Senior Researcher
Marine Animal Conservation and Public Engagement

Tel: +39 081 5833461
e-mail domenico.dalelio(at)szn.it

Curriculum Vitae

Research interests

As an aquatic ecologist and botanist with twenty years’ experience, I have been researching microscopic organisms in lakes, marine and ocean habitats, and the hidden biodiversity that regulates ecosystem health and underpins natural resources. I have participated in numerous national and international research projects, coordinating activities aiming at using scientific data in environmental management, involving communities of citizens in ecological research, and communicating science through new languages. I develop and manage scientific outreach initiatives in collaboration with artists. I am president of the Italian Association of Oceanology and Limnology APS ETS (2024-2027) and one of the founders of Citizen Science Italia ETS.

Selected Publications

Bellardini D, De Luca D, Russo L, Calicchio R, Castracani C, Luca PD, Capua ID, Massimi F, Raggio A, Riccardi A, Vannini J., Attanasio G, Vassallo P, Sandulli R, Signore M, Dattolo E, D′Alelio D (2025) Marine Biodiversity in a Coastal Periphery Revealed by a Community-Based Monitoring Approach Integrating Citizen Science and Environmental DNA Metabarcoding. Environments. Dec 5;12(12):474. https://doi.org/10.3390/environments12120474

Mucko M, Russo L, Matek A, Grgurević F, Pestorić B, Achterberg EP, D’Alelio D, Ljubešić Z (2025) Influence of internal island-trapped waves on plankton structure and trophic networks in stratified oligotrophic coastal waters. Marine environmental research. Sep 24:107578. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marenvres.2025.107578

Russo L, Gomes H, Murillas A, D’Alelio D (2025) Topics and trends in marine ecosystem services research over the long term. Environmental and Sustainability Indicators. Aug 25:100885. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indic.2025.100885

Bellardini D, Russo L, Abagnale M, Botte V, Buondonno A, Casotti R, Del Gaizo G, Di Capua I, Furia M, Iudicone D, Kokoszka F, Margiotta M, Mazzocchi MG, Saggiomo M, Sarno D, Saviano S, Percopo I, Tramontin E, Trano AC, Vannini J, Cianelli D, Licandro P, Vassallo P, D'Alelio D (2025) Plankton food webs as indicators of the ecosystem status to support the Marine Strategy Framework Directive: a case study from Campania region (Italy). Environmental and Sustainability Indicators. Jun 21:100763. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indic.2025.100763

Bosso L, Saviano S, Abagnale M, Bellardini D, Bolinesi F, Botte V, Buondonno A, Carotenuto Y, Casotti R, Chiusano ML, Cipolletta F, Conversano F, De Domenico F, Del Gaizo G, Donnarumma V, Furia M, Iudicone D, Kokoszka F, Laface F, Licandro P, Mangoni O, Margiotta M, Mazzocchi MG, Miralto M, Montresor M, Pansera M, Pedà C, Percopo I, Raffini F, Russo L, Romeo T, Saggiomo M, Sarno D, Trano AC, Vannini J, Vargiu M, Zampicinini G, Zingone A, Cianelli D, D’Alelio D (2025) GIS-based integration of marine data for assessment and management of a highly anthropized coastal area. Scientific Reports. May 9;15(1):16200. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-00206-z

Russo L, Bellardini D, Casotti R, Licandro P, Mazzocchi MG, Murillas A, Percopo I, Sarno D, D’Alelio D (2025) The spatiotemporal variability of marine plankton ecosystem services at the regional scale: a combined approach using a systematic review and network analysis. Sustainability. Feb 1;17(3):1182. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17031182

Russo L, Loschi M, Bellardini D, Congestri R, Lomas MW, Libralato S, D’Alelio D (2025) Food web analysis shows an exacerbated dependence of zooplankton on detritus in oligotrophic systems due to ocean warming. Progress in Oceanography. Feb 1;231:103389. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pocean.2024.103389

Russo L, Bellardini D, De Luca D, Del Gaizo G, Zampicinini G, Battaglia P, Liguori G, De Luca P, D’Alelio D (2024) Zoom into a twilight zone: a biodiversity survey of the Dohrn Canyon (Mediterranean Sea) through environmental DNA metabarcoding. Community Ecology. Oct;25(3):403-11. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42974-024-00207-4

