Giovanni De Falco

Italian National Research Council | CNR · Istituto per lo studio degli impatti Antropici e Sostenibilità in ambiente marino - IAS

The compatibility of sediments in terms of grain size, composition and colour among beaches and strategic sediment deposits (SSD) along Western Sardinia (Western Mediterranean Sea) were assessed to explore management strategy in the protection and adaptation to counteract the beach erosion and the effect of sea level rise along sandy shores. Twelve...

Due to their ecological value and vulnerability to anthropogenic impacts, coralligenous bioconstructions are considered a key habitat of the Mediterranean Sea and a "special habitat type" according to European Directives. Therefore, in the recent years, a huge effort has been made to increase knowledge about their distribution, spatial variability...

This study discusses the potential impact of removing Posidonia banquette on the sediment budget of a siliciclastic-sediment-starved beach-barrier system. The morphology as well as the sediment volumes of this system were estimated. The banquette’s composition and sediment content were determined with samples collected during five sampling campaign...

We performed a morpho-stratigraphic study of the Tirso River incised valley (Sardinia Island, western Mediterranean Sea), an erosional feature crossing the Sinis fault, a major normal fault bordering the Campidano basin between the Gulf of Oristano and the western Sardinia shelf. High-resolution seismic reflection profiles and multibeam echosounder...

Mediterranean mesophotic hard bottoms are mostly characterized by coralligenous banks. Although investigations on this habitat have increased in the last years, knowledge about its structure and spatial variability is still very limited as most studies are focused on the description of assemblages of peculiar and small locations such as biodiversit...

Coralligenous reefs are the main biogenic constructions of the Mediterranean Sea and they are considered indicators of the ecological quality of coastal systems and of “seafloor integrity” by the Marine Strategy Framework Directive. The two main coralligenous morphologies are the cliffs and platforms, the former developing in shallow waters (about...

Mapping of coralligenous banks was carried out along the continental shelf of the northern and western margin of Sardinia Island (Italy, western Mediterranean Sea) in the context of the European Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD, 2008/56/EC). Coralligenous banks are bioconstructions produced by calcareous coralline algae. Seafloor mapping w...

Beaches responses to storms, as well as their potential adaptation to the foreseeable sea level rise (SLR), were investigated along three beaches in a coastal tract in western Sardinia (Western Mediterranean Sea). The grain size of the sediments, the beach profile variability and the wave climate were analyzed in order to relate morphological chang...

Sea urchins act as a keystone herbivore in marine coastal ecosystems, regulating macrophyte density, which offers refuge for multiple species. In the Mediterranean Sea, both the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus and fish preying on it are highly valuable target species for artisanal fisheries. As a consequence of the interactions between fish, sea u...

The coasts of the Mediterranean Sea are dynamic habitats in which human activities have been conducted for centuries and which feature micro-tidal environments with about 0.40 m of range. For this reason, human settlements are still concentrated along a narrow coastline strip, where any change in the sea level and coastal dynamics may impact anthro...

The interdisciplinary excavations held since 2003 in the Lagoon of Mistras confirmed the presence of the harbour of the city of Tharros in this area during the Archaic and Punic periods, in a sector of the Gulf of Oristano protected from the prevailing winds. During the first phase of the research, surveys on land and inside the lagoon revealed the...

Striped seagrass meadows are formed by narrow ribbons which are elevated over the seabed and separated by channels. Limited information on the genesis and development of this morphological pattern, including the adaptive responses of associated biota, is preventing holistic insight into the functioning of such protected ecosystems. This paper asses...

The expected global sea level rise by the year 2100 will determine adaptation of the whole coastal system and the land retreat of the shoreline. Future scenarios coupled with the improvement of mining technologies will favour increased exploitation of sand deposits for nourishment, especially for urban beaches and sandy coasts with lowlands behind...

The evolution of coastal and transitional environments depends upon the interplay of human activities and natural drivers, two factors that are strongly connected and many times conflicting. The urge for efficient tools for characterising and predicting the behaviour of such systems is nowadays particularly pressing, especially under the effects of...

