The Open Environmental & Biological Monitoring Journal, 2011, 4, 45-56 45 1875-0400/11 2011 Bentham Open Open Access Ecological Assessment of a Marine Coastal Area Affected by a Power Plant Water Discharge (Brindisi, Adriatic Sea) Gabriele Matteucci 1, *, Mirko Magagnini 2 , Monica Armeni 2 , Luca Giaccaglia 2 , Federica Fiesoletti 1 , Claudia Ciotti 2 , Patrizia Pari 1 , Sandro Riccio 1 , Paolo Rossini 1 , Paolo Ambrosini 3 , Euro Buongarzone 3 , Leonardo Patata 3 , Luigi Trovarelli 3 and Pierpaolo Tentoni 1 1 Istituto di Ricerca Gruppo CSA S.p.A., Rimini, Italy 2 EcoTechSystems s.r.l, Ancona, Italy 3 SAIPEM S.p.A., Fano, Italy Abstract: Coastal ecosystems are subjected to multiple stresses, from physical disturbance to chemical contamination related to the local anthropogenic activities. The recent European directives and Italian laws recommend that the assessment of the ecological quality of costal seawater should be based on an integrated approach, taking into account the ecological complexity of the systems and highlighting the potential sources of impact. Here, we present the results of an environmental study carried out in the marine coastal area affected by the sea discharge of a Combined Cycle Power Plant (Torre Cavallo, Brindisi) and characterized by the presence of a Posidonia oceanica meadow. The study focused on the concentration of chemical contaminants in sediments, coupled with the study of quali-quantitative determinations of biological benthic communities meio- and macrozoobenthos). Data were integrated with data of phenology and lepidochronology of P. oceanica, as well as the concentrations of trace elements in leaves and rhizomes, in order to identify potential sources of stress. Results suggested a good status of health of the coastal marine ecosystem. Keywords: Posidonia oceanica, heavy metals, bioaccumulation, biodiversity. INTRODUCTION Coastal ecosystems are typically subjected to multiple simultaneous threats, as a direct result of their high vulnerability. For this reason, the reaching of a high standard in terms of environmental quality of marine coastal areas has become one of the priorities in EC environmental legislation, as reported in the Water Framework Directive 2000/60/UE (WFD) and the related national laws in matters of the envi- ronment (as the Italian law n° 152/2006 and subsequent inte- grations). The reaching of high environmental quality im- plies the monitoring of marine coastal areas, in particular in regions where the presence of industrial plants could have a negative impact on key ecosystems, as seagrass meadows. Posidonia oceanica (L.) meadows are defined as priority habitats on Annex I of the EC Directive 92/43/EEC on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and Wild Fauna and Flora (EEC 1992). In particular, P. oceanica meadows represent important ecosystems particularly subjected to changes in environ- mental quality [1, 2]. P. oceanica, the dominant seagrass in the Mediterranean Sea, is an endemic species that may form extensive meadows down to 40 m. These meadows consti- tute one of the most productive and valuable ecosystems in the Mediterranean Sea [3, 4]. Despite being listed as a pro- tected species in the Habitats Directive (EC, 1992), *Address correspondence to this author at the Istituto di Ricerca Gruppo CSA S.p.A., Rimini, Italy; Tel: +390541791050; Fax: +390541791045; E-mail: gmatteucci@csaricerche.com P. oceanica habitats are experiencing a widespread decline [5]. These losses are commonly attributed to human activities such as bottom-trawl fishing, coastal constructions, beach nourishment, fish farming and desalination plants [6-10]. Given its broad distribution throughout the Mediter- ranean Sea and its sensitivity, P. oceanica might be used as an appropriate bio-indicator [11] and has been proposed as one of the biological quality elements for coastal waters in the EUWFD [12]. The wide spectrum of possible threats for marine ecosys- tems in anthropized areas implies the use of an integrated monitoring approach, which takes into account the different classes, sources and effects of the potential pollution. For this reason, the environmental quality of marine coastal areas is currently defined through multidisciplinary studies, in which the study of key biological variables, such as meiobenthos and macrozoobenthos, is supported by physico- chemical and chemical data of water column and sediments [13]. Here, we present the results of a multidisciplinary study performed on seawater, sediments and biota of a P. oceanica meadow subjected to the effects of the sea discharge of a Combined Cycle Power Plant. The quali-quantitative analy- ses of benthic communities, as well as phenological and lepidochronological data of P. oceanica, were integrated with physico-chemical and chemical data of both seawater and sediments, providing a useful description of the health status of the meadow.