Alfonso Siciliano

AquaBioTech Group · Consultancy, Advisory, and Training (CAT)

PrAEctiCe is a Horizon-funded project that focuses on improving food production and farming in Africa. The project supports the development of tools for agro-ecology advisors to aid the selection of the most appropriate Integrated Aqua-Agricultural (IAA) farming practices for local communities. An extensive survey was conducted to identify the loc...

The use of digitalization performing benthic marine habitats detection and mapping helps marine scientists to reduce the cost, time, and effort to perform benthic habitats identification. This study developed an innovative system capable of autonomously monitoring offshore aquaculture systems, providing real-time benthic habitat recognition. Seaflo...

Habitat heterogeneity is considered a primary causal driver underpinning patterns of diversity, yet the universal role of heterogeneity in structuring biodiversity is unclear due to a lack of coordinated experiments testing its effects across geographic scales and habitat types. Furthermore, key species interactions that can enhance heterogeneity,...

Large scale disturbances associated with anthropogenic activities or natural disasters can destroy primary habitat-forming species like corals, seagrasses and seaweeds. However, little research has documented if and on how large-scale disturbances affect secondary habitat formers, such as epiphytes and small animals that depend on biogenic habitats...

Recent research has shown that co-occurring primary and secondary habitat-forming species typically support higher biodiversity than do monocultures of the primary habitat-former alone. However, these ‘habitat cascades’ may not be universal and it is important to know whether, when and where positive effects on biodiversity from secondary habitat-...

The important role of indirect facilitation, like trophic cascade and keystone predation, in structuring communities have been documented over many decades and across ecosystems. By contrast, indirect facilitation mediated by habitat cascades (where ‘inhabitants’ organisms are facilitated through sequential habitat formation or modification) is les...

The ecological role of shipwrecks as artificial reefs is well established and often is prime and exclusive destinations for diving tourism. But they are also extremely delicate and sensitive environments. For this reason, the impact of recreational diving on shipwrecks should be taken in consideration since diver’s experience can strongly affect th...

eagrasses are marine plants that take up nutrients, stabilize sediments, increase habitat complexity and thereby also increase biodiversity of sedimentary coastal ecosystems. Seagrasses also facilitate seaweeds that can become entangled around seagrass leaves and stems. However, relatively little is known about interactions between entangled seawee...

Many studies have documented habitat cascades where two co-occurring habitat-forming species control biodiversity. However, more than two habitat-formers could theoretically co-occur. We here documented a sixth-level habitat cascade from the Avon-Heathcote Estuary, New Zealand, by correlating counts of attached inhabitants to the size and accumulat...

Shell-forming molluscs are primary habitat-forming species that affect the structure of invertebrate assemblages in sedimentary estuaries. Importantly, their shells provide hard substratum that seaweeds attach to, and these seaweeds can subsequently provide secondary habitat to epibiontic invertebrates, giving rise to habitat cascades. Here we hypo...

It is well-established that habitat-forming host-species characterized by widely different form-functional traits affect epiphytes and faunal community differently. However, the opposite hypothesis, that form-functionally similar habitat-forming hosts have similar effects on epiphytes and fauna, has been studied much less. We used a survey and two...

It is well established that host species that are morphologically and genetically different can support different epibiotic species, and that these differences can support different invertebrate communities. However, no studies have tested the opposite hypothesis of whether morphologically similar congeneric hosts support similar epibiota and have...

It is well established that host species that are morphologically and genetically different can support different epibiotic species, and that these differences can facilitate different invertebrate communities. However, no studies have tested the opposite hypothesis of whether morphologically similar congeneric hosts support similar epibiota and ha...

Artificial reefs represent effective ecosystems for restocking but they are also extremely delicate and sensitive environments because they represent hotspots for tourists. For this reason the impact of recreational diving on artificial reefs should be taken in consideration since inexpert divers and photographers can strongly affect benthic commun...

In the last few years, monitoring the health of aquatic environments subject to the impact of several human activities has led to the adoption of Teleosts as indicators of environmental changes. Fish are excellent bioindicators of aquatic ecosystems due to their high sensitivity to changes. It has been widely shown that exposure to genotoxic agents...