- 1CMCC Foundation - Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change, Lecce, Italy.
- 2Laboratory of Experimental Oceanology and Marine Ecology, Department of Ecological and Biological sciences DEB, University of Tuscia, Port of Civitavecchia, Civitavecchia (RM), Italy.
- 3Italian National Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA), 00144 Rome, Italy
- 4Port Authority System of the Central Northern Tyrrhenian Sea, 00053 Civitavecchia, Italy.
Coastal marine ecosystems are significantly affected by human activities along the coast and continental shelf. Innovative monitoring techniques, including autonomous platforms and advanced multimetric habitat quality indices, offer new ways to understand these ecosystems' responses and help prevent habitat degradation.
We evaluated the habitat quality and the transition from coast to offshore of benthic habitats in three coastal areas of the northeastern Tyrrhenian Sea (Italy). Our approach combined autonomous technologies, such as an Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV) and Remote Operated Vehicle (ROV), alongside multimetric habitat quality indices.
The findings revealed moderate habitat quality across the study sites and demonstrated the effectiveness of this methodology for broader application, particularly in areas with diverse seabeds. This approach also has the potential to improve numerical models and Digital Twins of the Oceans (DTOs), offering high-resolution and near real-time data on habitat quality.
How to cite: Piazzolla, D., Bonamano, S., Penna, M., Resnati, A., Scanu, S., Madonia, N., Madonia, A., Fersini, G., Coppini, G., Marcelli, M., and Piermattei, V.: Advanced Surveying Methods and Multimetric Indices for Evaluating Coastal Benthic Habitat Quality in the Northeastern Tyrrhenian Sea (Italy), EGU General Assembly 2025, Vienna, Austria, 27 Apr–2 May 2025, EGU25-3133, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu25-3133, 2025.
