Coastal marine ecosystems and the services they provide are increasingly threatened by climate change. The Mediterranean basin, recognized as a climate change hotspot, is experiencing a rise in the frequency and intensity of heat extremes. Among coastal ecosystems, intertidal communities are particularly exposed to temperature fluctuations. Although they are adapted to such variability through physiological plasticity, the intensification of extreme thermal stress may negatively affect their metabolism and adaptative capacity. A key intertidal habitat in the Mediterranean Sea is the vermetid reef, a bioconstruction formed by the coralline red alga Neogoniolithon brassica-florida and the gastropod Dendropoma cristatum. These bioconstructions provide essential ecosystem services, including coastal protection and biodiversity support, but are endangered throughout the basin, have already collapse in the western Mediterranean, and remain among the most poorly studied marine habitats. This study investigates the metabolic response of the vermetid reef habitat to thermal stress, considering varying levels of community complexity: vermetid reefs naturally covered by brown macroalgae, reefs naturally free of macroalgae and reefs where macroalgae were experimentally removed. Oxygen fluxes were measured as a proxy for community metabolism, using ad-hoc developed intertidal benthic chambers. The experiment was carried out on reefs located in northern Sicily and repeated different times throughout 2025, to obtain measurements before, during, and after the warmest period of the year for this area. We hypothesized that warming affects the metabolism of the vermetid reef, but that this effect is buffered by the associated biodiversity, particularly the presence of canopy-forming brown algae. This experiment defines a non-destructive method to measure the metabolism of intertidal communities directly in the field, addressing the lack of field-based marine climate change studies, especially on vermetid reefs. Understanding how different levels of structural complexity mediated the response to thermal stress is crucial for developing conservation strategies targeting this endangered ecosystem.

Sandy and muddy seabed ecosystems are key components of marine carbon cycling, contributing to climate regulation through carbon storage and nutrient flux modulation. However, anthropogenic activities such as bottom trawling disturb sediments, potentially resuspending and oxidizing buried carbon, and compromising long-term carbon sequestration capacity. This project investigates the impact of bottom trawling on carbon stocks in soft-sediment ecosystems, focusing on sedimentary and biogeochemical alterations and the responses of benthic communities, particularly Marine Animal Forests (MAFs)—complex habitats formed by habitat-forming suspension feeders. Their structural complexity makes them both key components in carbon sequestration processes and especially vulnerable to physical disturbance from trawling, making their inclusion critical to understanding ecosystem-scale impacts. Sediment and water samples will be collected before and after experimental trawling in three Sicilian coastal areas with different fishing pressures: the Gulf of Castellammare, the Gulf of Catania, and the area of Capo Passero. Analyses on sediments and water samples will assess carbon fluxes following trawling, quantify resuspended carbon, and investigate its fate. Controlled laboratory experiments will simulate sediment resuspension to evaluate impacts on the physiology, feeding efficiency, and health of key MAF species. By coupling ecosystem-level fluxes with organism-level mechanisms, the project will: (i) estimate recovery half-times and carbon-return-on-closure metrics; (ii) identify threshold trawling intensities beyond which MAF-mediated sequestration collapses; (iii) mint a ‘carbon coin’, quantifying the tons of carbon fixed or lost and translating them into present-day market value to expose the hidden economic cost of trawl-induced leakage and (iv) generate actionable benchmarks for climate-smart fisheries management. This framework finally connects seabed disturbance, biological engineering and carbon-climate-economy feedback into a single, policy-ready toolbox for one of the planet’s most intensively trawled seas.

Intertidal ecosystems are among the most dynamic and ecologically significant environments on the planet, providing essential services and serving as sentinel systems for detecting environmental change. Despite that, their resilience to the increasing biotic and abiotic stressors remains poorly explored. The cumulative and interactive effects of multiple pressures, such as pollution, resource exploitation, habitat modification, and climate change, on communitylevel responses require urgent synthesis, as previous research has frequently concentrated on individual stressors. This study proposes a global meta-analysis, based on a comprehensive review and statistical synthesis of peer reviewed research from diverse geographical regions, to identify, quantify, and compare the primary drivers shaping intertidal community resilience and to assess the relative importance of these stressors in determining its three components – resistance to change, recovery capacity, and reorganization potential. A review of ~90 case studies on intertidal ecosystems shows that 20–25 (25–30%) explicitly address resilience, often in relation to multiple stressors, marine heatwaves, and anthropogenic disturbances. Extreme heat and marine heatwaves are the most cited stressors (47 studies), followed by cumulative stressors (15), physical disturbances for example storms and low-tide exposure (15+), ocean acidification (11), and anthropogenic impacts such as trampling (8).The results will fill a critical knowledge gap by advancing our understanding of how multiple drivers interactively affect intertidal community stability and recovery potential. Ultimately, this synthesis will support evidence-based recommendations for coastal ecosystem management and conservation by identifying which stressors most strongly compromise resilience and highlighting where mitigation and intervention efforts could be most effective. This research will contribute to the development of more adaptive and integrated strategies to protect intertidal biodiversity and ecosystems in the context of global change

