title: Linking food web functioning and habitat diversity for an ecosystem based management: a Mediterranean lagoon case-study.
abstract: We propose a modelling approach relating the functioning of a transitional ecosystem with the spatial extension of its habitats. A test case is presented for the lagoon of Venice, discussing the results in the context of the application of current EU directives. The effects on food web functioning due to changes related to manageable and unmanageable drivers were investigated. The modelling procedure involved the use of steady-state food web models and network analysis, respectively applied to estimate the fluxes of energy associated with trophic interactions, and to compute indices of food web functioning. On the long term (hundred years) temporal scale, the model indicated that the expected loss of salt marshes will produce further changes at the system level, with a lagoon showing a decrease in the energy processing efficiency. On the short term scale, simulation results indicated that fishery management accompanied by seagrass restoration measures would produce a slight transition towards a more healthy system, with higher energy cycling, and maintaining a good balance between processing efficiency and resilience. Scenarios presented suggest that the effectiveness of short term management strategies can be better evaluated when contextualized in the long term trends of evolution of a system. We also remark the need for further studying the relationship between habitat diversity and indicators of food web functioning.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Estuarine and Coastal Marine Sciences, DAIS, Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Italy. Electronic address: brigo@unive.it.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Brigolin
authors.affiliation: Centre for Estuarine and Coastal Marine Sciences, DAIS, Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Italy.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Facca
authors.affiliation: Institute of Estuarine and Coastal Studies, University of Hull, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Franco
authors.affiliation: Centre for Estuarine and Coastal Marine Sciences, DAIS, Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Italy.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Franzoi
authors.affiliation: Centre for Estuarine and Coastal Marine Sciences, DAIS, Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Italy.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pastres
authors.affiliation: Centre for Estuarine and Coastal Marine Sciences, DAIS, Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Italy.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sfriso
authors.affiliation: CNR - National Research Council of Italy, ISMAR - Marine Sciences Institute, Arsenale-Tesa 104, Castello 2737/F, 30122 Venice, Italy.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sigovini
authors.affiliation: Centre for Estuarine and Coastal Marine Sciences, DAIS, Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Italy.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Soldatini
authors.affiliation: CNR - National Research Council of Italy, ISMAR - Marine Sciences Institute, Arsenale-Tesa 104, Castello 2737/F, 30122 Venice, Italy.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Tagliapietra
authors.affiliation: Centre for Estuarine and Coastal Marine Sciences, DAIS, Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Italy.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Torricelli
authors.affiliation: Centre for Estuarine and Coastal Marine Sciences, DAIS, Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Italy.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zucchetta
authors.affiliation: Centre for Estuarine and Coastal Marine Sciences, DAIS, Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Italy.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pranovi
mesh_terms: D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D017753:Ecosystem; D058735:Environmental Policy / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D005062:European Union; D020387:Food Chain; D007558:Italy; D008954:Models, Biological
keywords: Food web; Food web functioning; Habitat diversity; Trophodynamic indicators; Venice lagoon; Water Framework Directive