Aquaculture represents one of the most sustainable and efficient animal and vegetal production system. Integrated multi-trophic aquaculture systems may represent an even better solution; such systems, by combining the co-cultivation of fed aquaculture species (e.g., finfish), with inorganic extractive aquaculture species (e.g., seaweeds) and organic extractive species (e.g., suspension and deposit feeders), could improve economic, social and environmental benefits.

Within this context we should consider aquaculture and restoration combined when we envisage to implement one of the most sustainable approaches to restoration: reproduce to restore. In essence, only a few individuals of animal organisms need to be collected to be reproduced in captivity, enormously amplifying the number of individuals to be implanted, minimizing the number of individuals taken and, therefore, the negative impact on the donor site. In the case of seaweeds, the collection from the donor site may be limited to fertile portions, without any actual removal of whole specimens.

The University of Genoa, in collaboration with Aquadema s.r.l, in the context of the European project Novafoodies and of the National Biodiversity Future Centre, is about to run an experimental IMTA system in the Ligurian Sea (Lavagna, Genova).

The farm was already running as a monoculture farm of Sparus aurata and Dicentrarchus labrax. The add on species for the system are Ostrea edulis and Ericaria amentacea.

The cultivation of the brown canopy forming seaweed Ericaria amentacea in the aquaculture plant could represent a valuable approach for a larger scale production of juveniles of a valuable species for restoration action implementations.

This may represent a new and virtuous form of aquaculture with notable environmental benefits: implementing the culturing phase can become an economic and social opportunity, supporting the development of circular processes, and reducing the ecological impact of aquaculture plants by removing nutrients deriving from feeds and fish wastes.

Lake Trasimeno in Umbria, Italy, is known for its shallow waters and significant natural importance as a Special Area of Conservation, Special Protection Area, and Ramsar site. The phenomena of 'reed-bed die-back' and fluctuations in water levels at Lake Trasimeno have been previously observed. Marsh habitats play a crucial role in preserving biodiversity by supporting the survival of wild flora and fauna of Community interest, as well as providing valuable ecosystem services.

To aid in the restoration of lake ecosystems with changing water levels, artificial floating islands (AFIs) have been introduced as soilless planting structures. These floating mats consist of aquatic and wetland plants, supporting a variety of ecological communities including algae and zooplankton.

Commonly planted vegetation on AFIs includes reeds, cattails, and irises, which help remove pollutants, enhance biofilms and act as filters for eutrophic waters to improve water quality and the overall ecosystem. Additionally, AFIs, reduce soil erosion processes, and offer protection against leaching phenomena and provide habitats for fish, birds, and insects.

The establishment of a reed bed and the creation of a buffer zone between the fields and the marsh vegetation are vital for the completion of the life cycle of odonates, and play a significant role for Lindenia tetraphylla, a dragonfly species of community interest.

The present study focuses on the development of AFIs, testing different materials to determine the best substrate for plant growth and island flotation. The installation of AFIs in Lake Trasimeno area may allow the restoration of the Phragmites australis community to improve the biological habitat of the species Lindenia tetraphylla.

The EMBRACE Project (PRIN 2022 PNRR) aims to address the restoration of degraded Mediterranean soils and improve the structural and functional biodiversity of their communities by focusing on the valorisation and use of marine biowastes, through a circular economy perspective. Specifically, the approach relies on optimizing the production of energy and organic fertilizers from marine detritus (seagrass litter and fish wastes), reducing its disposal and obtaining organic resources that can foster the recovery of degraded soils. The feasibility of these resources, produced through a combination of anaerobic digestion and composting aided by quarry waste zeolites, will be evaluated in relation to their ability to improve soil natural revegetation and biodiversity, both above- and below-ground.

In terms of seagrass litter, the project focuses on Posidonia oceanica (L.) Delile, whose detached leaves accumulate in large amounts on the coasts and, notwithstanding their crucial ecological roles (protection from erosion, biodiversity hosting), are often removed and disposed of to favour tourism. At the same time, fishing activities produce large amounts of wastes that, coupled with seagrass litter, improve necromass C:N:P ratios. The choice of optimal waste proportions (1:3 fish:seagrass) and the addition of zeolites (working as ionic exchanger of NH₄⁺ and Na⁺), favour methanogenic microorganisms in spite of the high salinity. The sustainability of the entire process, from the acquisition of wastes to their processing and the recovery of degraded soils with the produced organic fertilizers is evaluated through Life Cycle Assessment approaches.

