Vol. 10, No. 3 (2022): Regular Issue

Natural capital stocks generate ecosystem services flows that are directly used or enjoyed by people, providing benefits to human well-being. Anthropogenic pressures on natural ecosystems cause biodiversity loss and, in turn, affect the capability of natural ecosystems to provide flows of good and services to humans. Environmental accounting represents a useful tool to assess the value of ecosystem goods and services, also providing useful information to local managers and policy makers in charge of implementing management and policy strategies oriented to the sustainable use of natural resources. Given this premise, this special issue includes theoretical, methodological, and applied papers focusing on natural capital, ecosystem services, and environmental accounting.

The nature-based recreational activities can be considered one of the most important cultural ecosystem services provided by forests. They provide benefits to local economy, human health and well-being reducing depression and mental illnesses risk and increasing social interactions. The aim of the present study is to assess the socio-economic importance of forest-based recreational activities using the travel cost demand analysis. The study was implemented in a black pine forest in Italy (Pratomagno forest) characterized by a multifunctional forest role and a diversified recreational attendance. The study on forest-based recreational activities was organized in four steps: development and pre-testing of a questionnaire; identification of the sample of visitors; administration of the questionnaire to the visitors; data processing. The results show that the most important forest-based recreational activity carried out by visitors is relaxing in the nature, followed by hiking and picnicking. The occasional visitors prefer more passive recreational activities (relaxing in the nature and picnicking), while regular and loyal visitors prefer more active recreational activities (hiking, mountain biking, picking non-wood forest products). A consumer surplus in the range between 39 and 44 \EUR\ per visit was estimated based on the model (Poisson and Negative binomial model), corresponding to 60.5-68.3~\EUR\ per hectare. The results show that nature-based recreational activities can generate positive direct and indirect benefits for forest managers and local people. The local decision makers should act on forest stand characteristics with the aim of increasing the recreational attractiveness and the consequent economic benefits.

The present investigation is a pilot study, carried out in a single season, aiming to account for the effects of local Small-Scale Fishery (SSF) m\'{e}tiers on actual catches, as recommended by the Ecosystem Based Management. According to local m\'{e}tiers, 3 trammel nets (GTR) and 3 longlines (LLS) were hauled for 8 hours in 4 Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) of Campania Region (central Tyrrhenian Sea): Regno di Nettuno (RN) and Punta Campanella (PC), in the northernmost Gulf of Naples, Santa Maria di Castellabate (SMC) and Costa degli Infreschi e della Masseta (CI), along the southernmost coasts of Cilento National Park. PERMANOVA analyses were performed to assess differences in GTR and LLS catches among MPAs; CAP analyses were used to assess similarities among MPAs catches; PERMDISP analyses were performed to verify small scale data homogeneity and comparability; ABCurves were used to assess MPAs fish assemblages quality status. Results show that GTR catches are higher than those of LLS in terms of fish diversity, abundance and biomass. Instead, LLS catches are more selective for a few target species and for larger specimens. PERMANOVA results highlight significant differences of both GTR and LLS data among MPAs, but pair-wise test indicates that LLS catches are more affected by local m\'{e}tiers linked to MPAs environmental characteristics. CAP analyses show that GTR species are coherently correlated with northernmost and southernmost MPAs while, species from LLS are correlated with the morphological characteristics (steep or flat bottoms) of the MPAs. PERMDISP reveals homogeneity among GTR data but not among LLS ones. ABCurves evidence that GTR, due to its low selectivity, is a suitable gear to monitoring MPAs fish assemblage. On the contrary, the high selective of LLS makes it an effective gear to provide data about the main target species of local m\'{e}tiers useful to define more effective MPA management measures.

The paper focuses on the integrated environmental accounting model called ``eValue'' developed for protected areas and applied in the research programme coordinated by the Italian Ministry of Environment aiming to implement an environmental accounting system for the Italian Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). eValue aimed to calculate the economic value of Protected Areas adopting a Cost-Benefit Analysis approach. Financial accounting based on costs and revenues was integrated with environmental accounting, which reflected not only environmental costs but also environmental revenues, \textit{i.e.} environmental benefits. Environmental costs assessed the impacts related to human activities in the MPA and environmental benefits assessed ecosystem services. The overall annual flow account accounted for costs and benefits, both economic and environmental, and the difference represented the value produced (or consumed) by the MPA. The eValue model was applied in the Tremiti Islands MPA. eValue demonstrated that the annual benefits-costs ratio reaches 2.1. In addition, the ratio between the net benefit and the public funding is 5.0 completely covering the amount of public transfers and thus summarizing the overall value for money of the MPA. Finally, the outcomes of the project are functional to the Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystem Services initiative carried out by the European Union.