Campese L, Russo L, Abagnale M, Alberti A, Bachi G, Balestra C, Bellardini D, Buondonno A, Cardini U, Carotenuto Y, Checcucci G, Chiusano ML, D’Ambra I, d’Ippolito G, Di Capua I, Donnarumma V, Fontana A, Furia M, Galarza-Verkovitch D, Gallia R, Labadie K, Leone S, Licandro P, Longo A, Maselli M, Merquiol L, Murano C, Oliveira PH, Passarelli A, Percopo I, Perdereau A, Piredda R, Raffini F, Roncall V, Ruscheweyh HJ, Russo E, Saggiomo M, Santinelli C, Sarno D, Sunagawa S, Tramontano F, Trano AC, Uttieri M, Wincker P, Zampicinini G, Casotti R, Conversano F, D’Alelio D, Iudicone D, Margiotta F, Montresor M (2024) The NEREA Augmented Observatory: an integrative approach to marine coastal ecology. Scientific data Sep 10;11(1):989. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-024-03787-y

Russo L, Murano C, D’Alelio D (2024) Mapping Topic Evolution across the 40-Year-Old Long-Term Ecological Research MareChiara Site in the Gulf of Naples, Italy. Oceans. Aug 20 (Vol. 5, No. 3, pp. 591-610). https://doi.org/10.3390/oceans5030034

Bellardini D, Russo L, Di Tuccio V, De Luca D, Del Gaizo G, Zampicinini G, Kokoszka F, Botte V, Colloca F, Conversano F, De Luca P, Iudicone D, Margiotta M, Saviano S, Vassallo P, Cianelli D, D’Alelio D (2024). Spatiotemporal changes of pelagic food webs investigated by environmental DNA metabarcoding and connectivity analysis. Philosophical Transactions B, 379(1909), p.20230178. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2023.0178

Russo L, Bellardini D, Steinberg DK, Congestri R, Lomas MW, D’Alelio D. (2024) Long-term oscillations in the normalized biomass-size spectrum reveal the impact of oligotrophication on zooplankton trophic structure in the North Atlantic Subtropical Gyre. Marine Environmental Research https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marenvres.2023.106295

Russo L, Bellardini D, Zampicinini G, Jordán F, Congestri R, D’Alelio D. (2023). From metabarcoding time series to plankton food webs: The hidden role of trophic hierarchy in providing ecological resilience. Marine Ecology. 2023:e12733. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/maec.12733

D'Alelio D, Russo L, Hay Mele B, and Pomati F (2021) Intersecting ecosystem services across the aquatic continuum: from global change impacts to local, and biologically driven, synergies and trade-offs. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 9 (2021): 199. https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2021.628658

Hay Mele B, Russo L, Crocetta F, Gambi C, Dell'Anno A, Danovaro R, Guglielmo R, Musco L, Patti FP, Riginella E, Tangherlini M, Ribera d'Alcalà M, D'Alelio D (2020). Ecological assessment of anthropogenic impact in marine ecosystems: the case of Bagnoli Bay. Marine Environmental Research Mar 10:104953. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marenvres.2020.104953

D’Alelio D, Rampone S, Cusano LM, Morfino V, Russo L, Sanseverino N, Cloern JE, Lomas MW (2020). Machine learning identifies a strong association between warming and reduced primary productivity in an oligotrophic ocean gyre. Scientific Reports Feb 25;10(1):1-2. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-59989-y

D'Alelio D, Hay Mele B, Libralato S, Ribera d'Alcalà M, Jordán F (2019). Rewiring and indirect effects underpin modularity reshuffling in a marine food web under environmental shifts. Ecology and Evolution Oct;9(20):11631-46. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.5641

Ruggiero MV*, D'Alelio D*, Ferrante MI, Santoro M, Vitale L, Procaccini G, Montresor M (2018). Clonal expansion behind a marine diatom bloom. The ISME Journal 12: 463-472. https://doi.org/10.1038/ismej.2017.181 *shared first authorship

Cianelli D*, D'Alelio D*, Uttieri M, Diana S, Zingone A, Zambianchi E, Ribera d’Alcalà M (2017). Disentangling physical and biological drivers of phytoplankton dynamics in a coastal system. Scientific Reports 7:15868. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-15880-x *shared first authorship.

D'Alelio D, Libralato S, Wyatt T, Ribera d'Alcalà M (2016). Ecological-network models link diversity, structure and function in the plankton food-web. Scientific Reports 6: 21806. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep21806