Seagrass meadow restoration has become a key strategy to counteract the decline of the Mediterranean endemic Posidonia oceanica (L.) Delile, and transplant monitoring represents a fundamental tool for evaluating the success of interventions. In this context, monitoring plans are increasingly integrating basic plants functional traits with traditional structural descriptors, yet photosynthetic assessments remain largely overlooked (Bacci et al., 2024; Calvo et al., 2021; Pansini et al., 2025). This gap in our understanding of plant physiological response to transplantation constrains our ability to predict medium and long-term establishment and resilience, especially under climate change scenarios (Mancuso et al., 2024). Integrating photo-physiological responses into restoration monitoring may provide valuable insights into the capacity of transplanted cuttings to recover and maintain photosynthetic functionality under changing environmental conditions.

The present study aims to address this gap by evaluating the photosynthetic performance of P. oceanica transplants over seven years on Giglio Island (Italy), where a long-term restoration program was implemented following the impact caused to native meadows by the Costa Concordia shipwreck (Mancini et al., 2021). In 2023 photosynthetic and fluorimetric measurements were carried out using a Junior-PAM fluorometer (Madonia et al., 2021), in combination with morphometric descriptors, to compare the photosynthetic response of P. oceanica meadows transplanted in 2016, 2019, and 2022 with that of an adjacent natural meadow.

This study provides a baseline dataset for understanding the physiological response of transplanted P. oceanica and highlights the value of integrating traditional structural and phenological metrics with photosynthetic functions within restoration monitoring plans. This multidisciplinary approach may enhance the assessment of restoration outcomes, supporting more effective, evidence-based management strategies.