Nicola Cantasano - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Nicola Cantasano

Advances in oceanography & marine biology, Apr 20, 2023

Posidonia oceanica (Linnaeus) Delile is the most important seagrass species, endemic of Mediterra... more Posidonia oceanica (Linnaeus) Delile is the most important seagrass species, endemic of Mediterranean Sea [1]. In coastal waters, characterized by good and pristine conditions, the species can form large and extensive meadows on the infalittoral bottoms of the basin [2], according to light conditions. Posidonia beds cover a global surface area valued between 2.5 and 5.0 million hectares [3], being the typical "climax" ecosystem on the mobile substrata of Mediterranean Sea. So, the meadows of Posidonia oceanica have become priority habitat as "Posidonion oceanicae" (Habitat Code 1120) within the Habitat Directive (92/43/EC). On the other hand, there is today a fast regression of the Mediterranean praires caused by marine pollution and by increasing human pressures. To counteract such regressive trend Posidonia beds have been inserted as "Best Concern" within the Red List of International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) [4]. Amongst the main threats affecting the fate of Posidonia oceanica meadows it is observed a light but steady increase of Sea Surface Temperature (hereafter SST). This warming trend of seawater temperatures has been detected over the last decade as 0.04 °C yr-1 [5,6]. In particular, the Atmospheric Ocean Regional Climate (AORCM) has predicted a global increase of Mediterranean SST of 2.6 °C in the period 2070-2099 [7]. Generally, this climate change scenario could affect the reproductive phenology of some species of marine plants [8], inducing variations in the distributin and in the abundance of seagrass populations in the short and long run [9]. In this way, such an increase in seawater temperature, within a general trend of marine global warming, could have negative effects on Posidonia oceanica praires, causing their spatial reduction [10]. In fact, it has been recently observed some reduction in the growth of the plant's vertical rhizomes and a general regression of Posidonia meadows along the Spanish Mediterranean coast, just next some regional seawarming peaks [11,12]. Therefore, it could be hypothesized a close relationship between the declining of Posidonia beds and the warming trend of Mediterranean waters. However, the species is characterized by an effective acclimatization capacity through its high thermotolerance against the increasing overheating of Mediterranean waters [13,14]. As a matter of fact, the reproductive trait of the species, always characterized by asexual reproduction, through rhizome fragmentation and clonal growth, shows in these last decades a gradual shift towards modes of sexual reproduction [15]. This trend is confirmed, also, by the clear increase of flowering events in the Mediterranean Sea, began in the seventies and is actually ongoing. In fact, it is reported a summarizing frame, deduced by scientific literature, of all the flowering records occurred in Mediterranean waters from 1970 to 2020 years (Table 1).

Natural resources conservation and research, May 24, 2024

The Mediterranean Sea is one of the most important biodiversity hotspots worldwide. The high biod... more The Mediterranean Sea is one of the most important biodiversity hotspots worldwide. The high biodiversity level of the basin is confirmed by the presence of about 17,000 marine species of which 20.2% are endemics. Amongst them, Posidonia oceanica (Linnaeus) Delile can form, in pristine coastal waters, large and extensive meadows, performing a pivotal role in endemic processes. However, the richness of marine biota is, actually, affected by some threats such as habitat loss, marine pollution, climate changes, eutrophication and the establishment of invasive alien species coming from the Indo-Pacific region through the pathway of Suez Canal. This trend could lead to a new kind of marine biodiversity influenced by the introduction of termophilic species altering the pattern of Mediterranean biota. Anyway, it is necessary a global approach, ensuring the better ecological conditions so to protect marine biodiversity in meditrranean seawaters.

Indian Journal of Geo-Marine Sciences

Journal of biomedical research & environmental sciences, Apr 1, 2024

Journal of Biomedical Research & Environmental Sciences main aim is to enhance the importance of ... more Journal of Biomedical Research & Environmental Sciences main aim is to enhance the importance of science and technology to the scientific community and also to provide an equal opportunity to seek and share ideas to all our researchers and scientists without any barriers to develop their career and helping in their development of discovering the world.

General remarks 1. The main issue addressed by the research is the analysis of tourist activities... more General remarks 1. The main issue addressed by the research is the analysis of tourist activities and their impacts on the cultural heritage of Zimbabwe. 2. The article is very interesting beacuse it suggests a new kind of analysis based on citizen science. 3. The methodology is correct. 4. It is necessary to insert in the paragraph 5 Results and Discussion some figures and tables to better explain the resulting data. 5. It is timely to enlarge the final paragraph 6 Conclusions for a better assessment of the entire manuscript. In this way, it could be interesting to mention other similar experiences conducted in other countries worldwide.

