Valentina Costa

My research activity is focused on the study of the ecology of seagrass marine ecosystems. The main purpose of my research is to answer ecological questions by applying an integrated approach based on three main keywords: map, protect and restore.

To map and protect any ecosystem, knowledge represents the starting point, and how different environmental variables can affect the ecosystem itself is also necessary. During my PhD, I worked on evaluating the effects of particular environmental gradients (acidification and confinement) on seagrass detritus decomposition dynamics and the colonization by marine invertebrates of the detritus itself. After my PhD, I focused my research on the effects of ocean acidification on seagrasses also using experimental approaches and mesocosm studies.

More recently, my interest has been more focused on the keyword restore. One approach to ecosystem restoration is the transplanting of organisms from non-impacted areas to areas that need to be reforested. For this reason, part of my research activity is focused on the evaluation of transplantation techniques used for marine seagrass restoration activities.

I am also very interested in new open-source technologies (e.g. Arduino) and how these can be applied to the study of the ecology of marine ecosystems.

April 2024