bisphenol A (BPA) might affect the common and widespread shallow water zooxanthellate coral Balanophyllia europaea. B. europaea polyps were collected at 6 m depth in Calafuria (LI, Italy) in May 2023 and 2024, soon before the brooding period. B. europaea larvae were exposed to Carbamazepine (CB), Ibuprofen (IB) and Valsartan (VS) at 1-10 µg/L and to BPA at 10-100 µg/L, both separately and as mixtures (MIX_L: 1 µg/L CB, IB, VS + 10 µg/L BPA; MIX_H: 10 µg/L CB, IB, VS + 100 µg/L BPA), for 4 weeks. Toxicity endpoints were: mortality, metamorphosis and the average amount of chlorophyll (Chl) a-c₂/larva. Adults of B. europaea were exposed to MIX_L and MIX_H for 4 weeks, and toxicity endpoints were: Chla-c₂/zooxanthellae, Chla-c₂/coral surface, zooxanthellae/coral surface and the predation ability. Results showed no significant mortality for the larvae but an alteration in their ability to metamorphosize, which was reduced for larvae exposed to single pharmaceuticals but was enhanced for those exposed to BPA. In the adults, the ratio Chla-c₂/zooxanthellae was significantly reduced upon exposure to both MIX_L and MIX_H, as well as the ratio Chla-c₂/coral surface, while the ratio zooxanthellae/coral surface showed a slight increase. The predation ability resulted reduced in specimens exposed to both mixtures. The overall results showed that the prolonged exposure to low concentrations of pharmaceuticals and BPA might impact both larvae and adults of B. europaea and that the chlorophyll content, the metamorphosis and the predation ability might represent sensitive endpoints for the impact of such compounds.

This study investigates the occurrence and effects of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) across various environmental matrices, including water, soil, different plant parts (roots, leaves), arthropods, and annelids, at a contaminated firefighting training site in Trelleborg, Sweden. We gathered and assessed both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, successfully reconstructing the trophic web by means of Stable Isotopic Analysis (SIA).

The results offer significant insights into the bioaccumulation and biomagnification processes of PFAS. Our data showed that in the terrestrial ecosystem, BSAF values showed a consistent increase across the trophic levels with a trend consistently higher than 1 for short-chain PFAS such as PFHxA, PFHpA, and PFPeA. In contrast, long-chain PFAS such as PFOS, PFOA, and PFHxS were often below the threshold level indicating a low bioaccumulative potential. For the aquatic system, BCF values at the top of the trophic chain were significantly higher, ranging from 10^3 to 10^4 in top predators. While long-chain PFAS exhibited a staple increase across the trophic levels, congeners such as PFHxA, PFHpA, and PFPeA showed non-linear trends.

A key component of this research involved also a 30-day long-term experiment using the OECD species Eisenia fetida (Oligochaeta) exposed in the Trelleborg’s soils across a PFAS contamination gradient. Our multi-tiered analysis encompassed molecular, enzymatic, behavioural, and high order level effects such as survival and reproduction, highlighting the impairment of lower and apical biological functions.

This study underscores the intricate interactions and potential ecological risks associated with legacy PFAS contamination. The findings are critical for enhancing our understanding of the long-term environmental consequences of PFAS exposure and for developing informed risk assessment and management strategies.

Contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) include a variety of compounds increasingly detected in the marine environment that could represent a threat to the ecosystem health, while being still insufficiently regulated. The loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) is worldwide employed as bio-indicator of the marine environment status and may represent a promising bio-indicator of CECs impact as well.

In the framework of the PNRR spoke 2 zero pollution project, this research focuses on two important classes of CECs: a representative mix of pharmaceuticals compounds (ibuprofen, valsartan, carbamazepine) and plasticizers (bisphenol A and phthalates), selected based on environmental contaminants data available in the literature.

