Department of
Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics

Aquatic Botany and Ecology

The laboratory is focused on the study of trophy, macrophytes and the ecological status of aquatic environments with particular reference to transitional and coastal environments. The main activities concern:

  • The analysis of environmental parameters and nutrient concentrations in the water column, sediments, particulates and biota;
  • Determination of sedimentation rates and particulate dispersion; Primary determination of aquatic macroalgae and aquatic angiosperms and their correlations with environmental parameters;
  • The taxonomic determination of macroalgae and aquatic angiosperms using both traditional methods with microscopic and genetic determination by applying DNA barcoding techniques;
  • The determination of the ecological status through indices based on the presence and type of macrophytes such as MaQI;
  • The extraction of food compounds (Carbohydrates, Proteins, Lipids) and cosmetics (Agar, Antioxidants, etc.) from macrophytes and the use of various types of algal extracts for their application in the antiparasitic and anticancer fields.

The various activities also make it possible to make mass balances of single elements or compounds and to use the skills acquired for the environmental recovery of degraded environments through aquatic angiosperm transplants.

Research group

Collaborators

  • Abdul-Salam Juhmani (Postdoc)
  • Federico Cunsolo (Research Fellow)
  • Yari Tomio (PhD Student)

Collaborations

Publications

  • Sfriso, A., Buosi, A., Tomio, Y., Juhmani, A-S,  Mistri, M.,  Munari, C., Sfriso, A.A. (2021).
    Trend of Nitrogen and Phosphorus in surface sediments, a litmus paper of anthropogenic impacts. The lagoons of the northern northern Adriatic Sea as a study case. Water,  13, 2914. https://doi.org/10.3390/w13202914
  • Wolf, M., Sciuto, K., Buosi, A., Maggs, C.A., Petrocelli, A., Sfriso, A. (2021).  Merging the cryptic genera Radicilingua and Calonitophyllum (Delesseriaceae, Rhodophyta): molecular phylogeny and taxonomic revision.  Algae, 36(3): 165-174. https://doi.org/10.4490/algae.2021.36.7.18
  • Sfriso, A., Buosi, A., Tomio, Y., Juhmani, A-S, Facca, C., Wolf, M., Sfriso, A.A.,  Franzoi, P., Scapin, L.,  Bonometto, A., Ponis, E., Rampazzo, F., Berto, D., Gion, C., Oselladore, F., Boscolo Brusà, R. (2021). Environmental restoration by aquatic angiosperm transplants in transitional water systems: The Venice Lagoon as a case study. Science of the Total Environment, 795, 148859. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.148859
  • Sfriso, A., Buosi, A., Wolf,, M.A., Sciuto, K., Molinaroli, E., Mistri, M., Munari, C., Moro, I., Sfriso, A.A. (2020). Microcalcareus seaweeds a sentinel of trophic changes and CO2 trapping in transitional waters. Ecological Indicators   118:1-10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2020.106692
  • Sfriso, A., Buosi, A., Wolf, M. A., Sfriso A. A. (2020). Invasion of alien macroalgae in the Venice Lagoon, a pest or a resource?. Aquatic Invasions. 15 (2): 245-270. https://doi.org/10.3391/ai.2020.15.2.03

Awards

  • Acceptance and application of the MaQI index (Macrophyte Quality Index) as a national index by MATTM for assessing the ecological status of Italian transitional environments.
  • University Advanced Research Award in 2015.

Case studies

  • Development of the MaQI index (Macrophyte Quality Index) for the determination of the ecological status of the transition environments of the Mediterranean ecoregion, approved by the European Community and applied by the MATTM for the ecological recovery of the  Italian transitional environments
  • Ecological recovery of transitional and marine-coastal environments through the transplantation of aquatic angiosperms
  • Production of taxonomic atlases for the determination of green algae (Chlorophyceae) and brown algae (Phaeophyceae) of the Italian coasts
  • Study, taxonomic review and impacts of alien macroalgae
  • Balances of nutrients and primary production in the Venice lagoon

Equipment

  • Instrumentation for the determination of nutrients and the most common physico-chemical parameters of water, sediments and particulates including an Elemental Analyzer
  • Stereomicroscopes and Biological Microscopes for taxonomic determinations
  • Instrumentation for DNA barcoding extraction
  • Small boats for field activities

Research projects

  • LIFE SERESTO (LIFE12 NAT/IT/000331: Habitat 1150* (Coastal lagoon) recovery by SEagrass RESTOration. A new strategic approach to meet HD & WFD objectives)
  • LIFE LAGOON REFRESH (LiIFE16 NAT/IT/000663: Coastal lagoon habitat (1150*) and species recovery by restoring the salt gradient increasing fresh water input)
  • LIFE TRANSFER (LIFE19 NAT/IT/000264: Seagrass transplantation for transitional Ecosystem Recovery)
  • INTERREG Italy - Croatia 2017, SASPAS: Safe Anchoring and Seagrass Protection in the Adriatic Sea
  • Venezia 2021: Line 3.3 - Primary production, microbial, benthic, planktonic and lagoon nectonic communities - WP1- Update of trophy, speciation and primary production of macrophytes, impact of sedimentation rates and erosion / sedimentation processes in the Venice lagoon (UNIVE)
  • Monitoring plan of the water bodies of the Venice lagoon aimed at defining the ecological status pursuant to Directive 2000/60 / EC, IV monitoring cycle. Biological Quality Elements (BQEs) of macrophytes

Last update: 17/04/2024