The general aim of this paper is to present a possible multidisciplinary approach to the problem of connectivity among marine protected areas (MPAs) describing some of the mechanisms and vectors that control the dispersal of propagules among spatially distributed marine communities of MPAs in the Southern Adriatic Sea. A joint approach is described that focuses on (a) measurements of surface water current and model data integrated with a dedicated software (LAVA, LAgrangian Variational Analysis), (b) measurements of rafting objects and their evaluation as an alternative way to species dispersal, and (c) a tool to automatically monitor propagules and plankton species in the water column. Studies on the dynamics of water currents demonstrated that the Gargano area has the potential to supply dispersal propagules to the Southern Adriatic both along the Italian coastline and offshore across the basin, thus providing important services to the dispersal processes and the connectivity routes among MPAs. The natural dispersion is however enhanced by floating objects, on which entire marine communities are living and travelling. The number of these objects has greatly increased with the introduction of human litter: in the Adriatic, man-made litter composes nowadays the majority (79 %) of all floating objects, with this corresponding to an almost fourfold increase in the abundance of floating objects since pre-industrial times. Such enhanced dispersion may benefit transmission of propagules from MPAs along biodiversity corridors, but may also enhance the arrival of invasive species. The direct observation of organisms can provide information on the species distribution and mobility. New technology (GUARD-1 system) has been developed to automatically identify spatial or temporal distributions of selected species in the water column by image analysis. The system has so far successfully detected blooms of ctenophores in the water column and is now being tested for identification of other zooplankton groups, such as copepods, as well as marine litter. This low-cost, long-lasting imaging system can be hosted on mobile devices such as drifters, which makes it very suitable for biological dispersal studies.

中文翻译：

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生物多样性保护：海洋扩散的多学科方法的一个例子。

本文的总体目标是针对海洋保护区（MPA）之间的连通性问题，提出一种可能的多学科方法，描述控制南亚得里亚海MPAs在空间分布的海洋群落之间传播繁殖体的一些机制和媒介。 。描述了一种联合方法，该方法着重于（a）与专用软件（LAVA，LAgrangian变分分析）集成的地表水流测量和模型数据，（b）漂流物体的测量及其评估，以作为物种扩散的替代方法， （c）自动监测水柱中繁殖体和浮游生物种类的工具。对水流动力学的研究表明，加尔加诺地区具有向意大利亚得里亚海沿意大利海岸线和整个盆地近海提供扩散繁殖体的潜力，从而为MPA之间的扩散过程和连通性路线提供了重要服务。但是，整个海洋社区都在其中生活和旅行的漂浮物体增强了自然扩散。这些物体的数量随着人类垃圾的引入而大大增加：在亚得里亚海，如今，人造垃圾占所有漂浮物体的绝大部分（79％），这对应于漂浮物体的丰度几乎增加了四倍。从工业化前的时代开始。这种增强的分散性可能有益于MPA沿木质生物多样性走廊传播繁殖体，但也可能会增加入侵物种的到达。直接观察生物可以提供有关物种分布和流动性的信息。已经开发出新技术（GUARD-1系统）以通过图像分析自动识别水柱中选定物种的时空分布。迄今为止，该系统已成功检测到水柱中尾足动物的花开，目前正在测试该系统以鉴定其他浮游动物类群，例如pe足类和海洋垃圾。这种低成本，持久的成像系统可以托管在移动设备（例如漂流器）上，这使其非常适合于生物扩散研究。已经开发出新技术（GUARD-1系统）以通过图像分析自动识别水柱中选定物种的时空分布。迄今为止，该系统已成功检测到水柱中尾足动物的花开，目前正在测试该系统以鉴定其他浮游动物类群，例如pe足类和海洋垃圾。这种低成本，持久的成像系统可以托管在移动设备（例如漂流器）上，这使其非常适合于生物扩散研究。已经开发出新技术（GUARD-1系统）以通过图像分析自动识别水柱中选定物种的时空分布。迄今为止，该系统已成功检测到水柱中尾足动物的花开，目前正在测试该系统以鉴定其他浮游动物类群，例如pe足类和海洋垃圾。这种低成本，持久的成像系统可以托管在移动设备（例如漂流器）上，这使其非常适合于生物扩散研究。以及海洋垃圾。这种低成本，持久的成像系统可以托管在移动设备（例如漂流器）上，这使其非常适合于生物扩散研究。以及海洋垃圾。这种低成本，持久的成像系统可以托管在移动设备（例如漂流器）上，这使其非常适合于生物扩散研究。