Multiple Approaches for Environmental Assessment of Transitional and Coastal Waters II

A special issue of Environments (ISSN 2076-3298).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 25 March 2025 | Viewed by 5322

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA), Chioggia, Venice, Italy
Interests: transitional and coastal waters; environmental impact assessment; ecological and chemical status quality; statistical data analysis; ecological restoration; water framework directive; climate change
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Transitional and coastal areas are considered highly productive ecosystems on Earth. Despite protective measures, their recently accelerated rate of loss has been much higher than those of any other ecosystem on the planet because of anthropogenic impacts and climate change. Assessing their “state of health” involves a multidisciplinary approach, both in monitoring plans and during data analysis processes. European environmental directives, such as the Water Framework Directive, also require this approach, promoting programs to monitor biological quality elements, physiochemical parameters, and priority substances that contribute to the ecological and chemical status classification of water bodies, respectively. Environmental monitoring and characterization plans are often intended to include the largest analytical panel and the most complete set of pressure-sensitive biological indicators possible. However, monitoring or characterization plans results rarely result in environmental assessments integrating all the different aspects investigated.

The aim of this Special Issue is to collect original, unpublished papers and review articles dealing with approaches integrating the information provided by different indicators and indices. I particularly welcome papers with case studies, which include biological, chemical, physical, and statistical analyses, in transitional or coastal environments.

Dr. Federica Cacciatore
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • marine, coastal and transitional waters
  • environmental quality
  • ecological quality elements
  • standard supporting elements
  • status and pressure assessment
  • habitat and species conservation assessment
  • intertidal ecosystems
  • multidisciplinary approach

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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17 pages, 2430 KiB  
Article
Evaluation of the Effects of Environmental Factors on Seasonal Variations in Fish Diversity on a Coastal Island in Western Japan
by Nguyen Hong Nhat, Mitsuyo Saito, Mayuko Hamada and Shin-ichi Onodera
Environments 2024, 11(3), 60; https://doi.org/10.3390/environments11030060 - 20 Mar 2024
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3292
Abstract
Coastal habitats are crucial for supporting ecological processes and serve as vital ecosystems for diverse fish species, providing essential functions such as feeding, nursery provision, and reproductive habitats. Fish communities are ecologically important components of coastal ecosystems and are affected by multiple environmental [...] Read more.
Coastal habitats are crucial for supporting ecological processes and serve as vital ecosystems for diverse fish species, providing essential functions such as feeding, nursery provision, and reproductive habitats. Fish communities are ecologically important components of coastal ecosystems and are affected by multiple environmental factors. Despite their importance, determining the effects of environmental factors on seasonal variations in fish species diversity and community dynamics remains a challenge. The advent of environmental DNA (eDNA) technology, an environmentally conscious approach, has resulted in considerable advancements in recent years and has been progressively adopted for marine fish population monitoring. Here, we used environmental DNA metabarcoding to study seasonal variations in fish community structure on a coastal island, and we assessed the effects of environmental factors in structuring these communities. Our findings revealed a rich diversity of 72 fish species across 40 families and 23 orders in the seawater surrounding an island of the Seto Inland Sea (SIS), Western Japan. Notably, the composition of fish communities varied significantly between seasons, with seawater temperature, salinity, and dissolved inorganic phosphorus (DIP) concentration identified as important factors correlated with fish communities’ structures. In conclusion, our study provides useful information of fish diversity, and we suggest that eDNA is a valuable technique for monitoring fish diversity in coastal areas. These findings are crucial for ecological studies and the environmental monitoring of oceanic coastal environments. Full article
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13 pages, 2193 KiB  
Technical Note
A Method to Quantify the Drainage Basin Contributions to Transitional Water Bodies: Numerical Modeling Applied to the Case Study of Venice Lagoon
by Alessandra Feola, Andrea Bonometto, Devis Canesso, Andrea Pedroncini, Federica Cacciatore, Marta Novello, Alessandra Girolimetto, Massimo Zorzi and Rossella Boscolo Brusà
Environments 2024, 11(11), 234; https://doi.org/10.3390/environments11110234 - 24 Oct 2024
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Abstract
The trophic, chemical and ecological state of a lagoon is strongly influenced by numerous aspects, among which the quantity and quality of the water coming from its drainage basin are a priority. The Source-to-Sea approach directly addresses the linkages between land, water, delta, [...] Read more.
The trophic, chemical and ecological state of a lagoon is strongly influenced by numerous aspects, among which the quantity and quality of the water coming from its drainage basin are a priority. The Source-to-Sea approach directly addresses the linkages between land, water, delta, estuary, coast, nearshore and ocean ecosystems to identify appropriate courses of action to address alterations of key flows, resulting in economic, social and environmental benefits. Hydrodynamic modeling has become a fundamental tool for describing the dynamics of marine environments, and a specific field of development of ongoing research is a detailed representation of the land–coastal–sea fluxes. In the present study, a numerical modeling tool was used in the Venice Lagoon to assess and quantify dominant contributions from the river basin within specific areas of the lagoon. An advective–diffusive model was used to reproduce the transport of passive tracers. The results were analyzed using an automated computational tool, obtaining the average percentage contribution of each input from the drainage basin and mean concentrations of tracer in the different water bodies. Through the proposed methodology, it is possible to support the planning of specific measures, identifying priorities of management intervention and preliminarily exploring different scenarios. Full article
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