The production of sediments by carbonate-producing ecosystems is an important input for beach sediment budgets in coastal areas where no terrigenous input occurs. Calcifying organisms are a major source of bioclastic carbonate sediment for coastal systems. Increased levels of CO2 in the atmosphere are leading to an increase in the partial pressure...

Information on the life history of European cave salamanders remains limited. Despite a handful of studies carried out both under natural and controlled conditions, one of the least known aspects concerns the reproductive and breeding behaviour. Here we present information on the breeding behaviour of all the eight European Hydromantes species coll...

The coastal areas of the central Mediterranean Sea are sensitive to climate change and the consequent relative sea level rise. Both phenomena may affect densely urbanized and populated areas, causing severe damages. Our maps show the land-marine flooding projections as effects of the expected relative sea level rise for four Italian coastal plains...

Integrated archaeological and geological studies conducted on Mistras coastal barrier system of central Sardinia showed that it developed as transgressive systems during the final stages of the Holocene sea level rise (final stage of the Holocene Climate Optimum, about 6300 – 6000 cal y BP), and become regressive (prograding) from about 2500 cal y...

A critical component of Maritime Spatial Planning is the establishment of well-curated, federated Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDI) to provide a means to preserve and share geospatial data while promoting attribution and acknowledgement of its use. Objective of the work is to create a geospatial database of geomorphology, seismic and sedimentology...

The Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDI) are a critical component of Maritime Spatial Planning to provide a means to preserve and share geospatial data. Objective of the work is to create a geospatial database to data repository and integration of abiotic/biotic variables, anthropogenic pressures, habitat and species distribution patterns by means of...

Two sorted bedforms fields located at the western Sardinian margin are described. Bedforms are developed at the edge of prograding sedimentary wedges related to the last sea-level rise and in a small basin of the inner shelf, surrounded by rocky outcrops. The mechanisms of formation and evolution are discussed in relation with sea-level oscillation...

The input flow of groundwater from the seabed to the coastal ocean, known as Submarine Groundwater Discharge (SGD), has been only recently recognized as an important component of continental margin systems. It potentially impacts physical, chemical and biological marine dynamics. Independently of its specific nature (seepage, submarine springs, etc...

Coastal ecosystems produce and store carbonate particles, which play a significant role in the carbonate dynamics of coastal areas and may contribute to the sediment budget of adjacent beaches. In the nearshore seabed of temperate zones (e.g. Mediterranean Sea and South Australia), marine biogenic carbonates are mainly produced inside seagrass mead...

Coastal ecosystems produce and store carbonate particles, which play a significant role in the carbonate dynamics of coastal areas and may contribute to the sediment budget of adjacent beaches. In the nearshore seabed of temperate zones (e.g. Mediterranean Sea and South Australia), marine biogenic carbonates are mainly produced inside seagrass mead...

Of the eight species of European cave salamander belonging to the genus Speleomantes, five are endemic of Sardinia. We have limited data on the ecology and the ethology of these species, particularly on their reproductive biology. Only during the last two years, for the species S. imperialis, it was possible to document the breeding behaviour of tw...

Abstract We depict the relative sea-level rise scenarios for the year 2100 from four areas of the Italian peninsula. Our estimates are based on the Rahmstorf (2007) and IPCC-AR5 reports 2013 for the RCP-8.5 scenarios (www.ipcc.ch) of climate change, adjusted for the rates of vertical land movements (isostasy and tectonics). These latter are inferre...

I geotritoni sono degli anfibi caudati della famiglia dei Pletodontidi che appartengono al genere Hydromantes, presenti in tutti il mondo con 11 specie, di cui 5 endemiche della Sardegna (sottogenere Speleomantes). Vivono all’interno di grotte e cavità rocciose ricche di anfratti, oppure sotto pietre, in zone caratterizzate da elevata umidità e ass...

Wave climate, sediments, topographic features and tides influence the morphology and the short-term dynamics of beaches. The interactions between these different forcings affect the features of the beach system. In this work the morphological beach responses in relation to the most energetic period of the year were studied in a coastline with high...