To explore whether the selected CECs could elicit biological responses in Caretta caretta, we employed an ex-vivo approach. Skin biopsies and blood were collected from hospitalized sea turtles and immediately treated with environmentally realistic concentrations of CECs (1-10-100 ug/L) for 12h (Blood) and 24h (biopsies). The biological response was measured through gene expression analysis of specific target genes. Expression of genes involved in inflammation and innate immunity (PTGS2, LYZ), endocrine receptors (THRα, RXRα, Erα, PRα), energy and lipid metabolism (ACADL, PPARα, FASN), detoxification (GST) and oncosuppression (TP53) were quantified through droplet digital PCR.

Plasticizers (phthalates and bisphenol A) caused a stronger gene expression dysregulation than pharmaceuticals, mainly due to their interaction with endocrine nuclear receptors such as progesteron (PRα) and estrogen (ERα) receptors. The selected pharmaceuticals show limited effect on gene expression although some specific target genes, such as prostaglandin-endoperoxide synthase 2 (PTGS2) may still represent promising markers of exposure. The results of this study contribute to develop ex-vivo experimentation methodologies in C. caretta and furnish preliminary data on the biological effects of CECs in this species, aiming to develop potential new molecular monitoring tools.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of chronic exposure (21 days) to an environmentally relevant concentration (10 µg/L) of two different nanoplastic (NP) polymers on the aquatic model organism Daphnia magna. This study examined the impact of exposure to 200 nm polystyrene nanoplastics (PS-NPs) and polyvinyl chloride nanoplastics (PVC-NPs), which had an average size similar to that of PS-NPs (ranging from 50 nm to 350 nm). The effects of polymer exposure on morphometric parameters, number of molts, swimming behaviour, and reproductive outcomes were evaluated. The findings indicate that both polymers resulted in an increase in molting behaviour. Moreover, exposure to PVC-NPs had a negative impact on the reproduction of D. magna, as evidenced by a delay in the day of the first brood, a reduction in the total number of offspring produced, and, consequently, a slower population growth rate. This study identified the fitness impairments caused by exposure to PVC-NPs, which can lead to relevant ecological consequences. Although the influence of particle size cannot be ruled out, it can be inferred that polymer properties may have played a role in the observed effects. We hypothesised a correlation between the hormonal functionality of ecdysone and the impairment of reproduction. Further investigation of the impact of this plastic polymer at lower levels of biological organisation is recommended to gain a better understanding of the potential mechanisms involved in the effects of this plastic polymer on wild organisms.

In 2013 the scientific opinion “Addressing the New Challenges for Risk Assessment” published by three scientific committees of the European Commission, DG SANCO (SCHER, SCHENIR, SCCS) identified the need for improving the ecological realism in both exposure and effect assessment. For example, it highlighted the necessity to further define bioaccumulation behavior and mechanisms for the variety of plant species, considering also emerging contaminants. Plants can accumulate organic contaminants from air and soil through leaves and roots thanks to several processes, and this represents the first step for the entrance of these compounds in the food webs from herbivore and detritivore organisms. To describe chemical concentration ratios between the plant compartment of interest (e.g., leaves) and the exposure medium (e.g., air), bioconcentration factors (BCF) also known as leaf-air partition coefficient (K_LA) are used. Several authors tried to review and compare some of the available K_LA measured and predicted data in order to assess the comparability of the approaches and suggest preliminary guidance for planning future bioaccumulation studies. However, only a few works were considered, and K_LA source of variability was not fully investigated. Moreover, the suitability of the existing approaches (mainly developed for legacy compounds) for the prediction of leaf uptake of emerging contaminants was not verified. In the current work all the available approaches (i.e., more than K_LA 80 equations) were compared and used to predict emerging contaminant bioaccumulation in plants. The results showed that the equations developed for traditional chemicals (e.g., PAHs, PCBs, DDT, etc.) overestimate the bioaccumulation of emerging contaminants (e.g., phthalates, organophosphate ester flame retardants, etc.) in leaves of several orders of magnitude. Therefore, further studies are necessary to better understand the factors that can influence the accumulation of emerging contaminants in leaves of several species and develop new K_LA equations for these types of compounds.

