MONTENEGRO MINISTRY OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND TOURISM PROJECT Montenegro: Platamuni and Ratac areas Summary report of the available knowledge and gap analysis Financed by: NOTE: The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this document do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of UNEP/MAP-RAC/SPA concerning the legal status of any State, Territory, city or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of their frontiers or boundaries. The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect those of UNEP/MAP-RAC/SPA. © 2016 United Nations Environment Programme Mediterranean Action Plan Regional Activity Centre for Specially Protected Areas (RAC/SPA) Boulevard du leader Yasser Arafat B.P. 337 - 1080 Tunis Cedex - TUNISIA E-mail: [email protected] All property rights of texts and content of different types of this publication belong exclusively to RAC/SPA. Reproduction of these texts and contents, in whole or in part, and in any form, is prohibited without prior written permission from RAC/SPA, except for educational and other non- commercial purposes, provided that the source is fully acknowledged. For bibliographic purposes, this volume may be cited as: UNEP/MAP-RAC/SPA, 2016. Montenegro: Platamuni and Ratac areas. Summary report of the available knowledge and gap analysis. By Torchia G., Pititto F., Rais C., Trainito E., Badalamenti F., Romano C., Amosso C., Bouafif C., Dragan M., Camisassi S., Tronconi D., Macicˇ ´ V., Sghaier Y.R. & Ouerghi A. Ed. RAC/SPA - MedKeyHabitats Project, Tunis: 32 p. Graphic design : Zine el Abidine MAHJOUB - www.zinetoon.com and Yassine Ramzi SGHAIER. Cover photos credit: Egidio Trainito This document has been edited within the framework of the MedKeyHabitats Project “Mapping of key marine habitats in the Mediterranean and promoting their conservation through the establishment of Specially Protected Areas of Mediterranean Importance (SPAMI)” In partnership with : The MedKeyHabitats Project is implemented with the financial support of MAVA Foundation. Available from: www.rac-spa.org Montenegro: Platamuni and Ratac areas Summary report of the available knowledge and gap analysis Study required and fnanced by: Regional Activity Centre for Specially Protected Areas (RAC/SPA) Boulevard du Leader Yasser Arafat B.P. 337 1080 Tunis Cedex - Tunisia In charge of the study: Atef OUARGHI, MedKeyHabitats Project, RAC/SPA Yassine Ramzi SGHAIER, MedKeyHabitats Project, RAC/SPA Milena BATAKOVIĆ, Environmental Protection Agency of Montenegro Scientifc responsible of the study: Giovanni Torchia (Golder) - Senior Project Manager and Project Director Francesco Pititto (Golder) - Project Manager Chedly Rais (Okianos) - Senior technical review of the work and preparation of the assessment report for SPAMI list Egidio Trainito (Golder consultant) - Marine photographer and expert in marine biology and taxonomy Fabio Badalamenti (IAMC) - Senior consultant Chiara Romano (Scripps Institution of Oceanography) - Senior consultant Cecilia Amosso (Golder) - Bibliographic research and review Cyrine Bouaff (Faculty of Science - University of Tunis) - Preparation of the SDF for the two study areas Massimo Dragan (Golder) - Senior Expert in GIS and cartographic data management Stefano Camisassi (Golder) - Database and WebGIS expert Davide Tronconi (Golder) - GIS Expert Vesna Mačić (Institute of marine biology General biology) - Marine Biology Expert Reference of the study: MedKeyHabitats n° 9/2015 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.0 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................................................................................... 7 1.1 Scope of work..................................................................................................................................................................................................... 7 2.0 STUDY AREAS......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 7 3.0 METHODOLOGY FOR THE BIBLIOGRAPHIC REVIEW ........................................................................... 8 4.0 THE SOUTHERN ADRIATIC SEA AND THE MONTENEGRIN COASTS ........................ 9 4.1 Geophysical and geomorphological and oceanographic features ........................................................ 9 4.2 Biological features ............................................................................................................................................................................................... 10 4.3 Land and sea uses, human impacts and potential threats ............................................................................... 11 5.0 THE PLATAMUNI AREA ............................................................................................................................................................................. 12 5.1 Geophysical, geomorphological and oceanographic features ................................................................... 12 5.2 Biological features ............................................................................................................................................................................................... 12 5.2.1 Plankton ................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 12 5.2.2 Benthos .................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 12 5.2.3 Fish assemblage .......................................................................................................................................................................................... 14 5.2.4 Habitat and biodiversity ....................................................................................................................................................................... 16 5.3 Land and sea uses, human impacts and potential threats ............................................................................... 20 6.0 THE RATAC AREA .............................................................................................................................................................................................. 22 6.1 Geophysical geomorphological and oceanographic features ..................................................................... 22 6.2 Biological features ............................................................................................................................................................................................... 22 6.2.1 Plankton ................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 22 6.2.2 Benthos .................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 22 6.2.3 Fish assemblage .......................................................................................................................................................................................... 24 6.3 Land and sea uses, human impacts and potential threats ............................................................................... 24 6.3.1 Habitat and biodiversity ....................................................................................................................................................................... 24 7.0 GAP ANALYSIS ....................................................................................................................................................................................................... 26 8.0 REFERENCES .......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 31 TABLES Table 1: fish species observed within the study area .............................................................................................. 14 Table 2: marine habitats found in the study area ........................................................................................................... 17 Table 3: listed species observed in the study area ..................................................................................................... 18 Table 4: Main species of commercial value used in the area ..................................................................... 21 Table 5: Species of phytobenthos found in Ratac .................................................... 23 Table 6: Classification of gaps .................................................................................. 26 FIGURES Figure 1: Platamuni study area .................................................................................................................................................................. 7 Figure 2: Ratac study area 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