Maria Cristina Gambi

National Institute of Oceanography and Applied Geophysics - OGS, Trieste · Physical, Chemical and Biological Oceanography

Decreasing ocean surface pH, called ocean acidification (OA), is among the major risks for marine ecosystems due to human-driven atmospheric pCO2 increase. Understanding the molecular mechanisms of adaptation enabling marine species to tolerate a lowered seawater pH could support predictions of consequences of future OA scenarios for marine life. T...

The hydrothermal area of Panarea (Aeolian Islands) represents a valuable natural laboratory to study the effects of ocean acidification (OA) on Posidonia oceanica (L.) Delile, that populates these shallow vents expressing unique plant features. Stable isotopes of carbon, nitrogen and sulphur (δ 13 C, δ 15 N, δ 34 S), powerful indicators of the orig...

Utility and limits in the use of historical marine biodiversity datasets, for past reconstruction and recent evaluation of marine biodiversity and local ecological conditions, is here presented giving an example in the Gulf of Naples. The examined area is one of the better known of the entire Mediterranean sea due to historical observation on marin...

We investigated the health conditions of the Mediterranean mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis recruited in the CO 2 vents system of Castello Aragonese at Ischia Island (Mediterranean Sea). Individuals of M. galloprovincialis were sampled in three sites along the pH gradient (8.10, 7.7 and up to <7.4). Untargeted metabolomics and biochemical endpoints...

Altered ocean chemistry caused by ocean acidification (OA) is expected to have negative repercussions at different levels of the ecological hierarchy, starting from the individual and scaling up to the community and ultimately to the ecosystem level. Understanding the effects of OA on benthic organisms is of primary importance given their relevant...

Ocean acidification is causing major changes in marine ecosystems, with varying levels of impact, depending both on the habitat and the studied organisms. Here, we investigated for the first time the meiobenthos and nematode fauna inhabiting the sediments around Castello Aragonese (Ischia, Italy), characterized by variable pH values due to coastal...

A previously undocumented shallow water hydrothermal field from Sicily (Southern Tyrrhe-nian Sea, Italy) is here described, based on a multidisciplinary investigation. The field, covering an area of nearly 8000 m 2 and a depth from the surface to-5 m, was explored in June 2021 to characterise the main physico-chemical features of the water column,...

Global environmental change drives diversity loss and shifts in community structure. A key challenge is to better understand the impacts on ecosystem function and to connect species and trait diversity of assemblages with ecosystem properties that are in turn linked to ecosystem functioning. Here we quantify shifts in species composition and trait...

ll Parco Sommerso di Baia (Golfo di Pozzuoli)è stato istituito il 7 agosto del 2002, con Decreto Interministeriale, dal Ministro dell'Ambiente e della Tutela del Territorio, di concerto con i Ministri per i Beni e le attività culturali, delle Infrastrutture e dei Trasporti, delle Politiche agricole e forestali e d'intesa con la Regione Campania (G....

Tra le diverse cause che minacciano la biodiversità degli oceani ed anche il Mediterraneo ed i nostri mari, le modificazioni climatiche che interessano il nostro pianeta e che conducono sia ad un riscaldamento globale, sia ad una progressiva acidificazione degli oceani, rappresentano una delle principali. Nonostante si parli di riscaldamento terres...

La mia sintetica storia di ricercatrice subacquea ...e di approccio all'immersione subacquea scientifica e non... grazie alla giornalista Macaluso per il suo Donne nel Blu...

La presente Relazione riguarda la sintesi tecnico-scientifica del programma delle attività di survey, e visual census quali-quantitativo svolte in rapporto al progetto Reg. (UE) 508/2014 relativo al Fondo Europeo per gli Affari Marittimi e la Pesca FEAMP Misura 1.40 lett. d), e) e f) “Protezione e ripristino della biodiversità e degli ecosistemi ma...

Halophila stipulacea is a tropical seagrass species, native to the Red Sea, Persian Gulf, and Indian Ocean, while invasive to the Mediterranean and Caribbean Seas. The benthic fauna assemblages associated with H. stipulacea in its native habitats and the potential effects of anthropogenic stressors on these assemblages remain unknown. We compared m...

MARINE ALIEN SPECIES IN THE MEDITERRANEAN CROSSROAD: A CRITICAL REVIEW AROUND SICILY Marine Alien Species in the Mediterraneana crossroad: a critical review around Sicily

Abundance and size structure of Patella spp. were studied at Ischia Island (Tyrrhenian Sea) in two populations living at CO2 vents off Castello Aragonese, under natural ocean acidification (OA) conditions (pH 7.4-7.9), and three control populations in sites characterized by normal pH conditions (pH 8.1). Both CO2 vent populations had 95% of heavily...

