About
48
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Introduction
My research focuses on the effects of human activities on biodiversity, structure, and functioning of marine ecosystems in a climate change framework by using interdisciplinary approaches.
Additional affiliations
September 2011 - March 2015
Education
September 2007 - April 2010
Publications
Publications (48)
The process of site selection and spatial planning has received scarce attention in the scientific literature dealing with marine restoration, suggesting the need to better address how spatial planning tools could guide restoration interventions.
In this study, for the first time, the consequences of adopting different restoration targets and crite...
The moon jellyfish Aurelia coerulea (Scyphozoa) is one of the most common and largest jellyfish inhabiting coastal lagoons, confined bays, and marinas of temperate and subtropical coastal waters. The annual population dynamics of A. coerulea along with some bacterial parameters (bacterial size and biomass, total coliforms, faecal coliforms, intesti...
Seafloor pollution by benthic litter is an emerging phenomenon, although debris colonization by biota remains largely unexplored. We characterized the litter of the continental slope (~400-600 m) of the Gulf of Naples (Mediterranean) and investigated its fouling biota through integrative taxonomic approaches. Plastic pieces (82 %) with land-based o...
Habitat degradation and loss are severely affecting macroalgal forests worldwide, and their successful mitigation depends on the identification of the drivers of loss and the implementation of effective conservation and restoration actions.
We made an extensive literature review 1- to document the historical (1789–1999) and recent (2000−2020) occu...
Marine invertebrates represent a vast, untapped source of bioactive compounds. Cnidarians are represented by nearly 10,000 species that contain a complex mixture of venoms, collagen, and other bioactive compounds, including enzymes, oligosaccharides, fatty acids, and lipophilic molecules. Due to their high abundance in coastal waters, several jelly...
The ecological physiology of anthozoans, as well as their resistance to stressors, are strongly influenced by environmental factors and the availability of resources. The energy budget of anthozoans can vary seasonally in order to find an equilibrium between the available resources and respiration, polyp activity, growth, and reproduction processes...
Jellyfish as food represent a millennial tradition in Asia. Recently, jellyfish have been proposed as a valuable source of proteins also in Western countries. To identify health risks associated with potential human consumption of jellyfish as food, trace element accumulation was assessed in gonad and umbrella tissues of the Mediterranean Rhizostom...
Benthic-pelagic coupling processes and the quantity of carbon transferred from the water
column to the benthic suspension feeders needs multiple intensive sampling approaches where several environmental variables and benthos performance are quantified. Here, activity, dietary composition, and capture rates of three Mediterranean gorgonians (Paramur...
Ecological profiling of non-native species is essential to predict their dispersal and invasive-ness potential across different areas of the world. Cassiopea is a monophyletic taxonomic group of scyphozoan mixotrophic jellyfish including C. andromeda, a recent colonizer of sheltered, shallow-water habitats of the Mediterranean Sea, such as harbors...
Marine ecosystems continue to be transformed by human activities. Among them, benthic ecosystems are perhaps one of the most affected, because of bottom trawling, urban or agricultural development, climate change, and other stressors. Benthic communities that are dominated by structuring species, the marine animal forests (MAF), are among the most...
Anthropogenic litter negatively impacts the marine environment and threatens biodiversity. At the same time, it represents a suitable substrate for the settlement of sessile species, thus potentially altering composition and structure of soft bottom benthic assemblages. By using a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV), we hereby investigated patterns of...
This article seeks to present a synthetic summary of knowledge and thus improve awareness of microplastic impacts on corals. Recent research suggests that microplastics have a variety of species-specific impacts. Among them, a reduced growth, a substantial decrease of detoxifying and immunity enzymes, an increase in antioxidant enzyme activity, hig...
Rhodolith beds represent a key habitat worldwide, from tropical to polar ecosystems. Despite this habitat is considered a hotspot of biodiversity, providing a suite of ecosystem goods and services, still scarce quantitative information is available thus far about rhodolith beds occurrence and ecological role, especially in the Mediterranean Sea. Th...
Jellyfish blooms are frequent and widespread in coastal areas worldwide, often associated with significant ecological and socioeconomic consequences. Recent studies have also suggested cnidarian jellyfish may act as vectors of bacterial pathogens. The scyphomedusa Rhizostoma pulmo is an outbreak-forming jellyfish widely occurring across the Mediter...
Marine ecosystems continue to be transformed by human activities. Among them, benthic ecosystems are perhaps one of the most affected, because of bottom trawling, urban or agricultural development, climate change, and other stressors. Benthic communities that are dominated by structuring species, the Marine Animal Forests (MAF), are among the most...
Benthic-pelagic coupling processes and the energy invested by benthic suspension feeders to growth are difficult to quantify. Sudden shifts (food pulses) in seston availability are rarely detected in long- term studies, and the energy inputs due to these shifts are elusive. The quantity of carbon transferred from the water column to the benthic sus...
