Lorenzo Traversetti

• Dr.
• PhD at Roma Tre University

Utricularia (bladderwort) trap contents have frequently been used to define its diet, but there is a scarcity of information on prey availability. Yet making comparisons between trap contents and outside communities could help define feeding strategies of these fascinating carnivorous plants. This study focuses on U. australis, the most common aqua...

Several biological levels are considered as signals of environmental perturbations so that integrative biological responses have been proposed in environmental monitoring activities. We evaluated the use of markers in Mytilus galloprovincialis at two different levels (protein nitration and S-nitrosylation, and geometric morphometrics) to investigat...

The free-floating American duckweed, Lemna minuta, is an invasive species now widespread in Europe. Yet, its impact on freshwater ecosystems has been poorly investigated. In this study, the effects of the presence of this invasive duckweed on water quality, and aquatic plant and invertebrate communities were evaluated in sites in Central Italy. Wat...

Utricularia australis is an aquatic rootless carnivorous plant that takes up nutrients through shoots or from trapped prey digested in its bladders. As the information on the ecology of this species is scarce, the main environmental factors which favour or limit its growth were analysed. Habitat characterization was carried out on 23 aquatic sites...

Vegetation management of archaeological sites is a recurrent problem when considering the conservation of historic structures and biodiversity. In the UNESCO site of the Etruscan necropolis “La Banditaccia” (Cerveteri, Italy), several plants grow on the ancient tumuli, which are subjected to different management practices. In order to assess the in...

Since effects of alien invasive free-floating plants can be relevant in aquatic ecosystems, we investigated the non-native Lemna minuta impact on four aquatic animal groups: Hydra vulgaris (Coelenterates), Asellus aquaticus (Arthropods), Gambusia affinis (Fish), Bufo bufo tadpoles (Amphibians). An indoor experiment was conducted keeping animals in...

We constructed a new ecotoxicological tool to test for the presence of teratogens in rivers by exploiting the regenerative capabilities of Hydra vulgaris because using living organisms is considered good practice in environmental monitoring for detecting detrimental pressures. Outputs on the Hydra assay were integrated with two biotic indices based...

Sengis are small mammals in the order Macroscelidae that are shrew-like in appearance. They are cursorial and saltatorial, insectivorous and omnivorous. We studied Macroscelides spp. and Elephantulus rupestris with overlapping distributions in South Africa and Namibia. They have similar life histories and are good candidate species for comparative...

Several attempts have been engaged to prevent, ameliorate or remedy the effects caused by human impacts, and using living organisms as ‘early warning systems’ (EWSs) may be as important as the development of environmental monitoring tools describing the environmental health1. Specifically, we propose an integrated approach exploiting sessile bivalv...

The island of Bali has several aga (indigenous) villages that have survived despite the pressures of an intense tourist industry and agricultural changes. A rich ethnobotanical culture persists, but the meaning of differences in traditional ethnobotanical knowledge (TEK) remains under-explored. We analyzed information obtained from interviews of in...

Running water habitats are among the most altered aquatic systems by human activities driving an increase in the organic components and the associated bacterial load as well. To contribute in improving the monitoring activities in running waters, here we tested the validity of the new Micro Biological Survey (MBS) method to specifically assess the...

Reference double entry matrix to calculate the Extended Biotic Index (EBI) value and the correlated water quality class. (TIF)

Complete list of macroinvertebrates collected within the study area. Protocols followed national standards and no protected taxa were collected. (DOC)

Linearity (above) and accuracy (below) for the detection of heterotrophic bacteria count 22°C, heterotrophic bacteria count 37°C and E. coli. Above: bacterial concentrations (expressed as log CFU/ml) obtained with the reference method and corresponding times (expressed in hours) occurred for colour change obtained with the MBS method analyzing iden...

Values of the environmental parameters collected within the study area per investigated site. Marks: BOD = biochemical oxygen demand (mg/l); C = conductivity (μS/cm); COD = chemical oxygen demand (mg/l); NH4+ = ammonium (mg/l); NO3- = nitrates (mg/l); P = total phosphorus (mg/l); SAT = saturation (%); T = temperature (°C); VEL = velocity (cm/s). Fo...

Investigations on asymmetries showed that deviations from perfect bilateral symmetry are interpreted as environmental changes inducing developmental instability. Since morphological abnormalities increase with pollution, deformations may be considered indicators of the organism exposition to pollution. Therefore, the onset of asymmetry in otherwise...

The regenerative ability of Hydra vulgaris was tested as potential biomarker for the development of a new eco-toxicological index. The test is based on the regeneration rate and the aberration frequency of the columna (body and adhesive foot) after separation from head and tentacles by a bistoury. Particularly, 45 columnae were submerged in the rea...

Ontogeny is usually studied by analyzing a deformation series spanning over juvenile to adult shapes. In geometric morphometrics, this approach implies applying generalized Procrustes analysis coupled with principal component analysis on multiple individuals or multiple species datasets. The trouble with such a procedure is that it mixes intra- and...

