Cystoseira habitat natural capital in North-Western Mediterranean, an emergy assessment

A growing interest in the quantification of the economic value of ecosystems arose in the last decades aiming at raising awareness of the general public towards the preservation of biodiversity and supporting policy-makers in the process of creating new legal instruments. In the Mediterranean Sea, the canopy-forming macroalgae of the genus Cystoseira represent a valuable and vulnerable ecosystem, whose loss is expected to have severe consequences for coastal ecosystems. In this framework, a methodology for ecological and monetary evaluation of natural capital, based on biophysical accounting and on emergy theory is applied to the ecosystem generated by intertidal Cystoseira species. This approach will provide an overall picture of the value of Cystoseira dominated habitats, setting the basis for their management, through conservation and restoration plans