The evolution of a dynamic ecosystem in the Northern Sicily (Italy): witness of both human activities and natural events in the landscape variability

Capo Tindari and its overhanging humid area, situated in the centre of the Patti Gulf, on the Tyrrhenian coast of Sicily (Italy), have always been of particular interest both from a naturalistic and a physical-chemical-biological point of view. Because its ecological exclusiveness it has been included, since 1981, among the Natural Reserves of the Sicilian Region. On the basis of its peculiar hydrobiological and ecological features, the Istituto Sperimentale Talassografico (CNR, Messina) is currently carrying out a multidisciplinary research (Progetto Finalizzato Beni Culturali C.N.R.) in this area, aiming at its protection, exploitation, and management. The most interesting part of this ecosystem is the littoral zone, characterized by a rapid space-time evolution. Because of the particular anemological regime, this ecosystem is subject to persistent and marked morphological changes with formation of hook-shaped littoral bars, that delimit temporary or semipermanent coastal pools. At the moment it comprises six brackish pools, arranged sub-parallelly to the Tindari cliff, in NNW-SSE direction. Three of these are semipermanent (Marinello, Mergolo, and Verde), whilst the remaining ones - which have formed in more recent years - are temporary (Fondo Porto, Porto Vecchio, and Nuovo). In the last century, the evolution of the area has gone through some stages of accretion and erosion, related to different anthropogenic or natural events, which determined the availability or the dispersion of sand material useful for the formation and growth of the sandbank. In this paper the main fases of the area evolution are described.