Sicilian transitional waters: current status and future development

To appraise the current knowledge of Sicilian transitional waters (TWs), a review was undertaken of the information available on these ecosystems. In detail, a synthesis of the current status is reported, highlighting for each area the ecological features and status, historical data, conservation regime, environmental emergencies and anthropic pressures to which they are subject. The Sicilian TWs reviewed include coastal ponds and lakes, mires and areas with active and nonactive saltworks. Almost all of these ecosystems are affected by several protection regimes because of their high naturalistic value, although current knowledge is limited and fragmented. A few areas have received more attention from the scientific community, whereas others are consistently less studied. The overall picture is one of high heterogeneity in terms of origin, typology, surface, animal and vegetal communities, marine and freshwater exchanges, anthropic pressure and intended use.