Assessing natural capital and ecosystem services in the Strait of Sicily: a multimethodological approach

The Strait of Sicily is identified as a Mediterranean biodiversity hotspot able to provide multiple ecosystem services, supporting human life at different scales. Nevertheless, the Strait of Sicily is one of the most threatened areas in the Mediterranean basin. Stressors and anthropogenic pressures are degrading its natural capital and ability to provide ecosystem services, negatively affecting human well-being. In this context, the study and conservation of the Strait of Sicily marine ecosystem represents an urgent need. Although several studies on the Strait of Sicily have been conducted over time, there is a gap in studies adopting a multimethodological approach to comprehensively assess natural capital stocks and ecosystem service flows. The present study aims to implement a multimethodological assessment framework combining environmental accounting methods and conventional ecological indicators. In particular, the ecoexergy method is proposed to account for the complexity and organizational level of the Strait of Sicily marine ecosystem, coupled with a biomass-based Shannon diversity index. In addition, an ecosystem accounting framework is applied to assess a set of ecosystem services provided by the Strait of Sicily, in both biophysical and monetary terms. The results of this study will be useful to policymakers in charge of developing strategies to achieve impelling conservation actions and sustainability goals.