MEIO EXTREME Assessment of ecological quality status along the Apulian coasts (eastern Mediterranean Sea) based on meiobenthic and nematode assemblages Federica Semprucci 1 & Maria Balsamo 1 & Luca Appolloni 2 & Roberto Sandulli 2 Received: 31 January 2017 /Revised: 23 May 2017 /Accepted: 30 May 2017 # Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2017 Abstract Coastal environments may be impacted by several anthropogenic activities such as sewage discharges, fish- farming and hydrocarbons along with seaside tourism activi- ties, all proved to have an effect on benthic and, particularly, meiobenthic assemblages. An ecological survey was conduct- ed along the Apulian coast (South Italy) to explore potential relationships between the degree of human disturbance and meiobenthic communities which are still unexplored. Sediment samples were collected in triplicate from 3 stations along each of 16 transects and at a different depth gradient (from ∼10 to 50 m). The levels of taxa richness and biodiver- sity of the meiobenthic and nematode assemblages were over- all high. The Water Framework Directive and Marine Strategy Framework Directive suggest the creation of specific thresh- olds to define the EcoQ (Ecological Quality) status of marine coastal systems. The thresholds applied on the meiobenthos showed the worst conditions at Brindisi harbour and at the mussel farm infrastructure of Castro. An overall moderate impact was also detected at the multiple-use Marine Protect Area of Porto Cesareo, likely due to the overwhelming num- ber of tourists leading to an increase of organic enrichment (sewage discharge) negatively affecting the benthic communities assemblages. The main representatives of the nematode assemblages were taxa known as typical of muddy sediments. When EcoQ was assessed with the nematode thresholds, the worst EcoQ was found at Brindisi Harbour, Torre Specchia, and Alimini Lakes. The ecological conditions revealed by meiobenthic and nematode assemblages were generally consistent and seem to highlight a greater alteration of the meiobenthic communities assemblages along the Adriatic than the Ionian coasts. Keywords Meiobenthos . Nematodes . Monitoring . Fauna . Ecological assessment . Shallow subtidal habitats Introduction Human activities alter marine ecosystems at different levels making it critical to understand the consequences of possible environmental changes (Zeppilli et al. 2015; Semprucci et al. 2016). The Water Framework Directive (WFD, 2000/60/EC) was an important milestone in European environmental poli- cies, being the result of numerous years of discussions among experts, stakeholders and policy makers. WFD and the more recent Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD, 2008/56/EC) defined a roadmap that aims to the achievement or maintaining of a Good Environmental Status (GEnS) of the European seas by 2020. Both these regulations recognize that biomonitoring by means of invertebrate organisms may help to evaluate the extent of human impacts and may help to understand and control the loss of ecosystem functioning (Van Hoey et al. 2010; Semprucci et al. 2013a, 2014; Borja et al. 2014). Meiobenthic organisms are generally considered good bioindicators in marine habitats (Kennedy and Jacoby 1999). The reason for using meiobenthos in the biomonitoring Communicated by D. Zeppilli Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s12526-017-0745-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Federica Semprucci federica.semprucci@uniurb.it 1 Dipartimento di Scienze Biomolecolari (DiSB), University of Urbino, Campus Scientifico, loc. Crocicchia, 61029 Urbino, Italy 2 Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie (DiST), CoNISMa, University of Napoli BParthenope^, 80143 Naples, Italy Mar Biodiv DOI 10.1007/s12526-017-0745-9