Giant Reed (Arundo donax) wrack as sink for plastic beach litter: First evidence and implication.

In order to maintain the hydraulic outflow in land reclaimed canalizations, the competent agencies provide to mechanically mow the Giant Reed (Arundo donax, L. 1753) along the aquatic ecosystem banks. Nevertheless, the reeds mowed can be transported away from the waters following storm surges and can be deposited in large quantities along the sandy beaches.

Fishing lines and fish hooks as neglected marine litter: first data on chemical composition, densities, and biological entrapment from a Mediterranean beach.

We reported first data on the densities and chemical composition of fishing lines and fish hooks deposited on a Mediterranean beach. On a sampling area of 1.5 ha, we removed a total of 185,028 cm of fishing lines (density 12.

Detritus-based assemblage responses under salinity stress conditions in a disused aquatic artificial ecosystem.

Background: Despite the plethora of approaches, the sensitivity of the methods to measure the relationship between the abundance and biomass curves in stressed detritus-based ecosystems still remain to be refined. In this work, we report the comparison between biomass and abundance in a set of detritus-based macrozoobenthic assemblages located in six sampling pools with different salinity in an artificial aquatic ecosystem (disused Tarquinia Saltworks), using two diversity/dominance approaches (Abundance/Biomass Comparisons, or ABC, and Whittaker plots). We also evaluated the contribution of abundances and biomasses diversity (Simpson index) and nestedness, which measures the order by which macroinvertebrates colonized the detrital resource.

Infaunal macrobenthic community dynamics in a manipulated hyperhaline ecosystem: a long-term study.

Background: Understanding the responses of ecological communities to human-induced perturbations is crucial for establishing conservation goals. Ecological communities are dynamic entities undergoing fluctuations due to their intrinsic characteristics as well as anthropogenic pressures varying over time. In this respect, long-term studies, based on large spatial and temporal datasets, may provide useful information in understanding patterns and processes influencing the communities' structure.