Curriculum: Animal and Human Biology, and Ecology

Supervisor: Antonio Pusceddu

Co-Supervisor: Alessandro Cau

Curriculum vitae

Francesca Cariccia, with a keen interest in marine ecology, earned her Bachelor’s degree in Biological Sciences in 2018 at the Polytechnic University of Marche. Subsequently, she graduated with honors in Marine Biology from the Polytechnic University of Marche in 2021. Her master’s thesis, titled “Response of meiofauna communities to a restoration intervention of Gongolaria barbata along the Coast of Monte Conero (Central Adriatic Sea),” showcased her experimental work.

During her master’s studies, Francesca did her internship abroad at the Archipelagos Institute of Marine Conservation in Greece within the Erasmus Traineeship program. After her graduation, she won a research fellowship at the University of Cagliari focusing on the effects of climate change on commercial and/or protected species.

Presently, Francesca is pursuing a Ph.D. program at the University of Cagliari, within the Life, Environmental, and Drug Sciences – Ecology curriculum. The project is being carried out under the supervision of Prof. Antonio Pusceddu and with the support of a grant co-funded by Ministerial Decree No. 352 of 9.4.2022 CUP F22B22000540005, the European Union-funded PNRR NextGenerationEU – Mission 4 “Education and Research,” Component 2 “From Research to Enterprise,” Investment 3.3, and the International Marine Centre (IMC) enterprise. Her research focuses on studying the effects of warming and heat waves on lagoons and/or marine coastal ecosystems.

Research Topic

Vulnerability to climate change of marine and lagoon species, communities, and ecosystem functioning

Abstract

Francesca Cariccia's PhD research project aims to assess the impacts of climate change on biodiversity and functioning of marine-coastal and lagoon ecosystems. The analysis focuses on the vulnerability of species, benthic communities, and ecosystem functions to specific manifestations of climate change, such as warming waters and heat waves. The project is based on integrated approaches that include (i) the establishment of thermal tolerance curves based on systematic literature reviews and the creation of habitat suitability maps of a selection of Mediterranean marine species under the current climate scenario and under two different warming scenarios predicted by the IPCC; and (ii) correlative field and manipulative experiments in mesocosm to study the responses of species, communities, and ecosystem functioning under different climate scenarios (with focus on water warming). The study focuses on the lagoon environments of Sardinia, which are recognized as particularly vulnerable. The results aim to feed essential information to develop climate impact chains, logical-formal schemes that, from an adaptive perspective, will enable the assessment of the risk of exposure to warming of lagoon ecosystems and provide new decision support tools for policy makers and environmental managers.

This PhD project in Life, Environmental and Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Cagliari, Cycle XXXVIII, is carried out with the support of a grant co-funded by the International Marine Center (IMC) Foundation Society and the PNRR - funded by the European Union - NextGenerationEU - Mission 4 “Education and Research,” Component 2 “From Research to Enterprise,” Investment 3.3. 352 of April 9, 2022, under M.D. No. 352 of April 9, 2022 for Innovative PhD programmes that address the innovation needs of enterprises and promote the employment of researchers by companies. This work has been developed within the project e.INS funded by the Next Generation EU- PNRR - M4 C2 I1.5.

Publications

IRIS: https://iris.unica.it/cris/rp/rp74653

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-8573-8261