Associate Professor in Ecology, University of Pavia, Italy
Prof. Agnese Marchini is an associate professor in ecology at the University of Pavia, Italy.
She studies marine invertebrates from man-modified habitats (harbors, marinas, lagoons) of the Mediterranean Sea, Macaronesia, and North-Eastern Atlantic, with a focus on nonindigenous species.
She is a member of several scientific boards, including the Working Group on Invasive Alien Species (WGIAS) of the European Commission's Directorate General for Environment (DG Environment); the “Allochthonous species group” of the Italian Society of Marine Biology (SIBM), where she has been coordinator of the Horizon Scanning Exercise on marine alien species for Italy. Agnese Marchini has authored or co-authored over 70 peer-reviewed articles and four book chapters; her researches are covered by several national and international newspapers and she also writes educational articles for Italian magazines and blogs.
Abstract: The Mediterranean Sea is considered a global hotspot for marine bioinvasions, with over 800 multicellular non-indigenous species (NIS) reported in the area. Their introduction has been long attributed to three major vectors: the Suez Canal, aquaculture and shipping, while little attention has been attributed to recreational boating, despite this sea represents a top destination for nautical tourism worldwide.
This presentation shows a first, large-scale study specifically addressing the role of recreational boats in the spreading of NIS in the Mediterranean Sea. The study involved three steps:
1) Comparison of fouling communities from large harbours and neighbouring marinas, where little or no differences in terms of NIS richness and NIS/natives ratio was found between the two habitats; 2) Survey of fouling invertebrates from 50 marinas spanning seven countries from Spain to Turkey, from where it was possible to identify abiotic factors related to high NIS richness; and 3) Survey of fouling invertebrates from about 600 boat hulls, out of which 71% were found hosting from 1 to 11 NIS. The presentation will also discuss the role of public awareness and the importance of standardised monitoring of fouling communities in the Mediterranean region.
Associate Professor in Ecology, University of Pavia, Italy