Assessment of Posidonia Oceanica (L.) Delile conservation status by standard and putative approaches: the case study of Santa Marinella meadow (Italy, W Mediterranean)

Abstract

The conservation status of the Posidonia oceanica meadow at Santa Marinella (Rome) was evaluated through both standard (bed density, leaf biometry, "A" coefficient, Leaf Area Index, rhizome production) and biochemical/genetic approaches (total phenol content and Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA marker). The bio-chemical/genetic results are in agreement with those obtained by standard approaches. The bed under study was ranked as a disturbed one, due to its low density, and high heterogeneity in leaf biometry, LAI values, "A" coefficient and primary production. This low quality ranking is confirmed by both mean phenol content in plants, quite high and scattered, and by the low genetic variability in the meadow, with a very high similarity of specimen at a local scale. Hence, these two putative approaches clearly identify the endangered conservation status of the meadow. They link plant biodiversity and ecophysiology to ecosystem 'health'. Furthermore, they are repeatable and standardizable and could be usefully introduced in meadows monitoring to check environmental quality.