A previously unknown submerged volcanic field offshore western Sardinia (western Mediterranean Sea), has been identified based on swath bathymetric data collected in 2009, 2010 and 2013, and high-resolution seismic profiles collected in 2011 and 2013. About 40 conical-shaped volcanic edifices (maximum width of about 1600 m and maximum height of abo...

During the dry season, the European Plethodontid salamanders (genus Hydromantes) usually occupy underground environments (i.e. caves), where they can find cold temperatures and high moisture. Hydromantes breed in hypogean environments, where they usually lay eggs in hidden shelters. Mothers perform a long-lasting parental care of the eggs, which al...

The fan mussel Pinna nobilis is the largest bivalve of the Mediterranean Sea, declared protected since 1992. It is a sessile suspension feeder endemic of this basin which lives mainly on soft sediments colonized by seagrass meadows. This study considers a population living within a Posidonia oceanica bed in the Gulf of Oristano (W Sardinia, Italy),...

The fan mussel Pinna nobilis is the largest bivalve of the Mediterranean Sea, declared protected since 1992. It is a sessile suspension feeder endemic of this basin which lives mainly on soft sediments colonized by seagrass meadows. This study considers a population living within a Posidonia oceanica bed in the Gulf of Oristano (W Sardinia, Italy),...

The morphodynamic evolution, during Holocene, of a wave dominated, starved shelf is presented This shelf sector is characterized by the occurrence of wide bedrock outcrops, transgressive sedimentary bodies formed by submerged depositional terraces (SDT) associated to sorted bedforms and drowned barrier-lagoon systems (BLS). The formation of transgr...

Lunghi E., Murgia R., De Falco G., Buschettu S., Mulas C., Mulargia M., Canedoli C., Manenti R., Ficetola G.F. (

Multibeam echosounder data collected along the shelf of the western Sardinia margin (western Mediterranean Sea) revealed the occurrence of isolated dunes at a water depth of 35–40 m, linear and crescent-shaped sorted bedforms in the depth range of 43–70 m and crescent and irregular-shaped dunes at deeper sectors of the shelf, at a 73–87 m depth ran...

In the context of Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD, 2008/56/EC), coralligenous assemblages are considered as "special habitat type". The knowledge of their distribution and the assessment of their status can contribute to the definition of the environmental status of Mediterranean regions. Seafloor mapping was implemented through multibeam...

This study aims to derive spatial and multi-temporal patterns of Posidonia oceanica meadow and to map bathymetry, by combining satellite data with in situ measurements. The study site is located in the northern part of the Gulf of Oristano, around the S. Marco cape. A physically based approach was used; it is based on radiative transfer equations c...

Mediterranean beaches experience major modifications in their morphology and grain size features mainly during intense storms and extreme meteo-marine events. The assessment of beach response to storms can be useful in the evaluation of coastal hazards, and in relation to the efficiency of management projects such as artificial nourishment. This pa...

Coastal erosion is a global problem which affects sandy and rocky shores worldwide. Coastal erosion can be triggered by several causes. Local processes can generate erosion hot spots, whereas at the global scale, the main forces are sea level rise, changes in storm climate and human interference. Beaches along the Mediterranean sea are strongly aff...

The presence and distribution of harmful algal species were investigated along the coasts of Sardinia in the summer of 2012. Fourteen potentially noxious taxa were identified at 74 beaches. The majority of the recovered taxa were potentially toxic and/or high biomass producers. Alexandrium taylorii, Gymnodinium instriatum, and Ostreopsis cf. ovata...

Seagrass leaf litter is commonly found along shores all around the world. The Mediterranean Sea is not an exception, and along the sandy shore wide and thick deposits of leaf litter can be found. The deposition of these structures has not yet been studied, our aim is to clarify the depositional–erosive process of seagrass leaf litter on a Mediterra...

The map is published online at the URL: http://www.isprambiente.gov.it/Media/carg/528_ORISTANO/Foglio.html

The map is published online at the URL: http://www.isprambiente.gov.it/Media/carg/528_ORISTANO/Foglio.html

Posidonia oceanica Delile (L.) is the most widespread seagrass species of the Mediterranean sea. On the sandy shores, cast litters of this seagrass are deposited as wedge structures from few centimeters to several meters thick defined "banquette". Banquettes are removed from beaches mainly for aesthetic reasons. The aim of this work is to evaluate...

