Invasive species are a growing driver of change across terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems but spatially-explicit information is seldom available for supporting management actions and decision making. Here we conceived and tested a new participatory method to map the distribution of three invasive species (Callinectes sapidus, Procambarus clarkii and Oreochromis niloticus) in the coastal lagoon of Lesina (Italy). Local fishers were asked to draw the distribution of each species on pre-printed maps, indicating districts of the lagoon characterized by different abundance levels. Then, maps were converted to a lattice grid and a Bayesian hierarchical Generalized Additive Modeling was adopted to model species distribution in the lagoon, calculating the coefficient of variation for model fitted values to map fishers agreement about the distribution of each species. We conceived new metrics to evaluate the quality of LEK-based participatory mapping in terms of agreement and consistency among experts. The resulting information provides new insights for spatially informed management across aquatic realms in relation to the increasing ecological and socio-economical pressures posed by biological invaders.
The research activities of the Institute are carried out in the context of research, development and innovation projects, both national and international, based on regional funding programs (POR FEAMPA - Regional Operational Program of the European Maritime Affairs Fisheries Fund and Aquaculture and POR FESR - Regional Operational Program of the European Regional Development Fund) or ministerial (PRIN - Projects of relevant national interest, PNRA - National Research Program in Antarctica, PO FEAMPA - National Operational Program European Maritime Affairs Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund) , programs for European Territorial Cooperation (Interreg), direct funding programs of the European Commission (Horizon2020 and Horizon Europe, Life, JPI - Joint Programming Initiatives, ERA-NET Cofund) and thematic collaboration initiatives managed by international organizations such as, for example , the FAO - GFCM (General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean). The Institute also develops funded projects in the context of collaborations with private companies in the sectors of the blue economy as well as technology transfer and research results. Research projects, mainly of a collaborative nature, are developed through a wide network of partners that include major Italian and foreign research institutions and universities.