The date mussel Lithophaga lithophaga is an edible endolithic bivalve, protected by the EU Habitats Directive and other international agreements, living inside carbonate rocks. Its illegal harvesting is carried by breaking the rocks where the bivalve grows. The impact has cascade consequences as it causes permanent changes in the substrate characte...
The seaweed Caulerpa cylindracea (Sonder) is one of the most successful marine bioinvaders worldwide. Caulerpa cylindracea can influence the quantity and biochemical composition of sedimentary organic matter (OM). However, it is still unknown if the effects of C. cylindracea on both OM and small metazoans (i.e. meiofauna) can change according to di...
The Mediterranean basin is one of the regions heavily affected by jellyfish bloom phenomena, mainly due to the presence of scyphozoans, such as Rhizostoma pulmo. The jellyfish have few natural predators, and their bodies represent an organic-rich substrate that can support rapid bacterial growth with great impact on the structure of marine food web...
Macroalgal forests are one of the most productive and valuable marine ecosystems, but yet strongly exposed to fragmentation and loss. Detailed large-scale information on their distribution is largely lacking, hindering conservation initiatives. In this study, a systematic effort to combine spatial data on Cystoseira C. Agardh canopies (Fucales, Pha...
Marine ecosystems continue to be transformed by human activities. Among them, benthic ecosystems are perhaps one of the most affected, because of bottom trawling, urban or agricultural development, climate change, and other stressors. Benthic communities that are dominated by structuring species, the marine animal forests (MAF), are among the most...
of energy fluxes in marine animal forests of the Anthropocene: factors shaping the future seascape. Climate change is already transforming the seascapes of our oceans by changing the energy availability and the metabolic rates of the organisms. Among the ecosystem-engineering species that structure the seascape, marine animal forests (MAFs) are the...
Polyp activity in passive suspension feeders has been considered to be affected by several environmental factors such as hydrodynamics, water temperature and food concentration. To better elucidate the driving forces controlling polyp expansion in these organisms and the potential role of particle concentration, the octocoral Corallium rubrum was i...
Jellyfish represent an important component of marine food webs characterized by large fluctuations of population density, with the ability to abruptly form outbreaks, followed by rarity periods. In spite of considerable efforts to investigate how jellyfish populations are responding globally to anthropogenic change, available evidence still remains...
Polyp activity in passive suspension feeders has been linked to several environmental factors such as hydrodynamics, water temperature and food concentration. To better elucidate the driving forces controlling polyp expansion in these organisms and the potential role of particle concentration, the octocoral Corallium rubrum was investigated in acco...
Polyp activity in passive suspension feeders has been linked to several environmental factors such as hydrodynamics, water temperature and food concentration. To better elucidate the driving forces controlling polyp expansion in these organisms and the potential role of particle concentration, the octocoral Corallium rubrum was investigated in acco...
Jellyfish outbreaks in marine coastal areas represent an emergent problem worldwide, with negative consequences on human activities and ecosystem functioning. However, potential positive effects of jellyfish biomass proliferation may be envisaged as a natural source of bioactive compounds of pharmaceutical interest. We investigated the biochemical...
Megabenthic soft bottom communities of trawlable grounds have been studied since the first few decades of the last century, thanks to trawl fishing technologies. Despite providing an extensive amount of presence data, trawling cannot be considered reliable from a quantitative point of view, frequently giving only weak information about sessile spec...
Caulerpa cylindracea (Sonder), among the most successful marine bio-invaders on a global scale, poses severe threats to biodiversity. However, the effects of this seaweed on the quantity and the biochemical composition of sedimentary organic matter are still poorly known. Since the whole set of sedimentary features affects the availability of subst...
The jellyfish Rhizostoma pulmo is one of the largest and most distributed
scyphozoan species in the Mediterranean Sea, characterized by seasonal
and inter-annual fluctuations in population size, with alternance of high
abundance and rarity periods. In spite of a substantial number of studies
on R. pulmo biology and ecology, the diversity and abunda...
This volume contains the main results of the EC FP7 “The Ocean of Tomorrow” Project CoCoNet, divided in two
sections: 1) a set of guidelines to design networks of Marine Protected Areas in the Mediterranean and the Black Seas; 2) a smart wind chart that will allow evaluating the possibility of installing Offshore Wind Farms in both seas. The concep...
Understanding the mechanisms underlying the complex seaweed-bacteria associations in nature may provide information on the fitness of an invasive host. This may require the use of different approaches. In this study, we employed, for the first time, the Biolog system-Ecoplates™ to analyze the functional diversity of the culturable fraction of the b...
Recently, there is a growing interest towards the development of strategies for invasive seaweed control and exploitation as source of secondary metabolites. Here, we investigated the potential of exploitation in biotechnology and recycling options in eradication programs of the lipidic extract of the Mediterranean invasive seaweed Caulerpa cylindr...
