(01/10/2019) At the time of measurements, a high continuity of meadows was observed in the monitoring stations and no particular signs of disturbance were recorded. Other sites, coincident with the shallower areas are little or no colonized. These areas presented some retreat dynamics that need to be confirmed during the next investigations.
The Bay of Panzano is a small bay of the Adriatic Sea (Friuli-Venezia Giulia), located in the northern part of the Gulf of Trieste, limited to the south-west by the Punta Sdobba, at the mouth of the Isonzo River. Inside the Panzano Bay are located two Natura 2000 sites: a Special Areas of Conservation (SAC) “Cavana di Monfalcone” and a Special Areas of Conservation (SAC) and Special Protection Area (SPA) “Foce dell’Isonzo – Isola della Cona” (Mouth of the Isonzo River and Cona Island).
In the Monfalcone site, the preliminary survey was carried out at the end of May in the two Natura 2000 sites in the Panzano Bay: SAC – Cavana di Monfalcone and SPA-SAC – Foce dell’Isonzo – Isola della Cona. In the area placed in the northern part of the Panzano bay, in the site “Cavana di Monfalcone”, the Zone 1 (Z1) was located on a Cymodocea nodosa meadow, where anchoring pressures occur, due to the presence of medium boats (sailboats). Within this Zone, three monitoring stations have been positioned at different depths. These Zones are characterized by shallow depth and are positioned on Cymodocea nodosa meadows mixed with other species.
At the time of measurements, a high continuity of meadows was observed in the monitoring stations and no particular signs of disturbance were recorded. Other sites, coincident with the shallower areas are little or no colonized. These areas presented some retreat dynamics that need to be confirmed during the next investigations.
No anomalies have been found considering the composition of benthic communities. As concern the marine seagrasses meadows, the main disturbances seem to be related to the presence of anchoring. However, the selection of sites potentially affected by this type of pressure was necessary to test the efficiency of safe anchorage systems and of the of the marine seagrass pilot transplantations.