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Exploring the Environmental Significance of Il-Magħluq Ta’ Marsaskala: A Study on Water Quality Within a Special Area of Conservation

2023; Springer Nature; Linguagem: Inglês

10.1007/978-3-031-43559-1_44

1863-5539

D. De Bartolo, Juan José Bonello, Francesca Spagnol Gravino, Raymond Caruana,

Marine Ecology and Invasive Species

Il-Magħluq ta' Marsaskala is a small saline marshland in the south of Malta. It is characterized with brackish water hosting peculiar salt-tolerant marsh communities and protected species that include the Mediterranean killifish, Aphanius fasciatus. This Natura 2000 Special Area of Conservation (SAC) consists of two different types of Annex I (Council Directive 92/43/EEC) habitats which are Habitat 1150* and Habitat 1410. This study focuses on water quality characterization and its implications within this SAC. Monitoring of water quality and abundance of the killifish was carried out over a period of one year (November 2017—November 2018). Temperature, pH, and dissolved oxygen were taken on-site while phosphates and nitrates were analyzed in the laboratory. The fluctuations observed in the water quality parameters can be attributed to seasonal variations, and possibly to anthropogenic activities surrounding the study area. The water quality seems also to be affecting the killifish population since a total of 22 individuals were recorded during this study. The density of killifish is excessively low when compared to data collected from similar studies within the same study area in previous years.