Researcher

Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn
Calabria Marine Centre – CRIMAC
Integrative Marine Ecology Department
C.da Torre Spaccata, Località Torre Spaccata, 87071 Amendolara – Italia

E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Contatto Skype: vale.costa

Link CV
Valentina Costa - Google Scholar
Valentina Costa - Orcid
Valentina Costa - ResearchGate

Research Interests

My research activity is focused on the study of the ecology of seagrass marine ecosystems. My main purpose 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 understanding how different environmental variables can affect the ecosystem itself is also necessary. In my research activities, 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 that, 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 new tools for data analysis (e.g. R) and how these can be applied to the study of the ecology and conservation of marine ecosystems.

Project: British Ecological Society Grant: “Calabrian Blue Carbon: a comprehensive approach to assessing Blue Carbon Stocks

Selected Publications

• Sciutteri V, Costa V, Malara D, Figurella F, Campbell I, Deery E, Romeo T, Andaloro F, Consoli P (2024) Citizen science through a recreational underwater diving project supports the collection of large-scale marine litter data: The Oceania case study. Marine Pollution Bulletin.
(DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2024.116133)
• Costa V, Sciutteri V, Consoli P, Manea E, Menini E, Andaloro F, Romeo T, Danovaro R (2023) Volcanic-associated ecosystems of the Mediterranean Sea: a Systematic Map and an Interactive Tool to support their conservation. PeerJ 11:e15162.
(DOI: 10.7717/peerj.15162)
• Pietroluongo G, Martin-Montalvo BQ, Antichi S, Miliou A, Costa V (2022) First assessment of micro-litter ingested by dolphins, sea turtles and monk seals found stranded along the coasts of Samos Island, Greece. Animals.
(DOI: 10.3390/ani12243499)
• Costa V, Flindt MR, Lopes M, Coelho PJ, Costa AF, Lillebø AI, Sousa AI (2022) Enhancing the resilience of Zostera noltei seagrass meadows against Arenicola spp. bio-invasion: A decision-making approach. Journal of Environmental Management.
(DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.113969)
• Costa V, Chemello R, Iaciofano D, Lo Brutto S, Rossi F, (2021) Small-scale patches of detritus as habitat for invertebrates within a Zostera noltei meadow. Marine Environmental Research.
(DOI: 10.1016/j.marenvres.2021.105474)

Altro

• Lumbierres M, Abecasis D, Alcaraz-Segura D, Alison J, Álvarez-Presas M, Anderle M, Avci F, Bajocco S, Baldo M, Beja P, Bergamini A, Bergami C, Blanco-Aguiar JA, Boada J, Bonn A, Borges P, Borgwardt F, Borja A, Breeze T, Costa V, … Kissling WD (2024). EuropaBON EBV workflow templates. [Technical Note]. Zenodo.
(DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.10971094)
• Costa V (2023) Code of the shiny-app MH-shiny from: Volcanic-associated ecosystems of the Mediterranean Sea: a Systematic Map and an Interactive Tool to support their conservation. [Repository]. Zenodo.
(DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.7537046)
• Costa V, Chemello R, Iaciofano D, Lo Brutto S, Rossi F (2022) Seagrass detritus as marine macroinvertebrates attractor. pp. 619-626. In Bonora L, Carboni D, De Vincenzi M, Matteucci G (eds.) Ninth International Symposium “Monitoring of Mediterranean Coastal Areas: Problems and Measurement Techniques”: Livorno (Italy) 14th-16th June 2022. Firenze University Press. 930pp.
(DOI: 10.36253/979-12-215-0030-1.58)
• Costa V, Chemello R, Iaciofano D, Lo Brutto S, Rossi F (2021) Dataset from: Small-scale patches of detritus as habitat for invertebrates within a Zostera noltei meadow. [Data set]. Zenodo.
(DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.5304675)
• Costa V (2021) Code of the BlueCarbon package: blue carbon functions in R. [Repository]. Zenodo.
(DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.4508106)