This study evaluates the reliability of the Short morphodynamic model by using experimental data on the wave climate, sediment budget, and topographic beach profiles of an embayed beach located in western Sardinia, Mediterranean Sea. Wave parameters, measured by an offshore buoy located to the NW of Sardinia were downloaded daily, from the Rete Ond...

Posidonia oceanica seagrass litter is commonly found along sandy shores in the Mediterranean region, forming structures called banquettes, which are often removed in order to allow the beach to be used for tourism. This paper evaluates the relationship between the morphology and composition of banquettes and beach exposure to dominant waves. A Real...

Located at a distance of approximately 3200 km from Iceland, where the Eyjafjallajokull volcano erupted, Italy was affected by volcanic ash transported by middle altitude air masses across Europe. Volcanic emissions from the Eyjafjallajokull eruption in April 2010 were detected in Rimini (44 degrees 2' 28 '' N, 12 degrees 34' 3 '' E) (Italy) by mea...

The sedimentary features of the inner-middle shelf of the strait of Bonifacio (western Mediterranean) were analyzed to evaluate the relationship between the production and transport of biogenic carbonate sediments and the basin morphology and hydrodynamics. A three-dimensional hydrodynamic modeling was performed in order to simulate the influence o...

The Bulgheria canyon-fan system in the eastern Tyrrhenian Sea displays well-developed, small-scale, fluvial-like features and has formed alongside the northern slope of the Sapri peri-Tyrrhenian basin. This study reveals, for the first time, the morphology and course of the present-day system as well as the buried elements based on a Digital Terrai...

A comparative study was performed of three instruments used to measure the grain-size distribution of thirty sediment samples from shallow lagoonal flats: the hydrometer, the Sedigraph 5100 and the CIS-1. The hydrometer and Sedigraph are based on sedimentation whereas the CIS-1 uses the time of transition. The percentage of the samples accounted fo...

This abstract presents the comparison results between Bonifacio Straits (between North Sardinia and Corsica) and Cagliari Gulf (South Sardinia) inner shelf sedimentation. The studies were carried on in the context of the following projects: Interreg IIIA GERER, Life+ PROVIDUNE (LIFE07NAT/IT/000519), “Environmental control system and management of t...

The use of data, including bathymetry, backscatter intensity and the angular response of backscatter intensity, collected using multibeam sonar (MBS) systems to recognise seabed types was evaluated in the inner shelf of central western Sardinia (western Mediterranean sea), a site characterised by a complex seabed including sandy and gravelly sedime...

Marine cage aquaculture has the potential to severely impact Posidonia oceanica seagrass meadows and its associated fauna. In order to assess the impact of fish farming in a littoral bay of Corsica, France, physico-chemical (mud and organic matter) and biological (density and compactness of P. oceanica beds and associated macrofauna) variables have...

A comparison was made of shallow water sediments from the Lagoon of Venice (LV) and the Lagoon of Cabras (LC), comparing depositional environments and exploring the relationships between hydrodynamics and sedimentological parameters. The two water bodies are very different in size (LV: 360 km2; LC: 22 km2), and the sediments predominantly consist o...

Cet article concerne l'étude de processus côtiers dans le Golfe d'Oristano (Sardaigne occidentale, Italie) oú d'importants changements environnementaux ont été observés. Cette recherche, utilisant comme principal outil la télédétection, vise à évaluer l'évolution du littoral au cours du temps, sur la période allant de 1977 à 2000, et à examiner s'i...

Removal of beach-cast Posidonia oceanica seagrass litter, called "banquettes," is a common practice on Mediterranean shores to allow the recreational use of beaches. Ongoing removal practices of R oceanica banquettes were analyzed on the island of Sardinia to quantify this phenomenon on a broad scale and to evaluate the potential environmental impa...

In the past few years some species of the genus Alexandrium have caused harmful blooms in the Gulf of Olbia. In order to better understand patterns of cyst accumulation in the area, the granulometry of sediment has been mapped and dinoflagellate cyst abundance has been assessed in areas characterized by different granulometry. 37 dredgings were col...