The opportunity to co-locate wind and wave energy exploitation is analyzed in the Italian seas grounding on the rationale that benefits are greater when un-correlated resources are combined. The study shows that, although waves and winds are generally strongly correlated, in some conditions their correlation is lower and the combined energy harvesting more interesting. As spatial conflicts of sea use and demand for maritime space are increasing, the development of the marine renewable energy sector needs to be evaluated in the perspective of the cumulative pressures deriving from present activities or expected from future developments. The evaluation of areas of potential conflicts among human activities, environmental vulnerabilities and marine renewable developments may facilitate the early development of mitigation actions and negotiations between stakeholders. In this study the opportunity of co-locating offshore wind turbines and wave energy converters is analyzed through a spatial planning approach. Both the potential for combining different renewable technologies, and the impact associated to such development was considered in the context of the existing pressures (e.g., naval traffic; mariculture activities; submarine cables routes; dredge spoils dumping; offshore activities; windfarms and ocean energy projects) and vulnerabilities (Marine Protected Areas, Key habitat presence) through quantitative indicators. The portion of Tyrrhenian coast south of Elba island, the northern-western Sardinian coast, and the southern Adriatic and Ionian coastal waters appear to be the most suitable sites. Moreover, the study presents a spatial quantitative methodology to identify sites of potential interest for the development of the marine renewable energy sector in the perspective of cost-effectiveness and environmental impact minimization.

The comparability of methods applied to environmental DNA (eDNA) samples across laboratories remains a significant challenge for biodiversity monitoring on a global scale. Performance differences between protocols can jeopardize effective conservation strategies across regions and focal species. To address potential discrepancies amongst four international partners within a collaborative eDNA initiative, an inter-laboratory comparison (i.e., ring test) was conducted to compare efficiencies of established DNA extraction methodologies based on 39 eDNA samples. Each laboratory contributed eight to eleven samples collected throughout the North-East Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea near sperm whales, porbeagle sharks, basking sharks, bottlenose dolphins and common dolphins. After lysis, aliquots were exchanged between laboratories before subsequent DNA extraction using each facility’s preferred method. Extracts were returned to the lysates’ respective laboratories of origin for measurements of total DNA concentration, as well as quantitative PCR using three novel species-specific assays for marine megafauna. Our findings revealed similar concentrations of total DNA, yet a significant reduction in extraction performance for targeted qPCR reactions by one laboratory, who has therefore modified their extraction method to be used for the remainder of this project. Overall, detection success differed based on the target taxa with sharks being less often detected (and at lower concentrations) than marine mammals. Significant interaction effects were found between combinations of laboratories and species, suggesting a link between extraction protocols and variable environmental conditions. Our study serves as a foundational step towards establishing reproducible practices that are crucial for the success of multinational eDNA projects to enable comparable results.