Transitional environments, such as coastal lagoons, can act as coastal filters by retaining pollutants originating from human activities occurring on the mainland. Among the sources of pollution reaching the lagoonal environment, microplastics (MPs) are considered one of the emerging contaminants whose distribution in the abiotic compartment and subsequent transfer to the biotic compartment need to be addressed. Here we assessed the distribution, abundance and composition of MPs in sediment, water and fish community of a semi-enclosed Mediterranean basin (the Stagnone di Marsala, Italy) with the aim to investigate: i) how the environmental factors characterizing the area (hydrodynamics and exposure to the open sea) influence MPs distribution and abundance in the abiotic compartment; ii) how fish trophic niche features (isotopic niche width) influence MP ingestion. MPs were found in all the compartments examined, with concentrations in the sediment being two orders of magnitude higher than in the water column, while MPs were found in 19% of the 106 fish of the five species analysed (three estuarine resident species: Aphanius fasciatus, Atherina boyeri and Syngnathus abaster, and two transient fish species: Diplodus annularis and D. vulgaris). The most abundant polymer analysed by μ-FTIR in fish was rayon (48%), followed by Polypropylen (14%) and acrylic (14%). Pearson correlation analysis revealed a significant positive correlation between the abundance of MPs in the water column and the abundance of MPs ingested by resident fish species, and a negative correlation between hydrodynamics and the MPs ingested by fish. No significant relationship, instead, emerged between fish trophic features and MPs ingestion. These results suggest that environmental condition influence the uptake of MPs by fish communities and highlights the importance of using a multi-target approach to disentangle the effects of MPs pollution in coastal lagoons.

The 'plastisphere is a new ecosystem developping on plastic surfaces that rapidly undergo biofouling in aquatic ecosystems. While numerous studies have investigated the biodiversity of the plastisphere, few have ventured into understanding the impact of these communities on the functionality and metabolism of aquatic ecosystems. We present an experimental study aiming to address this gap by quantifying the broader effects of plastic debris on epiplastic biofilm community development and by assessing the resulting consequences on ecosystem metabolic traits (i.e., net ecosystem production, gross primary production, respiration, and community dark metabolism from 3 rivers, of the Lower Mekong Basin, with contrasting trophic state and water clarity. Over a 30-day period, we incubated four different plastic polymers (polyethylene (PE_30d); polypropylene (PP_30d); polystyrene (PS_30d); polyamide (PA_30d)) and collected additional macroplastics of an unknown submergence time (PE_unk), characterizing the algal biomass, bacterial and algal biodiversity(16S and 18S rRNA), and metabolic traits of the community growing on their surface. Our findings showed limited microalgal biomass and bacterial dominance, with potential pathogens present. The location significantly influenced community composition, highlighting the role of environmental conditions in shaping community development. When assessing the effects on ecosystem productivity, our experiments showed that biofouled plastics led to a significant drop in oxygen concentration within river water, leading to hypoxic/anoxic conditions with subsequent profound impacts on system metabolism and the capability of influencing biogeochemical cycles. Scaling our findings revealed that plastic pollution may exert a more substantial and ecosystem-altering impact than initially assumed, particularly in areas with poorly managed plastic waste. These results highlighted that the plastisphere functions as a habitat for biologically active organisms which play a pivotal role in essential ecosystem processes.

Microplastics (MPs), deriving from the textile sector, are today receiving great attention. Mainly shaped as fibers, these tiny particles are intensely released during many processes, representing an important contributor to freshwater pollution, mainly through wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). Although conventional WWTPs are not designed to remove MPs, enhanced technologies (e.g., tertiary and quaternary treatments) could remove more the 90% of MPs. However, not all WWPTs are equipped with these highly performing processes. Moreover, in WWTPs a large amount of MPs may end up in sludge, which could contribute to terrestrial and later aquatic ecosystem contamination. The aim of this study is to investigate the pathway of MPs released by the textile industry to surface water. An overview of different fabric treatments will be given to illustrate the processes responsible for MP release and discharge to textile wastewater. Preliminary data, obtained with a quantitative method (Pyrolysis-GC-MS), regarding the release of MPs in selected fabric production steps and in WWTPs will be illustrated to elucidate the range of concentrations and polymer types which can be found. These activities are part of the LIFE CASCADE project which aims at developing analytical procedures and wastewater treatment technologies meant to detect and remove micropollutants including MPs.

