After two years of work, researchers from the University of Milan Bicocca , in collaboration with nine associations, have managed to "redesign" the map of the distribution of the monk seal in the central Mediterranean . And, at the same time, to identify six "hot spots", i.e. areas where the greatest presence of specimens of Monachus monachus is recorded, one of the rarest species in the world, among which north-eastern Sardinia stands out.

The results of the study were published in the journal "Scientific Reports".

In Sardinia, traces of the passage of monk seals have been identified above all in the canyons of the island of Caprera , while the other areas in Italy with a greater presence are the Upper Adriatic - between Istria and the Venice lagoon -, the sea of Salento and the Gulf of Taranto, the smaller Sicilian islands and the Tuscan archipelago. Further west, another "hot" area is the Spanish Balearic archipelago.

To carry out the monitoring, conducted between 2020 and 2021, the researchers made use, explains the Bicocca University, of «a revolutionary non-invasive detection system, based on the search for environmental DNA in sea water samples , analyzed for look for the presence of molecular traces of seals», a method developed by Elena Valsecchi , molecular ecologist of the Department of Environmental and Earth Sciences of the Milanese university.

«It is important that these monitorings are carried out in a homogeneous and scientifically certified way – explain the team leaders of the research, Elena Valsecchi and Emanuele Coppola -. Only in this way will we be able to have comparable data that will allow us to follow the long-awaited return of the species to the central Mediterranean in the coming years. A happy event awaited not only by our country, but also by France, Spain, Morocco and Tunisia».

(Unioneonline/lf)

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