In park areas (PAs), restrictions on anthropogenic activities are often established to achieve the long-term conservation of nature and its associated ecosystem services and cultural values. The economic literature on freshwater ecosystem services has identified the depletion of aquatic ecosystem quality as a crucial issue, suggesting appropriate methods to evaluate this degradation in monetary terms. An alternative approach is water footprint accounting, which is employed in this study to evaluate scarcity and quality issues originating from groundwater depletion in a dynamic setting. In this study, we evaluate the impact of cattle grazing on groundwater-related ecosystem services in a karst environment located within the Monti Picentini Regional Park, located in the Campania region in southern Italy. In so doing, we guide policy makers to achieve sustainable environmental and socioeconomic management decisions for the target ecosystem to balance the competitive uses of freshwater ecosystem services in the Monti Picentini Park Area.

Marine microplastics have become an issue of great concern at the global level. The attention towards the issue of marine microplastics, highly recognized by international policy and scientific research, has increased considerably over the last decades. At the European level, several initiatives have been promoted addressing the reduction of plastic pollution as a high priority target, among which the \textit{Marine Strategy Framework Objective (D10)} and the \textit{European Strategy for Plastics in a Circular Economy.} In addition, researchers have explored many strategies to optimize the detection and monitoring of microplastics in sediments, seawater, and organisms and to effectively demonstrate their potential ecological harm. However, since pollution dynamics, the functioning of natural ecosystems, and their relationships are very complex, there still lacks a comprehensive understanding of the impacts of microplastics on marine ecosystems. This lack of knowledge may impact the effectiveness of decision-making processes in terms of plastic reduction and waste management. In this study, we present the results of a literature review which focuses on particularly impactful marine microplastic methodological and analytical articles from 2004 to 2017 to identify possible gaps or inconsistencies in the reported data. Based on this review, a framework for a general reporting protocol (GRP) is outlined to encourage increased collaborative research efforts to harmonize the reporting of microplastics data in scientific studies. The proposed GRP outline could be useful in addressing data needs for effective ecological risk assessment.

Macrophytes represent interesting matrices for oil extraction with biodiesel production purposes, particularly in eutrophic coastal lagoons. This short note reported results on bio-oil extraction efficiency in two different species of macrophytes in a Mediterranean lagoon (Lesina lagoon, south-eastern Italy), by testing effects of different factors (year, season, species of macrophytes) on oil production and oil quality. Extracted total oils values ranged from 0.65 \% (\textit{Chara }spp.) to 2.35 \% (\textit{Chaetomorpha linum}) and a significant difference ($p<0.01$) between the two species was reported in relation to the variability of diene production with seasons. Compared to the available literature, higher oil extraction efficiencies are reported in this paper for the species \textit{C. linum}, mainly due to the pressure optimization before extractions.

In today's ages, the chitosan biopolymer has ample applications in drinking and wastewater treatment, which is the reason for its large occurrence and fair cost. The potential adsorbent properties are back to its structure since, in addition to its porosity effect, it contains --NH${}_{2}$ and -OH${}^{-}$ groups. In this analysis, the powdered chitosan biopolymer is used as an adsorbent for the abstraction of Remazol Brilliant Blue R (RBB-R). Many variables are studied to enhance the progression of adsorption such as adsorbent dose, pH, interaction time, initial concentration of adsorbents. In addition, the kinetic model's several adsorption isotherms are added to highlight the mechanism and the process of adsorption. Additionally, the degradation efficiency of the actual wastewater treated and untreated was achieved. Finally, to protect the municipal networks, the corrosion of steel pipeline was subjected to evaluation for untreated and treated wastewater to enhance their inhibition of the corrosion process.

Lagrangian coherence structures (LCSs) are introduced to study the pollutant transport process in detail, more powerful than traditional Eulerian method in describing the mass transport in transient flow. First, pollutant transport in air around a circular cylinder in the subcritical regime with Reynolds number of 140000 is numerically simulated using DES Turbulence Model. Then, the complex turbulent flow and the accompanying transport process in the cylinder wake are revealed from Lagrangian viewpoint, through the analysis of LCSs which are extracted utilizing the ridges in the finite-time Lyapunov exponent fields. Further, a comparison between flow in the laminar and subcritical regime is carried out, and the factors for the intense mixing and quasi-periodical characteristic of the subcritical regime are discovered. Finally, based on lobe dynamics, the flow field is partitioned into several regions with different physical properties, so the mass and energy transport and mixing between those regions can be precisely described and captured. The results show the application of LCSs in uncovering the structures of complex turbulent flow in environmental problems, as well as the potential of LCSs to quantitatively analyze the pollutant transport process, could provide an efficient way for the optimal control of the pollutant.