Proceedings of the Second Mediterranean Symposium on Marine

PROCEEDINGS OF THE SECOND MEDITERRANEAN SYMPOSIUM ON MARINE VEGETATION (ATHENS, 12-13 DECEMBER 2003)
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DESCRIPTORS OF POSIDONIA OCEANICA MEADOWS: TECHNICAL
GUIDE FOR STANDARDIZED APPROACH
PERGENT-MARTINI Christine 1 , LEONI Vanina 1 , PASQUALINI Vanina 1 , ARDIZZONE
Giandomenico 2 , BALESTRI Elena 3 , BEDINI Roberto 4 , BELLUSCIO Andrea 2 , BELSHER
Thomas 5 , BORG Joseph A. 6 , BOUDOURESQUE Charles François 12 , BOUMAZA Salima 7 ,
BOUQUEGNEAU Jean Marie 16 , Branko , Maria Cristina 9 , CALVO Sebastiano 10 , CEBRIAN
Just 11 , CHARBONNEL Eric 12 , CINELLI Francesco 3 , COSSU Andrea 13 , DURAL Berin 14 ,
FRANCOUR Patrice 15 , GOBERT Sylvie 16 , MOSTAFA Hesham 17 , LEPOINT Gilles 16 , MEINESZ
Alexandre 15 , MOLENAAR Heike 15 , PANAYOTIS 18 , PEIRANO Andrea 19 , PERGENT Gérard 1 ,
PIAZZI Luiggi 3 , RELINI Giulio 20 , ROMERO Javier 21 , SANCHEZ-LIZASO Jose Luis 22 ,
SEMROUD Rachid 7 , SHEMBRI Patrick J. 6 , SHILI Abdessalem 23 , VELIMIROV Branko 8
1 Equipe «Ecosystèmes Littoraux», Faculté des Sciences et Techniques, Université de Corse, 20250 Corte, France ; 2 Université de
Rome, Italie ; 3 Université de Pise; Italie ; 4 Institut de Biologie et d’Ecologie marine de Piombino, Italie ; 5 Ifremer, France ;
6 Université de Malte, Malte ; 7 ISMAL, Algérie ; 8 Université de Vienne, Autriche ; 9 Station zoologique de Naples, Italie ;
10 Université de Palerme, Italie ; 11 Marine Environnemental Sciences Consortium, Alabama, USA ; 12 GIS Posidonie Université
de Marseille, France ; 13 Université de Sassari, Italie ; 14 Université d’Ege, Turquie ; 15 Université de Nice, France ; 16 Université
de Liège, Belgique ; 17 Université d’Alexandrie, Egypte ; 18 Institut d’océanographie, Grèce ; 19 ENEA, Italie ; 20 Université de
Gênes, Italie ; 21 Université de Barcelone, Espagne ; 22 Université d’Alicante, Espagne ; 23 Le Bardo, Tunisie.
ABSTRACT
The management <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> marine environment requires to possess information allowing
to appreciate in a reliable way, <strong>the</strong> global quality <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> environment. Resorting to
biological indicators <strong>of</strong>ten appears as a way adapted to answer this type <strong>of</strong> problem. So,
for a few years, a particular interest is granted to Posidonia oceanica meadows, because
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir wide distribution over <strong>the</strong> littoral zone and because <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> importance <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se
meadows within <strong>the</strong> conservation <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Mediterranean</strong>. It seems possible today to use
this magnoliophyta to determine <strong>the</strong> quality <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> coastal water.
A reasoned management, on <strong>the</strong> scale <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Mediterranean</strong> basin in general, requires
standardized methods <strong>of</strong> study, applicable by <strong>the</strong> researchers and <strong>the</strong> administrators, and
allowing obtaining comparable results. The aim <strong>of</strong> this study is to search for <strong>the</strong> different
implemented methods used to study <strong>the</strong> health <strong>of</strong> Posidonia oceanica. To do it, a
questionnaire was passed on to all <strong>the</strong> laboratories working in <strong>the</strong> domain. The results
identify <strong>the</strong> parameters and <strong>the</strong>ir technical characteristics (e.g. protocol <strong>of</strong>
implementation, presence/absence <strong>of</strong> standardization, interest and limits <strong>of</strong> use and
pertinence <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> acquired information) from <strong>the</strong> answers supplied by about thirty
international scientists.