Noninvasive methods in shell shape variation may help to understand evolution, ecology, stress and role of molluscan in aquatic ecosystems. Imaging analysis is a suitable diagnostic tool in morphological studies to (1) evaluate the health status of investigated animals, and (2) monitor sea coastal habitats. We introduce the feasibility of the cone-...

The ability of mammals to feel noxious stimuli lies in a heterogeneous group of primary somatosensory neurons termed nociceptors, which express specific membrane receptors, such as the Transient Receptor Potential (TRP) family. Here, we show that one of the most important nociceptive-like pathways is conserved in the freshwater coelenterate Hydra v...

Effect of heat shock (HS; 34°C) on HSP70 mRNA expression in H. vulgaris. HSP70 mRNA transcription after thermal stimulation was quantitatively analysed by comparing it to actin expression, as housekeeping gene. We tested up to 3 time points (expressed hours after test): 0.5, 1.5, and 24 h, and used T = 0 as a control. After 0.5 h post-treatment, HS...

Sequences of primers used for RT-PCR and real-time quantitative PCR to quantify levels of H. vulgaris transcripts that encode proteins involved in the nociceptive-like response. (PDF)

We evaluated the importance of the freshwater grass shrimp Palaemonetes antennarius as trophic source for the lacustrine fish of the Lake Bracciano (Central Italy) analyzing 6120 stomach contents of 10 species. Shrimp was recorded for all size classes of the investigated species with a variation in frequency and abundance depending on seasons. P. a...

Current evidence suggests that integrating diverse warning systems at different biological levels may not only increase the probability of detecting threats but also mitigate their impact. Here, we propose the use of both molecular and morphological descriptors at different biological levels in sessile bivalves (a suitable biological model in monit...

The brackish habitat colonization by the red swamp crayfish Procambarus clarkii(Girard, 1852) has aroused lively interest among many biologists. Here, we focused on its salinity tolerance by carrying out laboratory experiments and histomorphological observations on its antennal glands. Adult crayfish of similar size were subject to increasing salin...

Although the assembly of stream macroinvertebrates is regulated by environmental heterogeneity at multiple spatial scales, field bioassessment studies that explicitly considered such scale-dependency are rare. Here, we investigated how large scale longitudinal gradients and local microhabitat structure jointly regulate the assembly of macroinverteb...

Although the assembly of stream macroinvertebrates is regulated by environmental heterogeneity at multiple spatial scales, field bioassessment studies that explicitly considered such scale-dependency are rare. Here, we investigated how large scale longitudinal gradients and local microhabitat structure jointly regulate the assembly of macroinverteb...

Since morphological markers are recognized as useful tools to evaluate events of anthropic disturbances, we performed a preliminary study on head shape variability in the riverine-dwelling Leuctra fusca larvae as early alarm systems in running waters. Particularly, heads of 32 larvae were collected from two localities of River Aniene (central Italy...

Since morphological markers are recognized as useful tools to evaluate events of anthropic disturbances, we performed a preliminary study on head shape variability in the riverine-dwelling Leuctra fusca larvae as early alarm systems in running waters. Particularly, heads of 32 larvae were collected from two localities of River Aniene (central Italy...

The main aim of this study was to improve the knowledge about the concordance among macrophytes and macroinvertebrates to provide complementary information and facilitate the procedures for quality assessment of river ecosystems. Macrophytes and macroinvertebrates were collected in 11 sampling sites along a central Apennine calcareous river in Octo...

Increasing the river habitat safeguard level is one of the main actions proposed by the European Water Framework Directive in the field of biomonitoring. To do so, watercourses within the same hydroecoregions (that is, homogeneous areas based on climate, geology and topography) ought to be compared. In addition, the source distance was thought to p...

Several studies on concordance between macrophyte and macroinvertebrate communities were carried out for decades while any investigation on co-occurrence of single pair of taxa of these two groups was never addressed. Our main aim was to verify the existence of co-occurrence of single macrophyte–macroinvertebrate pair in a Mediterranean river of ce...

Inland waters are constituted by a lot of seriously threatened habitats. The increasing need to safeguard these ecosystems led European Union Member States to propose the Water Framework Directive which decided the creation of homogeneous areas characterized by very similar geology, topography and climate, known as hydroecoregions (HER) and firstly...

River impoundments and waste water discharge are a serious threat to the integrity and biodiversity of river ecosystems, especially in central Italy. Benthic macroinvertebrates were sampled in autumn and summer along the Aniene River to assess the cumulative biological effect of the numerous dams and sewage treatment plants that affect its middle a...

The main aim of this study was to improve the knowledge about the concordance among macrophytes and macroinvertebrates to provide complementary information and facilitate the procedures for quality assessment of river ecosystems. Macrophytes and macroinvertebrates were collected in 11 sampling sites along a central Apennine calcareous river in Octo...