Given the unique physical and chemical properties, plastic materials have brought important benefits to our society, becoming essentials in many applicative fields. Among the different plastics types, polypropylene (PP) is one of the most widespread, whose production increased in the last years due to the huge consumption of surgical masks and single-use packaging. However, its global diffusion led to an unchecked build-up and to an indiscriminate environmental dispersion of derived waste. Due to the low degradability, PP could be affected by biotic and abiotic agents, which lead to its fragmentation into micro- and nano-particles (MPs and NPs respectively). These adversely affect both aquatic and terrestrial organisms, in which bioaccumulate inside tissues, thus impairing their physiological responses. In this context, although numerous studies already demonstrated the potential MPs and NPs side effects on several biological processes, the putative impact of PP particles on wound healing and tissue regeneration has never been examined. To shed light on these aspects, the ability of PP-MPs and NPs to interfere with correct wound healing has been assessed in the consolidated freshwater invertebrate model Hirudo verbana. By means of morphological, immunofluorescence, histoenzymatic, and molecular analyses, in the current work it has been demonstrated how PP-MPs and NPs were able to induce fibrotic events, by a stronger activation of the inflammatory response and an abundant production of extracellular matrix components, which in turn inhibits the correct formation of blood vessels and the recruitment of muscle cells precursors.

Gadolinium (Gd), a rare earth element, has many technological and medical applications. Used in magnetic garnets, computer memories, and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), its safety has been questioned due to associations of the appearance of nephrogenic systemic fibrosis and calcium homeostasis disruption observed in the patients submitted to MRI. Studies also reveal its persistence in the body post-MRI and accumulation in the brain, bones, kidneys, and skin. Environmental concerns arise from its release into water bodies via hospital effluents and inefficient removal by wastewater treatment plants, reaching alarming levels in coastal and marine environments worldwide. Based on these assumptions this study aims to investigate the contamination of this emerging contaminant in 7 Italian areas along the Tyrrhenian, Ionian and Adriatic Seas. The bivalve Donax trunculus was selected and sampled as early warning sentinel, as well as sediment and water matrices. Lesina (Puglia) and Sibari (Calabria) were significantly the most contaminated sites in both sediment and D. trunculus matrices, confirming that the bivalves reflect environmental contamination. In addition, a 14-day indoor experiment with increasing Gd concentrations in D. trunculus was carried out to study the toxic effect of Gd and the oxidative stress caused by the contaminant. The results revealed that the detected concentrations of Gd induced oxidative stress in D. trunculus, affecting its metabolic capacity, antioxidant enzyme response, biotransformation mechanism, and lipid peroxidation. D. trunculus proved to be a suitable sentinel species for Gd analysis, showing a proportional accumulation of contaminants in its tissues. These findings highlight the risk of oxidative stress even at lower Gd concentrations, which are common in nature. As the use of Gd increases, environmental concentrations may rise, posing health risks to aquatic organisms and humans through biomagnification.

Among rapid ecotoxicological bioassays for screening soil quality, avoidance behaviour tests on gregarious edaphic species such as Porcellionides pruinosus are widely used. However, the effect of soil contamination on adaptive aggregation ability has not been investigated. The aim of this study was to develop a new ecotoxicological endpoint related to the disaggregation effect under infochemical disruption at the population level during an avoidance behaviour test. This new endpoint was evaluated using tire particles (TPs) and benzothiazole (BT) as preliminary physical and chemical substances. The disaggregation index (DI) and disaggregation groups (DG) are presented as measures of fragmentation of the population to quantify the effect of contaminants on aggregation behaviour. Aggregation disruption in a group of ten individuals is assessed alongside the sub-lethal avoidance test after a 48 hour exposure. The degree of disaggregation is measured by the number of subgroups formed. The DI and DG indices range from 0 to 1, representing the highest degree of aggregation and disaggregation, respectively, achieved at the end of the test. Our results show that all woodlice exposed to TPs and BT successfully passed the validation of the avoidance test, but failed to show gregarious behaviour in control soil, indicating fragmentation within the population, even if in uncontaminated soil. The disaggregation effects in woodlice occurred at higher concentrations than the avoidance ones, suggesting a possible effect on the adaptive capabilities of the population even in the control soil. These results suggest a combination of avoidance behaviour and disaggregation in individuals of P. pruinosus. Consideration of both aspects may provide more ecological, accurate and robust results for the evaluation of the stress induced by contaminant on natural population.