The main issue addressed by the research is the evaluation of the hydrologic, geomorphic and vege... more The main issue addressed by the research is the evaluation of the hydrologic, geomorphic and vegetation parameters to assess natural, living and hardened shorelines along a coastal region. The topics discussed in the manuscript is very interesting because it aims to compare different kind of coastal management. The article is innovative suggesting the possibility to realize living shorelines to better protect coastlines from erosion processes. The methodology is correct and detailed in statistical analysis. The concluisions are consistent with the evidences highlighted in the results.

Firenze University Press eBooks, 2020

This study shows the link connecting natural and cultural goods in the coastal landscape of Calab... more This study shows the link connecting natural and cultural goods in the coastal landscape of Calabria (Southern Italy), considering seaboard and human impact risk conditions. In fact, Calabria has 58 Natura 2000 sites located on seaboard areas within a length of 300 meters from coast and 63 cultural heritage sites of which 42.9 % coincides with the Natura 2000 network. As a results of this paper, the increasing coastal erosion and a heavy human impact have been highlighted as the main hazards to which the natural and cultural goods are exposed, thus it's necessary a broader approach for the integration of natural and cultural issues into an active Integrated Coastal Zone Management process.

Advances in environmental and engineering research, Jan 5, 2023

Posidonia oceanica (Linnaeus) Delile is one of the most important endemic species of the Mediterr... more Posidonia oceanica (Linnaeus) Delile is one of the most important endemic species of the Mediterranean Sea. The long phylogenetic pathway of this species deserves special attention because its evolutionary history allows us to think back over the debated issue of life evolution on Earth. Hence, this marine plant, by terrestrial origin, was born from an ancient ancestor named Posidonia cretacea Hosius & Von der Marck. This seagrass species, currently extinct, lived in the coastal waters of the Tethys Ocean about 100 million years ago, during the geological times of the late Cretaceous. In the following Cenozoic Era, during the Miocene period, in the time lag from sixty to forty million years ago,a long process of allopatric speciation by separate areas led to eight species of Posidonia genus developed in the northern and southern hemispheres. Posidonia oceanica is established in the boreal marine regions, so representing, within the long and winding road of life evolution on Earth, a typical example of paleo-Mediterranean relict. Nowadays, Posidonia oceanica meadows perform important ecological functions in the Mediterranean Sea, not only for biodiversity conservation but also to mitigate climate change. In this way, meadows play a leading role in carbon sequestration, reducing the concentration of carbon dioxide in coastal waters. Lastly, the meadows of

This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY

Il presente lavoro analizza lo stato attuale delle conoscenze nel campo degli indicatori fluviali... more Il presente lavoro analizza lo stato attuale delle conoscenze nel campo degli indicatori fluviali a livello nazionale e comunitario. Il corpo legislativo italiano, indirizzato e confermato nelle sue linee guida dalle direttive europee, evidenzia l’evoluzione del metodo dall’utilizzo di parametri abiotici legati alla dimensione acquatica del fiume ad indicatori biotici estesi all’alveo bagnato fino alla recente introduzione di indici ecologici e sintetico – ambientali a scala di bacino idrografico. In Europa il dettato comunitario, ed in particolare la Direttiva Quadro sulle acque 2000/60/CE, indirizzano le scelte dei paesi membri verso l’obiettivo finale di raggiungere un livello di qualita dei corpi idrici superficiali definito “buono” entro il 31/12/2015. In tal senso sono stati utilizzati, nel nostro paese, quattro principali tipi di indici: il L.I.M., l’I.B.E., il S.E.C.A. e l’I.F.F., le cui applicazioni in ordine temporale crescente, evidenziano lo sviluppo dei metodi dalla categoria dei parametri chimico – fisici verso quella degli indici ecologici e sintetico – ambientali. Si afferma, dunque, una nuova visione olistica e globale dell’ecosistema fluviale dove le componenti acquatica e terrestre del sistema risultano collegate nella stessa matrice ambientale.

Solar Planets and Exoplanets [Working Title]

The search for life on Mars is one of the main objectives of space missions. At “Pahrump Hills Fi... more The search for life on Mars is one of the main objectives of space missions. At “Pahrump Hills Field Site” (Gale Crater, Mojave target), inside the mudstones of the Murray lacustrine sequence, Curiosity rover found organic materials and lozenge shaped laths considered by NASA as pseudomorphic crystals. Besides it detected mineral assemblages suggesting both oxidizing (hematite) and reducing (magnetite) environments, as well as acidic (diagenetic and/or authigenic jarosite) and neutral (apatite) conditions, that might suggest bacterially mediated reactions. Our morphological and morphometrical investigations show that such diagenetic microstructures are unlikely to be lozenge shapes and, in addition to several converging features, they suggest the presence of remnants of complex algal-like biota, similar to terrestrial procaryotes and/or eukaryotes; possible microorganisms that, on the base of absolute dating criteria used by other scholars, lived on Mars about 2.12 +/−0.36 Ga ago.

