CNR
IAS CNR SEZIONE DI ORISTANO
The National Research Council (CNR) is Italy’s primary public research institution, dedicated to promoting innovation, industrial competitiveness, and sustainability. The Institute for the Study of Anthropogenic Impacts and Sustainability in the Marine Environment (IAS) is one of CNR’s three marine research institutes and includes more than 100 researchers distributed across Rome, Palermo, Genoa, Oristano, Capo Granitola, and Castellammare del Golfo. IAS focuses on innovative and interdisciplinary research to protect marine and coastal ecosystems, in line with Goal 14 of the 2030 Agenda, which promotes the conservation and sustainable management of oceans.
Main research topics include:
- Integrated multitrophic aquaculture
- Response capacity of coastal and lagoon ecosystems to anthropogenic pressures
- Conservation of biodiversity with particular reference to marine bioconstructors (e.g., coralligenous habitats, Dendropoma spp., seagrasses, algal forests, etc.)
- Restoration ecology of degraded marine habitats, with particular focus on Posidonia oceanica meadows
- Ecology of hard and soft bottoms: biodiversity, functioning, conservation
- Effects of climate change—including global warming, ocean acidification, and hypoxia—on energetics, locomotion, and spatial distribution of marine organisms
- Effects of environmental stressors on predator–prey interactions and on individual and collective behavior of aquatic animals
- Effects of alien species invasion on native populations and ecosystems
- Monitoring of animal movements and spatial distribution using traditional tagging techniques, direct observations (visual census, cameras, photo-identification), and acoustic telemetry (remote monitoring of tagged animals with miniaturized transmitters)
- Study of marine food webs using stable isotopes
- Study of cetacean strandings, causes of death (fishing activities, navigation, pollution), and tissue analysis; recovery of bones and skeletal reconstruction for research, education, and museum displays
- Assessment of ecological and environmental status of marine and coastal areas (within the framework of European Directives) through the study of biology and ecology of vulnerable species and benthic communities
- Evaluation of the role and effectiveness of Marine Protected Areas
- Vulnerability and resilience of polar marine fish fauna
Role of IAS CNR
- Tank and in-situ experimentation and development of restoration protocols for Habitat 1170
- Reintroduction of organisms from Habitat 1170 into natural habitats and artificial substrates
- Monitoring of coralligenous transplants in natural and artificial habitats, as well as monitoring of transplants of Pinna nobilis and Corallium rubrum
