Biodiversity of phytobenthic communities in the marine reserve of Porto Cesareo

The phytobenthic communities, both within and near the marine reserve of Porto Cesareo (Ionian Sea, southern Italy), were studied. No well structured phytocenoses were observed anywhere. In the upper infralittoral fringe, only an impoverished facies of the Cystoseiretum strictae was detected, with the exception of Porto Selvaggio, located outside the reserve, where seaweed communities were more stressed. Most likely, this indicates that a regression is still in progress outside as well as inside the protected area, where, however, such a regressive process is slower. This confirms the importance of the protection and suggests the need of a more adequate control of all the activities which are carried out within the reserve and in its vicinity. The presence of two non-indigenous species, Caulerpa racemosa var. cylindracea (Chlorophyta, Caulerpales) and Womersleyella setacea (Rhodophyta, Ceramiales) is signalled.