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Research
Regulation of Marine Plant Production
This research line aims to understand the ecophysiological processes that regulate the survival and production of marine vegetation, particularly those related to carbon and nutrient uptake.The scaling up of plant-level production traits such as photosynthesis to higher community and ecosystem organizational levels such as the metabolic balances between community/ecosystem production and respiration are being evaluated in seagrass ecosystems to assess how seagrasses determine the carbon (and nitrogen) fluxes of coastal systems.
Human Impacts on Coastal Ecosystems
The effects of human-related disturbances, including physical impacts, eutrophication and invasive species, on benthic community structure, biodiversity and function are being assessed. Biological metrics and vegetation-based indices are investigated for the monitoring and assessment of the ecological conditions of coastal and transitional water bodies. In particular, the effects of climate change disturbances such as increased temperature and CO2/ocean acidification on the production, calcification, nutrient cycling and biodiversity of coastal ecosystems are the focus of this research line. Underwater volcanic vents of CO2 are being used as natural laboratories to assess the long-term effects of ocean acidification in combination with short-term experiments ran in mesocosms and in the field. Overall, we focus on the assessment, controls and prediction of climate change effects on the cycling of carbon and nutrients within seagrass systems.
