MASTROTOTARO , Francesco

Cold-water corals (CWCs) are the main engineers of extensive deep coral frameworks hosting a lush diversity of species in certain areas of the world, including the Mediterranean Sea. In this basin, the most important bioconstructor species are the so-called "white corals", i.e. the colonial scleractinians Madrepora oculata and Lophelia pertusa...

The project "Biodiversity MARE Tricase" aims to research and promote coastal and marine biodiversity at the MARE Outpost (Avamposto MARE), a marine station established in Tricase (Lecce, Italy) in 2015. From March 2016 to September 2017, the first biodiversity inventory of the Tricase coastal area (Ionian Sea) was realized with the aid of...

Marine bioconstructions are biodiversity-rich, three-dimensional biogenic structures, regulating key ecological functions of benthic ecosystems worldwide. Tropical coral reefs are outstanding for their beauty, diversity and complexity, but analogous types of bioconstructions are also present in temperate seas. The main bioconstructions in the...

1. Spread of alien species (AS) is a serious threat to marine habitats and analysis of principal descriptors of their occurrence is pivotal to set reliable conservation strategies. 2. In order to assess the susceptibility of marine habitats to biological invasions, a dataset was gathered of the occurrence of 3899 species from 29 phyla, taken...