Spatial models to support the management of coastal marine ecosystems: a short review of best practices in Liguria, Italy

Spatial modelling is an emerging approach to the management of coastal marine habitats, as it helps understanding and predicting the results of global change. This paper reviews critically two recent examples developed in Liguria, an administrative region of NW Italy. The first example, aiming at predicting habitat status depending on human pressures (i.e. anthropogenic activities capable of producing impact), provides managers with the opportunity of envisaging different scenarios for the consequences of coastal development choices. The second example defines the status of an important Mediterranean coastal marine habitat (Posidonia oceanica meadows) under natural conditions, allowing quantification of human impact on regressed meadows. Both modelling approaches are useful to define the targets of coastal management and, combined with information on cost of conservation (or management), actions can provide guidance to decision-making. Well-planned and sustained monitoring is essential for model validation and improvement.