The miombo woodlands are a dry forest/seasonal woodland ecosystem found in southern Tropical Africa. Their distribution covers from Angola to Tanzania, and they are characterised by the genera Brachystegia, Julbernardia and Isoberlinia. In this poster we present an innovative approach to inform the ecological restoration of functionally-deprived areas in the western miombo.

We firstly undertook a thorough study of historical and current literature to compile an extensive list of native species from the region. We then collected georeferenced observation data for each from online databases, and cleaned and thinned them to minimise biases. Through species distribution modelling for every taxon with more than 10 “clean” observations we were able to obtain estimates of species richness for each pixel.

The second stage is to collect trait information for each species from trait databases, floras and the analysis of herbarium specimens, and then estimate functional diversity across the area based on trait hypervolumes of the species observed or modelled as potentially present in each pixel.

The expected relationship between species richness and functional diversity under equilibrium conditions is known. Integrating these two lines of evidence will therefore identify regions with functionally-healthy and functionally-deprived ecosystems. By the comparison between these two, we will identify under-represented functions in the latter which will allow the best candidate species for restoration and replanting efforts to be defined.

Sea urchins play a crucial role as marine grazers but face severe threats from overexploitation, significantly affecting the decline of Paracentrotus lividus, an important Mediterranean species.
To face this issue, exploring sustainable strategies like aquaculture is considered profitable despite its slow growth rate posing a challenge. Developing a balanced diet is essential for their growth, and eco-friendly feeds from industrial waste offer a promising solution.
This study investigates the feasibility of using sustainable feeds derived from anchovy processing by-products and industrial carrot waste for sea urchin aquaculture. For the first time, these alternative diets were tested on juvenile sea urchins of various sizes, enabling a comprehensive evaluation of growth performance over time. Experimental diets (D100 and D50) were compared with a commercial pellet control diet. Results indicate that alternative diets can sustain sea urchin growth, although performance varies significantly among diets and sizes. In particular, D50 and control diets exhibit a higher somatic growth rate (SGR) and food conversion ratio (FCR) than D100 diet which shows lower SGR, especially in larger size classes. Chemical analysis reveals significant differences in feed assimilation efficiency and impacts on nitrogen absorption across size classes and diets. Findings suggest that eco-friendly industrial waste feeds can be adopted for sea urchin aquaculture. However, further research is needed to optimize feeding protocols and understand mechanisms affecting growth performance and feed assimilation efficiency. Aligning with circular economy principles, utilizing food waste in aquaculture can aid in conserving overexploited sea urchin stocks and promoting sustainable marine resource management.

The Italian Spring Goby (Orsinigobius punctatissimus) is a critically endangered freshwater fish species native of the River Po plain. It thrives in habitats with spring water, including resurgences and oxbow lakes. Reproduction typically occurs in spring and summer, where suitable substrates such as stones, branches, and leaves are used for eggs laying. Male parental care extends from eggs fertilization until hatching. In the last decades, threats such as spring droughts, climate change, pollution and habitat loss have led to the 70% decline in the distribution of the species across Lombardy region, resulting in habitat fragmentation, decrease of suitable reproductive substrates, and consequently impairments of the reproduction and population decline. Thus, the improvement of reproductive substrate including artificial substrates emerged as a promising conservation strategy for this species. In this study, we tested the efficiency of the improvement of reproductive substrate including hollow bricks into 10 springs where populations of the Italian Spring goby were detected. Springs were visited every two weeks to check for the use and effectiveness of artificial substrates for the reproduction, as well as to measure environmental variables. We observed reproduction and eggs deposition 2 weeks after the substrates were positioned. Multiple depositions were observed in the same hollow brick, with a preference for the smaller holes. Although the holes were also used by the red swamp crayfish (Procambarus clarkii) it was possible to detect eggs of the Italian Spring Goby at different developmental stages. These findings indicate that artificial substrates can be used as a safe reproductive refuge and therefore representing a promising strategy for the conservation of Italian Spring Goby populations.