Biosystems Diversity

Posidonia oceanica is an endemic species of the Mediterranean Sea that in pristine coastal waters... more Posidonia oceanica is an endemic species of the Mediterranean Sea that in pristine coastal waters forms extensive meadows, which are, actually, exposed to natural and anthropogenic pressures, causing their regression throughout the basin. The aim of our study is to summarise and evaluate current knowledge about the characterisation of Posidonia oceanica along the Western Algerian coast, in order to provide new evidence about the distribution and health status this species. To realize our objectives, we combined extracted data from published articles, theses, results of project reports, in situ observations and laboratory analysis. The results show the presence of the meadows in fifteen coastal zones of Western Algeria, mainly located in shallow surface waters from 0.5 to 18 metres depth.The mean leaf length across all sites ranged from 153 to 667 mm. The mean number of leaves/shoot ranged between 4.7 ± 0.9 and 6.0 ± 0.5 leaves/shoot. Leaf length showed a highly significant differenc...

Negli ultimi mesi si è assistito ad una defatigante maratona di incontri (e scontri) sulla applic... more Negli ultimi mesi si è assistito ad una defatigante maratona di incontri (e scontri) sulla applicazione della Pac in Italia. Protagonisti le Regioni, il Mipaaf, le categorie economiche e sociali. L'oggetto del contendere era la spartizione della torta del nuovo regime dei pagamenti diretti. Primariamente il conflitto ha due cause. La prima, il protrarsi per decenni di una Pac iniqua che fin qui ha premiato alcune produzioni, e i relativi territori, a scapito di altre produzioni e zone del paese, creando profonde disparità. Quelle iniquità vanno rimosse. Ma chi ha fin qui beneficiato degli aiuti lotta per non perderli. Anche perché, nel frattempo, spendendo male i fondi, sono mancati adeguati stimoli e sostegni per guadagnare in competitività. Cosicché, tolti gli aiuti, si rischia il collasso. L'altra ragione del conflitto sta nello scarso coraggio del Consiglio, della Commissione e del Parlamento europei. Pur di conservare i pagamenti disaccoppiati al centro della Pac, li hanno "spacchettati" in una matassa intricatissima di misure e misurine, con opzioni, eccezioni e deroghe, lasciando infine agli Stati membri il compito di dipanarla. Con buona pace per il mercato unico. Per fortuna, il nostro paese ha subito optato per l'Italia regione unica. Ma subito dopo ogni iniziativa è stata rivolta a limitare i conseguenti trasferimenti da una regione all'altra, da una produzione all'altra, da un agricoltore all'altro. L'unica preoccupazione dei contendenti era assicurarsi più fondi. Per obiettivi prioritari? Nessuna risposta. Così si è giunti a scelte paradossali. Tre, a nostro avviso, superano la decenza: il valore del greening calcolato come percentuale di ciascun titolo; le 17 misure diverse di sostegno accoppiato per non scontentare nessuno, la scelta di considerare tutti agricoltori attivi i beneficiari, imprese e non-imprese, con meno di 1.250 euro di pagamenti diretti (5.000 in montagna e nei territori svantaggiati). Caro Ministro Martina, lei è arrivato quando già la battaglia in corso ed era difficile riorientarla. Ha quindi preteso che, se non altro, si concludesse in fretta. Ma d'ora in poi, in nome dei veri agricoltori e dei contribuenti, pretenda preliminarmente la risposta a questa semplice domanda: in che senso l'azione proposta migliora la competitività e la sostenibilità dell'agricoltura? Che sono gli unici obiettivi per una sana politica agricola. In Italia e in Europa. Si apre il 1° luglio il semestre di presidenza italiana del Consiglio europeo. L'Italia avrà un ruolo particolarmente importante in questo periodo a cavallo tra elezioni del Parlamento e nomina della nuova Commissione. L'affermazione elettorale delle liste euroscettiche richiama tutti a nuove e maggiori responsabilità. Anche in tema di politica agricola. Non vada semplicemente a gestire l'esistente, ma provi a gettare qualche seme per cambiare la sostanza di questa Pac che non va. Agriregionieuropa ha deciso di aprire una nuova "Finestra sull'innovazione". Sarà lo spazio in cui Valentina C. Materia (che ha curato il Tema di questo numero) aggiornerà i nostri lettori sui progressi del Pei (il Partenariato europeo per l'innovazione) e sull'attività, in Italia e in Europa, dei Gruppi operativi per l'innovazione istituiti dalla nuova politica di sviluppo rurale.

