Format: ORAL

Dario Salemi1, Andrea Santulli2, Concetta M. Messina3, Angelo Troia1

1) Department STEBICEF, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy; 2) Consorzio Universitario di Trapani, Trapani, Italy; 3) Department DISTEM, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy

Saltmarshes support a variety of important ecosystem functions. Unfortunately, they have been drastically reduced in the last centuries, especially in the Mediterranean area: most of them were reclaimed or otherwise transformed, and the remaining ones are still threatened. Our projects aim is to investigate the possibility to use floating beds with native halophytes to remove nutrients from eutrophicated waters in artificial saline basins or degraded saltmarshes and at the same time to contribute to the restoration and renaturalization of the sites, offering habitats to several organisms. The use of floating islands with these aims has already been tested, but usually in freshwater basins. Here we present our preliminary results regarding the cultivation of annual and perennial halophytes on floating beds in effluent basins of a marine fish hatchery, in western Sicily (Italy). The following species were tested: Arthrocnemum meridionale (Ramrez et al.) Fuente et al. (Am), Salicornia alpini Lag. (Sa), Salicornia emerici Duval-Jouve (Se), Salsola soda L. (Ss). Cuttings of the perennial species (Am, Sa) and plantlets of the annual ones (Ss, Se), collected from nearby wild habitats, have been used. Best results, in terms of growth, were obtained with the perennial and the annual Salicornia. Arthrocnemum and Salsola grew slower respect to wild plants nearby. Our preliminary results confirm the possibility to cultivate the Mediterranean native species Salicornia alpini and Salicornia emerici on floating beds on marine waters. The next step is the application of these results to saltmarsh restoration projects, including the removal of nutrients and metals from degraded ponds, the improvement of halophytic vegetation cover and the consequent improvement of the whole ecosystem.