In ecology, photogrammetry is a crucial method for efficiently collecting non-destructive samples of natural environments. When estimating the spatial distribution of animals, detecting objects in large-scale imagery becomes essential. Deep learning-based object detection enables large-scale analysis but introduces uncertainty because detection probability depends on environmental and observational factors. To address detectio...

Accurate data on community structure is a priority issue in studying coastal habitats facing human pressures. The recent development of remote sensing tools has offered a ground-breaking way to collect ecological information at a very fine scale, especially using low-cost aerial photogrammetry. Although coastal mapping is carried out using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs or drones), they can provide limited information regardin...

Microplastic pollution is one of the greatest environmental concerns for contemporary times and the future. In the last years, the number of publications about microplastic contamination has increased rapidly and the list is daily updated. However, the lack of standard analytical approaches might generate data inconsistencies, reducing the comparability among different studies. The present study investigates the potential of t...

Sociality and ecological drivers that can influence individual association patterns are infrequently considered in wildlife management, although they are essential aspects affecting animals’ responses to both human-related pressures and conservation strategies. In common bottlenose dolphins ( Tursiops truncatus ), sex-specific social dynamics and interactions with anthropogenic activities may affect grouping and induce changes...

The need for habitat recovery in coastal areas, especially those subjected to intensive exploitation, has increased because of significant historical loss and alteration of habitats and, therefore, adverse ecological impacts. The present study defines a stepwise approach to mitigate habitat loss in deep coastal environments, describing the planning, intervention, and monitoring phases following the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP...

In the Mediterranean Sea, the catch of bottom trawl fisheries is composed of a complex mix of fish and invertebrates with a considerable amount of discards. Seasonal composition of catches and discards of bottom trawls operating at different depths in the central Tyrrhenian Sea were investigated from October 2014 to October 2015. The mean total catch per unit effort (CPUE) ranged between 30.93±8.43 and 27.52±9.88 kg/h in shall...

Timing, microhabitat selection and behavior from the onset of settlement to recruitment to the adult population of juvenile fishes of the genus Diplodus (Pisces: Sparidae) were investigated along a rocky coastline in the Central Mediterranean Sea. The settlement periods in Diplodus sargus and Diplodus annularis were concentrated in spring, between late May and early June, and the recruits leave the nursery grounds in late Sept...

Summary During primary colonization of rock substrates by plants, mineral weathering is strongly accelerated under plant roots, but little is known on how it affects soil ecosystem development before plant establishment. Here we show that rock mineral weathering mediated by chemolithoautotrophic bacteria is associated to plant community formation in sites recently released by permanent glacier ice cover in the Midtre Lovénbree...