This article is part of a book to honor the memory of Kristian Fauchald, the world authority in the systematics s and evolution of polychaetes, in occasion of the International Polychaete Conference held in Cardiff (Wales, U.K.) on July 2016. The article summarize a series of personal memories of our interactions (me and Adriana Giangrande) with Kr...

Il catalogo completo delle specie marine citate nelle diverse edizioni dell'antica canzone Napoletana de lo Guarracino che jeva pe' mare: edizione copiella del Mueller (1817), edizione Cottrau (1829), e varie versioni di tradizione orale del canto, per un totale di 95 specie marine identificate. Per ogni specie una breve descrizione e presentazione...

A description of the ECCSEL NatLab Italy off the island of Panarea (Sicily), and its role in research on climate change at sea, in particular ocean acidification.

Editorial of a special issue of Frontiers in Marine Sciences on model species in studying effects of ocean acidification, from molecules to ecosystem. A brief presentation and syntheses of the 5 articles published in the issue.

Here we provide various records of the alien bivalve Pinctada radiata in some sites of the Tyrrhenian Sea: Ustica, Salina and Panarea islands, as well as the coast of Palinuro (Campania). This latter location represents the northernmost site where the species has been recorded in the Western Mediterranean Sea.

A short history of colonization of the alien seagrass Halophila stipulacea in the Western Mediterranean Sea and its local scale dynamics along the coast of the Campania Region (Palinuro and surroundings areas)

We report the occurrence of a small population of the scleractinia Astroides calycularis, a thermophile species native to the Mediterranean, in the Giglio island (Tuscan Archipelago, Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy), which actually represent the northernmost site of occurrence of this species in the Mediterranean Sea.

The continuous increase of CO2 emissions in the atmosphere due to anthropogenic activities is one of the most important factors that contribute to Climate Change and generates the phenomenon known as Ocean Acidification (OA). Research conducted at the CO2 vents of Castello Aragonese (Ischia, Italy), which represents a natural laboratory for the stu...

Very small-sized shoots of the Mediterranean seagrass Posidonia oceanica, defined as “bonsai” shoots, were found in areas with most intense CO2 emissions and low pH associated with four vents systems off Panarea island (Aeolian Archipelago, Sicily, Southern Tyrrhenian Sea). Bonsai shoots were sampled in September 2021 and October 2022: Bottaro crat...

Since the industrial revolution, fossil fuel combustion has led to a 30 %-increase of the atmospheric CO2 concentration, also increasing the ocean partial CO2 pressure. The consequent lowered surface seawater pH is termed ocean acidification (OA) and severely affects marine life on a global scale. Cellular and molecular responses of marine species...

Ocean acidification (OA) refers to the worldwide decrease of average pH of surface seawaters due to increasing emissions of anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) since the industrial revolution. OA severely affects marine life, from effects on single species to whole ecosystems, due to the physiological stress of low-pH/high-pCO2 environments. However...

Nell'ambito del libro "nel mare di Ustica", questo intervento presenta una sintesi degli effetti del cambiamento climatico su organismi ed habitat dell'isola di Ustica. Vengono segnalati alcuni episodi di mortalita' e necrosi di organismi sessili dovute ad onde di calore estive ed anomalie termiche. Viene anche riportato l'aumento di diverse specie...

Climate change is causing an increase in the frequency and intensity of marine heatwaves (MHWs) and mass mortality events (MMEs) of marine organisms are one of their main ecological impacts. Here, we show that during the 2015–2019 period, the Mediterranean Sea has experienced exceptional thermal conditions resulting in the onset of five consecutive...

This study aimed to assess the combined effects of ocean acidification (OA) and pollution to the polychaete Syllis prolifera inhabiting the CO2 vent system of the Castello Aragonese (Ischia Island, Italy). We investigated the basal activities of antioxidant enzymes in organisms from the acidified site and from an ambient-pH control site in two diff...

Savalia savaglia is an ecosystem engineer listed as Near-Threatened by the IUCN, even though effective management and proper monitoring efforts to assess its distribution is still lacking. The record of large, long-established colonies can indicate the occurrence of areas with limited human local pressure. These areas may be considered as proxies f...

Anthropogenic stressors are predicted to alter biodiversity and ecosystem functioning worldwide. However, scaling up from species to ecosystem responses poses a challenge, as species and functional groups can exhibit different capacities to adapt, acclimate, and compensate under changing environments. We used a naturally acidified seagrass ecosyste...

It is reported the record of a conspicuous population (several hundreds) of the non-native heterobranch mollusc Lamprohaminoea ovalis (previous Haminoea cyanomarginata) along the coast of the Argentario peninsula (Italy), one of the northernmost location of occurrence for this Red Sea alien species in the Mediterranean Sea.