Il rapporto uomo-mare e da sempre fonte di interessi conflittuali e di tensioni sociali, che hann... more Il rapporto uomo-mare e da sempre fonte di interessi conflittuali e di tensioni sociali, che hanno assunto in questi ultimi decenni particolare gravita. Lo sviluppo incontrollato delle attivita antropiche nelle regioni litorali, infatti, ha causato un sovraccarico ed in alcuni casi, particolarmente gravi, il superamento delle capacita di carico degli ecosistemi costieri nei confronti di una sempre piu invasiva e crescente pressione antropica. In un paesaggio costiero in continio divenire, la linea di costa rappresenta una frontiera a cavallo di due mondi: l'universo liquido e le terre emerse. Questi due ambienti racchiudono nei loro confini una grande varieta di specie animali e vegetali. Tali risorse naturaili sono, tuttavia, limitate nel tempo e nelo spazio e devono essere, pertanto, conservate ai lati di questa frontiera. Il territorio costiero e, infatti, un prezioso elemento per una possibile ripresa economica delle societa umane ed un volano per lo sviluppo dell'econom...

Questo breve opuscolo vuole essere un viaggio subacqueo alla ricerca delle praterie di Posidonia ... more Questo breve opuscolo vuole essere un viaggio subacqueo alla ricerca delle praterie di Posidonia oceanica (L.) Delile nel tentativo di offrire ai lettori un quadro schematico delle principali caratteristiche biologiche ed ecologiche della specie. La storia di questa pianta e del tutto singolare e costituisce ancor oggi un mistero in parte insoluto. Verso la fine del fine del periodo Cretaceo, alla fine dell‟Era secondaria, circa 120 milioni di anni fa, una pianta terrestre superiore Posidonia cretacea passo dalle terre emerse nell‟ambiente marino seguendo un percorso evolutivo inverso rispetto alla naturale tendenza di tutte le forme viventi tese alla conquista dell‟ambiente terrestre. Oggi la specie vegetale Posidonia oceanica, discendente di quell‟antico progenitore, enigma biologico di un passato remoto, costituisce il piu importante endemismo del Mare Mediterraneo. Il WWF Italia, sempre attento alle problematiche ambientali del territorio, ha lanciato in questi ultimi anni una n...

In the Mediterranean Sea, there are two critical issues affecting marine benthic biocenosis: the ... more In the Mediterranean Sea, there are two critical issues affecting marine benthic biocenosis: the sedimentation process and the increasing trend in marine biodiversity loss. These processes are very marked along the western side of Calabria coastline where siltation is one of the main reasons for the regression of Posidonia beds in the regional coastal waters. This research aims to investigate the relationships between the geomorphological features of the debris source areas, represented by fluvial basins, and the distribution of Posidonia meadows. So, a geomorphological study of the Tyrrhenian fluvial basins with area greater than 200 km2 and its correlation with the mapping of the meadows in the Calabria Tyrrhenian waters was carried out. Furthermore, in order to assess the increased level of burial in a Posidonia oceanica meadow and its health state over time, a program of Posidonia monitoring was undertaken between 2000 and 2010, in a test area located in the Marine Regional Park...

Journal of Biomedical Research & Environmental Sciences

The gap between Science and Policy is one of the main problems affecting the implementation of a ... more The gap between Science and Policy is one of the main problems affecting the implementation of a sound coastal zone management in Mediterranean countries. Really, littoral and marine ecosystems supply a lot of environmental services, that are actually exposed to many natural and anthropic risks, influencing the ecological status of coastal areas. So, in the Mediterranean basin, it has been introduced on 2002 a participatory process named Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) to address scientific and political efforts towards a right marine policy. To highlight the lacking connection between the scientific approach to coastal management and the current inertia of policy actors, it has been presented a typical case study tested in a marine protected area located on the western seaside of the Calabria region (Southern Italy). The innovative framework proposed by this paper highlights the fundamental role of widespread public knowledge to bridge the gaps, still existing, between Sc...

Natural Resources Conservation and Research

Climate changes are affecting the fate of Posidonia oceanica meadows. Actually, the Mediterranean... more Climate changes are affecting the fate of Posidonia oceanica meadows. Actually, the Mediterranean Sea is threatened by abiotic, biotic and climate changes coupled with human pressures regarding coastal regions. In this way, Posidonia oceanica is able to counteract the effects of climate changes through the high thermotolerance of the species, range shift processes of the meadows and variations in the community composition of this valuable marine ecosystem. Anyway, the power of acclimatization to temperature shifts and the adaptative capacity of Posidonia oceanica meadows against human pressures let to suggest a positive trend in the long evolutionary pathway of the species.