The aim of the ÆM-POLLY PNRR PRIN project is to develop and validate an integrated protocol as a tool to verify if the mitigation measures foreseen by the EU Green Deal for agricultural practices, are effective in halting and reversing the decline of wild pollinator biodiversity. This monitoring protocol will integrate endpoints in terms of presence, abundance and diversity of wild pollinator species with endpoints able to assess the state of health at the sub-individual, individual and population level. These endpoints are selected and designed to diagnose biological alterations in wild pollinators due to different pressures: chemical stress from pesticides, stress linked to climate changes, food and water deficiencies, habitat loss and diseases. Such an integrated approach using a set of biomarkers has never applied before to wild pollinators. The monitoring protocol is applied in 4 orchards and 4 vineyards characterised by the presence or absence of mitigation measures, and in 4 adjacent natural areas. Surveys for assessing pollinator diversity are performed once in spring and once in late summer. During this activity individuals of the most abundant/representative species are sampled for chemical (pesticide levels), morphological (body size and fluctuating asymmetry variations) and biomarker analysis (immune, reproductive, and nervous systems, oxidative stress, metabolism, detoxification processes and genotoxicity, energy mobilisation and feeding performance). From our project we expect to: 1) obtain a dataset of baseline biomarker values related to the health status of representative pollinator species; 2) assess the effectiveness of the mitigation measures by comparing the pollinator diversity and the biomarkers related to their health in two types of crops; 3) define a final integrated monitoring protocol to assess the health status of wild pollinators and their biodiversity; 4) develop user-friendly guidelines to assess the effectiveness of the different mitigation measures in different agroecosystems, to guide decisions and inform policies.

This study investigates the spatio-temporal, trait-based distribution and functioning of Posidonia oceanica meadows in the Mediterranean Sea, utilizing benthic chambers to upscale ecosystem services predictions. Posidonia meadows are critical for marine biodiversity, nutrient cycling, and carbon sequestration. We conducted in-situ metabolic measurements of Posidonia meadows in the northern Tyrrhenian Sea, integrating these with remote sensing data to develop predictive models of key metabolic traits under current and future climate scenarios. The Net Community Production (NCP) was used to assess community metabolism, constructing Thermal Performance Curves (TPC) for Posidonia habitat. Results showed that Posidonia meadows exhibit autotrophic metabolism year-round, with optimal performance at 23°C and upper thermal limits at 35°C. Spatial predictions indicated seasonal variations in metabolic performance, with significant future changes due to rising temperatures. Our findings highlight the essential role of Posidonia meadows in providing ecosystem services, such as oxygen production, CO₂ absorption, and carbon fixation, which are projected to increase under moderate warming scenarios. However, the meadows may face performance declines during the warmest periods, particularly in the central-western Mediterranean, potentially impacting local fisheries and ecosystem stability. This study underscores the need for conservation efforts to preserve Posidonia habitats, integrating high-resolution data into ecosystem management strategies to mitigate climate change impacts. By providing a comprehensive understanding of the metabolic responses of Posidonia meadows to varying temperature regimes, this research contributes to the broader effort of forecasting the ecological consequences of global warming on marine ecosystems. It also emphasizes the importance of adaptive management strategies that can enhance the resilience of these vital habitats, ensuring the sustained provision of their ecosystem services in the face of environmental change.

The endemic seagrass of the Mediterranean Sea Posidonia oceanica forms extensive beds, considered among the most complex and productive marine ecosystems. They are also defined as priority habitats by the European Community Directive 92/43 on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora.