Mediterranean coastal wetlands, including lagoons and saltmarshes, are critical biodiversity hotspots and provide essential ecosystem services such as nursery habitats, nutrient cycling, and water filtration. These fragile ecosystems are increasingly threatened by climate change, anthropogenic pressures, and biological invasions. The blue crab Callinectes sapidus, a decapod crustacean native to the western Atlantic, has recently established stable populations in several Mediterranean regions, including the Stagnone di Marsala lagoon and the Trapani saltmarshes (western Sicily, Italy). This species displays high ecological plasticity and reproductive capacity, enabling rapid expansion in brackish and shallow environments, where it may outcompete native communities. Within the framework of FAO-GFCM project, we conducted a multidisciplinary study combining monitoring of some ecological variables, habitat characterization and a systematic literature review to assess the potential impacts of C. sapidus on local biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. Our results confirmed a stable and reproducing population, with a marked presence of ovigerous females and juvenile stages, particularly in spring, indicating active recruitment and successful settlement. Habitat analyses revealed the blue crab’s preference for structurally complex and productive environments, such as vegetated lagoon areas, where it may exert top-down pressure on native invertebrate communities and disrupt key ecological processes. Given the ecological relevance and protected status of these sites (Natura 2000), the spread of C. sapidus poses a tangible threat to long-term conservation goals and the provision of vital ecosystem services. Moreover, its presence may compromise traditional artisanal fisheries and the ecological balance of these transitional environments. We highlight the importance of adopting integrated ecosystem management strategies that combine early detection, continuous monitoring, stakeholder engagement and the exploration of controlled commercial exploitation as a complementary mitigation tool. Our study underscores the need to align invasive species control with broader conservation objectives, ensuring the ecological integrity and resilience of Mediterranean coastal wetlands in the face of ongoing global change.

Seagrass meadows are key ecosystems in the Mediterranean coastal areas supporting rich biodiversity and providing numerous ecosystem services. However, these ecosystems are increasingly threatened by local anthropogenic pressures and climate change. Because their natural recovery after disturbance is slow, active restoration – increasingly incorporating innovative methodologies – has become an important tool for their conservation. In this context, we investigated a facilitation-based interaction technique through an experimental restoration intervention within the “Capo Gallo–Isola delle Femmine” Marine Protected Area. The transplantation was carried out on a Posidonia oceanica matte substratum and involved 16 one-square-meter grids, arranged into four experimental units and randomly assigned to one of the following treatments: Cymodocea nodosa only, P. oceanica only, a combination of both P. oceanica and C. nodosa shoots, and a control grid (matte only). Transplant performance is being monitored monthly using non-destructive methods, combining classical biometric techniques with metabolic measurements. This experiment represents an innovative approach to the restoration of P. oceanica meadows, leveraging the potential facilitative role of C. nodosa to enhance restoration effectiveness through interspecific interactions. In addition, traditional monitoring is complemented by metabolic measurements at both individual and community levels, providing functional performance metrics. Although results are still under evaluation, this study offers a potentially replicable and methodologically advanced model for future restoration efforts, aiming to strengthen the resilience of Mediterranean coastal ecosystems.

Transdisciplinary Place-Based Research, participatory co-management and active stakeholders’ involvement are often overlooked and oversimplified concepts when dealing with MPAs. Here, we analyze the results of mixed methodologies applied in the urban MPA of “Capo Gallo – Isola delle Femmine” (Palermo). A focus group supported by a pile-sorting exercise allowed to select the priorities expressed by multiple stakeholders (N = 73, 10 categories). The obtained list of priorities resulted from an initial free listing task, and two rounds of exclusions. Scientists and fishers showed a common priority (the most salient to all participants) and were selected for further investigations. To measure scientists’ interests a scoping review was set up to synthetize: temporal trend, subject, approaches, conservation level of the scientific sources produced. Accessibility of marine resources, benefits generated and the overall support of MPA management were assessed with fishers through a semi-structured questionnaire. The need for enforcement and control (31%) was the main priority. An increasing temporal trend of scientific sources has been observed five years after the establishment of the MPA. Most of the studies applied a monitoring approach (49%). Research efforts mainly targeted single-species (46%), only 14% focused on comparison among management zones. 52% do not report accurate georeferences. The 72% of fishers perceive the MPA as a very negatively-influencing driver of change. All fishers do not believe the MPA improves the availability of natural resources and natural spaces, while a moderate percentage reported a high level of support to the MPA (57%). Overall, our analysis shows how a multitool approach can efficiently highlight specific knowledge gaps and different stakeholders’ perception, often difficult to disentangle with traditional approaches. This may be fundamental to make scientific data available and accessible to policy makers and stakeholders, to consistently support the application of co-design and bottom-up management processes.