We investigated meiofauna and sedimentary C cycling in seagrass (Posidonia oceanica) and unvegetated sediments invaded and not invaded by the non-indigenous tropical algae Caulerpa cylindracea. In both habitats, invaded sediments were characterized by higher organic matter contents. No effect was observed for prokaryotes and C degradation rates. In...
Although several studies have investigated bacterial–algal interactions, the bacterial component has often not been identified, and the ecological role of bacterial–algal associations is still unclear. In the present study two different approaches (molecular and culture) have been used to characterize the bacterial community associated with the inv...
Mazara del Vallo (TP) (Italy), 8 Centre d'Estudis Avançats de Blanes-CSIC, 17300 Blanes (Spain), Bioconstructions such as coralligenous outcrops and maërl beds are typical Mediterranean underwater seascapes. Fine-scale knowledge on the distribution of these sensitive habitats is crucial for their effective management and conservation. In the presen...
In the present study we compared the bacterial abundance as well as the bacterial functional diversity in three sites along the Apulian coast (Italy) in order to assess that C. racemosa surface harbours a specialized bacterial community.
We analysed the diversity of Vibrio bacteria associated with the non-indigenous species Caulerpa racemosa. The surface of the macroalgae constitutes a suitable substrate for the colonization of eukaryotic and prokaryotic microorganisms. This algae may gain vital elements from the associated bacteria, which, in turn, protect their hosts from micro-...
The full recognition of the relevant contribution of bioconstructions such as coralligenous formations and maërl to Mediterranean biodiversity has fuelled increasing efforts to assess their functional role, spatial distribution, assemblage composition, effects of threats and potential for connectivity. Understanding how this information can be incl...
Questions
Question (1)
What is the most appropriate age and level of education to maximize the benefits of MOOCs - Massive Open Online Courses? Are there any support tools to help you make your choice?
Projects
Projects (3)
Major marine biodiversity hotspots occur within and around extended three-dimensional communities known as Marine Animal Forests (MAFs). MAFs are biotic assemblages mainly composed of suspension-feeding organisms like sponges, gorgonians, hard corals, bryozoans, bivalves, etc., that form canopies like the trees or shrubs on land, thus creating underwater forests. As Aichi targets have been impossible to achieve by 2020, we need networks that allow working together for the same objective, with special attention to marine ecosystems as the MAFs. These submersed forests provide ecosystem services which are essential for hundreds of million people worldwide. In this UN decade of the oceans, we aim to provide the scientific basis for understanding and preserving the ecosystem services of the MAFs throughout the world. These ecosystem services are under increasing anthropogenic pressure and need a clear unifying picture to be shared with stakeholders and public. Developing a common protocol and gathering a consensus on the most appropriate tools to study and understand the animal forests’ role, will ultimately inform management, restoration and conservation initiatives. The network aims to develop an integrative vision that will fuel research and steer future policies on crosscutting sustainability-driven issues related to the fragmented governance of these benthic ecosystems in coastal and open ocean waters, creating crosssectoral platform for partners across academia, policymaking and civil society, offering inclusive spaces for a transdisciplinary dialogue. We will also unify the protocols for restoration of the MAFs of the World, with nature-based solutions, to face climate change, natural disasters, and food supply.
CA20102
https://www.cost.eu/actions/CA20102/
https://maf-world.eu/
Dismissed industrial activities are responsible for persistent environmental degradation, mainly due to long-term accumulation of xenobitic contaminants in the environment. Such a chronic form of pollution represents a major threat for human health, biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. Necessary environmental remediation practices should however be coupled to restoration plans aiming at revert the degradation trend and give back healthy areas able to provide valuable ecosystem goods and services. Albeit fully integrated into the EU Restoration Agenda, marine environmental restoration is a new challenging issue in ecology, with Italy coordinating MERCES, the first European project in this field. The environmental restoration of Bagnoli-Coroglio Bay is a unique challenge at European level. ABBACO will develop new approaches for the removal and remediation of contaminated sediments and restoration of marine habitats. Actions include: i) identifying the environmental benchmark of the area; ii) assessing its present health status, iii) studying the effects of contaminated sediments on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning (MSFD), iv) assessing the combined effects of multiple stress at a hierarchical level; (v) experimenting innovative methods of transplantation and restoration of key species and habitats, and new biotechnological instruments for the remediation of sediments (bioremediation, bioaugmentation) in degraded habitats. ABBACO will provide novel expertise and stimulate new initiatives within the Blue Economy Agenda. The project results will be achieved by the actions of 6 intermingled work packages (WPs): WP1 Historic overview of the environmental status; WP2 Assessment of contamination and multiple environmental impact; WP3 Effects on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning; WP4 Holistic approach to the study of multiple stress and risk reduction; WP5 Pilot studies of restoration and rehabilitation; WP6 Evaluating the effects of restoration and rehabilitation procedures
The MSFD aims to achieve Good Environmental Status (GES) of the EU's marine waters by 2020 and to protect the resource base upon which marine-related economic and social activities depend. It is the first EU legislative instrument related to the protection of marine biodiversity.