The balance between primary production and remineralization governs the cycle of these ecosystems, especially considering that most of their production plays a role as necromass. The fate this necromass may endure is highly variable. Indeed, once being shed from the original bed, the destination of the dead biomass depends on the major driving forces acting on the bed (e.g., hydrodynamic characteristics and coastline conformation). Consequently, the necromass is exported towards other locations, leading to the formation of deposits both offshore (the neglected “maceration sites”) and onshore (the so-called “banquettes”). They both constitute an important carbon stock and a source for detrital food webs, also providing valuable ecosystem services (e.g., sediment retention and protection from coastal erosion).

In this study, we investigated the fate of the primary production in a P. oceanica bed off the Ischia Island (Southern Italy). Three different compartments were considered: (i) the living bed, (ii) the maceration site, and (iii) the banquette.

The aim was firstly to assess and quantify the associated carbon pools (gC m-3). Furthermore, the purpose was also to investigate and possibly to determine their fluxes among the three different compartments using ecosystem accounting.

Beside the well-known importance of the living seagrass beds, results shed light on the key role of the overlooked necromass of Posidonia oceanica in the blue carbon cycle.

The interactions between abiotic and biotic components within ecosystems generate functions that provide a wide range of ecosystem services vital for human well-being. The ecosystem services provided by coastal and marine ecosystems are increasingly recognized, especially for highly productive habitats such as mangrove forests and seagrass beds. However, some key vegetated ecosystems, like rhodolith beds, remain overlooked. Rhodolith beds are biogenic calcareous habitats formed by the aggregation of unattached, non-geniculate coralline algae. These beds are distributed worldwide and, due to their 3D structural complexity, host a high biodiversity of benthic microalgae, fleshy macroalgae, zoobenthos, and fishes, also of commercial interest. Rhodolith beds are also relevant in the blue carbon cycle through their role in carbon sequestration and carbonate production, even if their real contribution to climate regulation has still to be deeply understood. Indeed, although several studies address the functional role of rhodolith beds, there is an urgent need to link this knowledge to the supply of ecosystem services. This study aims to provide an overview of rhodolith bed ecosystem services according to the CICES classification (i.e., provisioning, regulation and maintenance, and cultural), also investigating supporting services (i.e., ecological functions) for their crucial role in generating all the other ecosystem services. Rhodolith beds are vulnerable to various anthropogenic threats on both global (e.g., climate change) and local (e.g., fishing) scale. Consequently, negative impacts on rhodolith beds may undermine their ability to provide these essential services. In this scenario, it is crucial to assess how the ecosystem services provided by rhodolith beds are changing in response to global environmental changes. This overview will offer useful insights for the management and conservation of these important yet vulnerable marine ecosystems.

Trees and green spaces are crucial elements for urban quality of life. Beyond their presence and abundance, species diversity and urban distribution of city trees are also important. These characteristics help to inform the status of urban ecosystems, ecosystems services supply, and management. They also serve as inputs in ecological models supporting decision-making on urban tree management and ecosystem services. Here, we aim to map and analyze tree species, age, morphological characteristics and diversity attributes in the municipality of Milan in relation to contextual factors, and to assess whether there are variations. We used a dataset of public trees provided by Milan municipality. Analyses were conducted city-wide and partitioning Milan into a uniform grid. Particular attention was paid to assess whether there were significant differences between trees within and outside parks. Among other aspects, we identified dominant species, calculated indices of species diversity and similarity and studied age and size trends by tree species. In terms of dominant species, differences emerged between trees within parks and outside parks. For example, Quercus trees are only predominant in parks, mainly in the form of young individuals; in contrast, Platanus x acerifolia is mainly found outside parks, and composed of most individuals that are over 30 years old. DBH versus age plots confirmed that there is a linear growth relationship for most species, indicating continuous growth. In contrast, crown diameter versus age plots show an unnatural saturation, especially clear in trees outside parks, which plausibly results from established management practices. These findings provide insights into the current distribution of public trees in Milan and provide in situ allometric relationships for several species’ morphological attributes. This information could be useful to inform future planning and management actions, as well as ecological models supporting such actions aimed at enhancing urban ecosystem and biodiversity conditions.