As the ocean warms, the thermal tolerance of marine invertebrates is key to determining their distributional change, where acclimation to low pH may impact the thermal range of optimal development. We compared thermal tolerance of progeny from a low pH-acclimated sea urchin (Arbacia lixula) population from the CO 2 vents of Ischia (Italy) and a nea...

Considering the pivotal role played by erosive organisms in the marine habitat and the scanty knowledge of this phenomenon in the Mediterranean Sea, the present study aimed to identify the pioneer excavating organisms occurring in the first stages of bioerosion, providing the first estimation of their rate of erosion along the North Adriatic Sea. B...

Ocean acidification (OA), one of the main climate-change-related stressors linked to increasing CO2 concentration in the atmosphere, is considered an important threat to marine biodiversity and habitats. Studies on CO2-vents systems, naturally acidified environments that mimic future ocean scenarios, help to explore the sensitivity of species and t...

A major goal of global environmental change research is to determine the effects of the main drivers on species and communities, and whether organism’s biological responses persist and are maintained at levels that are similar to, or different from today. To this purpose, several studies were conducted on marine hydrothermal vents, unique extreme e...

Abstract The Nereid Platynereis dumerilii (Audouin and Milne Edwards (Annales des Sciences Naturelles 1:195–269, 1833) is a marine annelid that belongs to the Nereididae, a family of errant polychaete worms. The Nereid shows a pelagobenthic life cycle: as a general characteristic for the superphylum of Lophotrochozoa/Spiralia, it has spirally cleav...

Ocean acidification has been broadly recognised to have effects on the structure and functioning of marine benthic communities. The selection of tolerant or vulnerable species can also occur during settlement phases, especially for calcifying organisms which are more vulnerable to low pH–high pCO2 conditions. Here, we use three natural CO2 vents (C...

La Geologia Marina in Italia 2019- Preliminary data on recent benthic foraminiferal assemblages from the shallow-water hydrothermal system of the Aeolian Arc (Tyrrhenian Sea)

Effects of ocean acidification (OA) on the plant phenology and colonization/settlement pattern of the hydrozoan epibiont community of the leaves of the seagrass Posidonia oceanica have been studied at volcanic CO2 vents off Ischia (Italy). The study was conducted in shallow Posidonia stands (2.5–3.5 m depth), in three stations on the north and thre...

We report the description of nine new taxa of sabellid polychaetes belonging to the genus Amphiglena, of which diversity in the Mediterranean Sea has been widely underestimated. Examined material derived from both new collections along the Italian coast, including four CO 2 vents/hydrothermal systems, and from a re-examination of older material pre...

Acidificazione e riscaldamento globale degli oceani rappresentano i drivers dei maggiori cambiamenti negli ecosistemi marini (Sabine et al. 2004), a danno soprattutto degli organismi calcificatori (Fabry et al. 2008). Le Isole Eolie rappresentano un laboratorio naturale idoneo per elaborare modelli e scenari per lo studio della Carbon Capture and S...

Ocean acidification (OA) may induce major shifts in the structure and function of coastal marine ecosystems. Studies in volcanic CO2 vents, where seawater is naturally acidified, have reported an overall simplification of fish assemblages structure, while some primary producers are likely to increase their biomass under elevated concentration of CO...

This paper describes the distribution and the spread pattern of the non-indigenous red alga Lophocladia lallemandii (Montagne) F. Schmitz in the Island of Ischia (Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy). Lophocladia lallemandii was monitored through surveys carried out from July 2019 to January 2020 at the Capo Sant'Angelo (Ischia), where L. lallemandii was observe...

The multiple roles of Polychaetes and bioconstructor and habitat formers, within the marine animal forests.

A fine marzo del 2017, in occasione della consueta organizzazione dell'evento di Scuola, Scienza e Società da parte di Pietro Greco presso il complesso scolastico di Ischia, venni invitata a fare un seminario che intitolai Specie aliene marine e piccole isole: il caso dell'isola d'Ischia. Il titolo dell'intervento era in linea con il filo conduttor...

We provide an overview on taxonomic and functional diversity of polychaetes in relation to ocean acidification (OA) derived from research at the CO2 vents system off Ischia (Castello Aragonese). A total of 119 taxa were censused in the area; studies have highlighted the occurrence of species new to science, sibling and alien taxa, dominance of a fe...

The parasitic zoanthid Savalia savaglia (Bertoloni, 1819), gold coral, is known to be always associated to dense populations of gorgonians such as Paramuricea clavata, on which Savalia is used to start its colonization. Hereby a population of 11 large colonies is described. The investigated dive spot is located at a depth of approximately 30 m off...