ABSTRACT
CHIARA PENNESI, CECILIA TOTTI, AND FRANCESCA BEOLCHINI
4.1 INTRODUCTION
Posidonia oceanica (L.) Delile, is the most important and abundant seagrass and it is endemic to the Mediterranean Sea. It forms large underwater meadows from the surface to depths of 40 m, which are an important part of the ecosystem [1, 2] P. oceanica has a significant ecological role, as it can form structures known as ‘matte’, which are monumental constructions that result from the horizontal and vertical growth of the rhizomes with their entangled roots and the entrapped sediment [3]–[5]. This seagrass is very sensitive to human disturbance, such as coastal development, pollution, trawling and high water turbidity [3]–[5]. Indeed, in the year 2000, P. oceanica was selected as a Biological Quality Element [6] under the Water Framework Directive [7], as a representative of the aquatic Mediterranean angiosperms for use in the monitoring of the ecological status of coastal waters. P. oceanica in Italy is mostly present along the
Tyrrhenian and Ionian coasts, where it is destroyed mainly by trawling and by high water turbidity [8]. Human activities and sea storms result in the accumulation of the leaves of this plant on beaches; and their disposal represents a significant environmental problem [9]. This can, however, be avoided if this waste material can be transformed into a resource.
