Coral studies

This project, funded by the European Institutes of Advanced Studies (EURIAS), aims to determine the extent of self-fertilization for population maintenance as well as the effects of population demography on rates of self-fertilization in the Mediterranean coral Balanophyllia europaea. Using microsatellites, baseline genotypic diversity will be determined and rates of self-fertilization compared among sites of varying density to test for associations with population demography. It is hypothesized that as habitat destruction and deterioration increases and population density declines, rates of self-fertilization will increase as distances between individuals increases. Understanding how rates of self-fertilization vary with environmental parameters will assist in efforts to predict future changes to coral populations associated with global climate change.

Modeling the main factors driving the ecology of the open waters of the northern gulf of Aqaba (Red Sea)

Thanks to the project "Protecting the Gulf of Aqaba from Anthropogenic and Natural Stress", which is supported by the program “The NATO Science for Peace and Security Programme (SPS)”, a model will be developed to verify the current situation and the future modifications of water quality in the Aqaba Gulf (Red Sea). The model will be useful to assess the degeneration of water conditions near the cities of Aqaba (Jordan) and Eilat (Israel), to project the environmental conditions of the gulf and the consequent restoration actions that may be adopted to protect it. 

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2010-2015 Corals and Global Warming:

the Mediterranean versus the Red Sea

Project financed by the European Research Council under the IDEAS scheme of the VII Framework Program. Conceived by MSG, it has the aim of studying the potential effects of global warming and acidification on biology and ecology of Mediterranean and Red Sea corals. The project is multidisciplinary, in that it uses biological, chemical and physical techniques, and it benefits from the collaboration between the labs of the University of Bologna and the Bar-Ilan University of Tel Aviv.

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Mediterranean corals research themes

Reproductive biology: The reproductive cycles of Mediterranean scleractinians are defined by using hystological tchniques. The definition of sexuality and reproductive mode is perfomed through observation of hystological samples by optical microscopy. Cytometric measurements are performed by using image analysis software. The observations allow to identify and quantify the germ cells in each polyp, thus delineating the gonadal maturation stages, the fertilization time, and the embryogenesis, which will culminate in the planulation of new individuals. The sexual reproduction cycle is influenced by the seasonal variations of seawater temperature and photoperiod. The analyses are performed on populations characterized by different environmental parameters, to verify their influence on reproductive traits of the studied species.

Biometry and population dynamics: The relationships between morphological features of skeletons along the lifespan of the animal are analyzed. Skeleton age can be determined through sclerochronology, that is the observation of the typical yearly growth bands of the skeleton. By applying mathematical models, it is possible to determine polyp growth rates along their lifespan, based both on sclerochronological data and on field measurements. From these data, the main growth characteristics are determined: linear extension, skeletal density, and calcification. By analyzing population age structures and applying proper models, important demographic parameters of the populations are derived, such as mortality rate, average lifespan, and yield. All these characteristics are compared among populations subjected to different environemntal parameters, and among different scleractinian species.

Biomineralization: The process responsible for the formation of scleractinian skeletons, which are composed by calcium carbonate and by an intraskeletal organic matrix, is analyzed. Both skeletal analyses and in vitro crystallization experiments are performed, to understand the skeletal precipitation process and the level of control by the organism. The skeleton is analyzed by infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X ray diffractometry (XRD), and thermogravitometry (TGA). These analyses are used to determine the composition of the skeletons and to quantify the percentage of organic matrix inside them. Then, in vitro crystallization experiments are performed with the presence of different concentrations of magnesium (environmental control) and organic matrix (biologic control) extracted by the skeleton. Experimental products are analyzed through microscopic techniques, to assess possible morphological variations, and spectroscopic techniques, to verify the precipitated calcium carbonate polymorph. Different species and populations at different environmental parameters are compared.

Population genetics: Self-fertilization rates are studied by using molecular biology techniques aimed at particular DNA sequences, called microsatellite sequences. These sequences allow to assess the genetic differences between adult individuals and their progeny. It is also possible to assess the genetic variability and connectivity among different populations.

Skeletal mechanical properties: Investigation of mechanical properties benefits of recent techiniques of instrumented nanoindentation. Indenting means: to bring to contact the indentator-probe, which is highly rigid and unaltered by the interaction, and the sample. During this procedure, the instrument measures the applied force and the depth of penetration in time. The software can assess the hardness (resistance of the materiaal to plastic deformation) and the Young's elastic modulus (response in a ragime of reversible deformation), which are the two quantities who better define the mechanical features of an object. Before the indentation, a study of porosity is perfomed through nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) in the time domains, to obtain information on the quantity and size of skeletal pores.

Closed projects

Red Sea corals research themes

Fungidae - Study of ecological distribution, abundance and population dynamics of tropical mushroom corals from the Red Sea. An international Italian-Israeli collaboration with the Interuniversity Institute for Marine Science of Eilat.

"Balanophyllia europaea Operation", started on 1997, was the first research on reproductive mode and demographic characteristics of Mediterranean hard corals.
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Environmental monitoring

2006-2014 "STE - Scuba Tourism for the Environment" -Red Sea Biodiversity Monitoring Program

Human activities cause the loss of many plants and animals, and create "altered, unnatural" environments which appear biologically homogeneous, dominated only by a few resistant species. "Unaltered, natural" environments, instead, display a high degree of biological heterogeneity, since the host many animal and plant species which are in equilibrium. This research, started on  2006, has the aim of assessing the biodiversity of coral reefs along Red Sea coasts, and thus assess its healthy state. The data, since 2007, will be collected by underwater tourists by recording a special questionnaire. The first stage of the project was concluded on 2010, with more than 17500 questionnaires. The second stage, currently underway, will end up on 2014.

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Closed projects

2002-2005 "Divers for the Environment" - Mediterranean Underwater Biodiversity Project

Human activities cause the loss of many plants and animals, and create "altered, unnatural" environments which appear biologically homogeneous, dominated only by a few resistant species. "Unaltered, natural" environments, instead, display a high degree of biological heterogeneity, since the host many animal and plant species which are in equilibrium. This research started on 2002, with the aim of assessing the biological divesity degree of marine environments along italian coasts, by considering the distribution of some organisms considered as indicators. Data were collected by recreational divers through the recording of a special questionnaire.
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Started on 1999, it was the first research on the geographical and ecological distribution of Mediterranean seahorses. The aim of this research was to collect information on the quality of marine environment by using, instead of traditional chemical anlyses, which are expensive and limited, a biological indicator, which is a delicate organism who indicates a better or worse environmental quality depending on its presence or absence, respectively. The selected organism was the seahorse, Hippocampus hippocampus and Hippocampus ramulosus. Project results were published on the scientific journal Conservation Biology, published by the American Society of Conservation Biology.

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