Climate change is affecting water availability, turning many countries into semi-arid or arid. The scarce quantity of water in many countries, as in Mediterranean areas, can form water-repellent barriers (‘’water repellency’’) in the soil, limiting the rate and capacity of water absorption, with dramatic implication for functioning of both natural and agricultural ecosystems and, consequently, for the human well-being. According to UN Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development, which aims to progressively improve land and soil quality, combat desertification, restore degraded land and soil, the PRIN PNRR SeaForSoil project intends to evaluate an innovative strategy in sustainable agriculture to increase water availability through incorporation of biopolymers derived from marine organisms into soils. Biopolymers could increase soil water content, reduce soil water repellency and improve overall soil quality and, as a consequence, plant growth. Biomasses of marine cyanobacteria and seaweeds, and polysaccharides produced by thermophilic bacteria were investigated for their wetting properties and ability to improve water retention in laboratory-scale soil model. Moreover, to exclude any toxic effects of selected biomasses and biopolymers, both bioluminescence inhibition, based on Vibrio harveyi, and phytotoxicological tests, with Lepidium sativum L. and Sorghum saccarathum L., were performed. The addition of either biomasses or biopolymers in the soil at different doses (0.05 and 0.1 % dry weight) generally slowed water loss compared to the control (without any biomass or biopolymer). The recorded effect depended on the type and dose of either biomass or biopolymer. Biomasses and biopolymers did not significantly affect the bioluminescence emitted by V. harveyi, and did not induce any phytotoxicity response in L. sativum and S. saccharatum, indicating that they were not toxic. These preliminary results allowed us to identify biomasses and biopolymers with optimal characteristics that will be further tested in pot experiments to evaluate their effect on soil quality and plant growth.

Ecosystem restoration plays an important role in maintaining biodiversity and ensuring the resilience of ecosystems to face anthropic and climatic impacts such as heatwaves and extreme events.

To improve the changes of restoring success and to mitigate the biodiversity loss, it is fundamental to have conscience concerning the environmental factors surrounding the implanted organisms and the better experimental techniques and procedures.

The Coralligenous biocoenosis, one of the most important bioconstructions in the Mediterranean Sea, provides fundamental ecosystem services but is severely threatened by human activities and climate change.

Our work aims to develop a restoration protocol based on the recovery of bycatch organisms, testing various existing techniques.

We present first results of this activity, including census data, recovery operations, and the first pilot restoration activities for corals. This research is part of the RENOVATE project (Ecosystem Approach to the Evaluation and Experimentation of Compensation and Mitigation Actions in the Marine Environment: the case of the Civitavecchia Port Hub).

Seagrasses are considered one of the most important shallow-marine ecosystems and ensure, at the global scale, a large plethora of goods and services for their ecological, physical, and economic values.Unfortunately, since the last century, seagrass meadows are rapidlydeclining due to both natural processes and human-mediated impacts. Continual loss of seagrasses coupled with the decline of coastal environmental quality has resulted in national and international legislation and policies for the protection and conservation of seagrass habitat. For this reason, several guidelines were developed focused on mitigation measures to prevent further losses and facilitate recovery through restoration actions. Although both seagrass experimental trials and large-scale transplanting operations have been carried out, little effort has yet been made to define new methods to remotely follow over time the survival and growth of the transplanted fragmentsHere we propose an SfM-based approach for mapping seagrass transplantation areas to produce ultra-high spatial resolution orthophoto mosaics and Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) based on the processing of underwater imagery to digitally create 3D surfaces of such key habits. We applied our approach on a Posidonia transplantation area located in Giglio Island near the site impacted by Costa Concordia shipwrecking. This method provides a valid alternative to traditional methods for creating centimetre-level accuracy cartographic products of living P. oceanica and could be applied to map other complex benthic habitats threatened by natural and anthropogenic factors.

The deterioration of aquatic ecosystems is giving rise to concerns about the quality of water resources and the emission of greenhouse gases. Nevertheless, the restoration of aquatic vegetation has the potential to play an important role in increasing denitrification processes and reducing emissions of nitrous oxide (N₂O) and methane (CH₄). The objective of the project is to evaluate the role of emergent aquatic vegetation in nitrogen removal processes. The project will investigate the equilibrium between dissimilatory and assimilative processes and the environmental factors influencing the emission of N₂O. Nutrient and gas fluxes will be quantified in mesocosms, employing a validated experimental approach. The use of mesocosms, which reproduce the environmental complexity of full-scale systems, will serve as models for the study of the underlying processes that determine the depuration performance of canals and wetlands. The standard biogeochemical methods for estimating the metabolism of aquatic environments will be employed in combination with the "N₂ open-channel" method for the direct measurement of nitrate removal via denitrification as N₂. This method entails the quantification of the N₂:Ar ratio in water samples through the use of MIMS (Membrane Inlet Mass Spectrometry, Bay Instruments). In addition to a comprehensive parameterization of nitrogen removal via denitrification, the primary objective of the study is the quantification of greenhouse gas emissions (N₂O, CH₄). Previous studies have indicated that greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from vegetated canals within agricultural landscapes may not be a significant issue. However, our understanding of these processes remains incomplete. It is, therefore, essential to refine this approach and make it more accurate and widely applicable to facilitate its integration into nature-based solutions for water quality improvement in agricultural basins. This will contribute to the achievement of the Water Framework Directive goals without unexpected GHG emissions.