Researcher
Integrative Marine Ecology Department

Genoa Marine Centre (GMC)
Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn–National Institute of Marine Biology, Ecology and Biotechnology
Villa del Principe, Piazza del Principe 4, 16126 Genoa, Italy

Tel. +39 081 5833674
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Contatto Skype: sifar78

Curriculum Vitae

Research Interests

My research’s aims are to study the effects of human impact on marine benthic ecosystems. I'm particularly interested in evaluating trophic interactions that involved keystone predators, meso-predators, dominant species, habitat modifiers and complexity structure of habitat in macrophyte communities.
To do so, I carry out removal/exclusion experiments and monitoring activities of species abundance, integrating results with existing historical data in relation with local impacts and climate change. In particular, I attempt to highlight the effects of fishing and aquaculture activities beside that of increasing of ocean acidification and temperature on wild populations and community structure.
I also attempt to evaluate relationships among ecological processes influencing the population dynamic of functional species, environmental conditions (e.g. hydrodynamic or geomorphological features) and habitats used for anthropogenic activities (high fishing areas, Marine Protected Areas, areas of aquaculture farms, urbanized areas). I’m also interest in animal behaviour in terms of spatial distribution in response to human activities.
One of my main goals would be to contribute in creating ecosystemic models for sustainable artisanal fishing in the framework of the Marine Spatial Planning.
Finally, I think that large-scale data acquisition approaches such as Citizen and Science and Local Ecological Knowledge will permit to forge great collaborations with people.

Selected Publications

Brundu, G., Cannavacciuolo, A., Nannini, M., Somma, E., Munari, M., Zupo, V. and Farina, S., 2023. Development of an efficient, noninvasive method for identifying gender year-round in the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus. Aquaculture, 564, p.739082.

Farina, S., Ceccherelli, G., Piazzi, L., Grech, D., Panzalis, P., Navone, A.G. and Guala, I., 2022. Protection effectiveness and sea urchin predation risk: The role of roving predators beyond the boundaries of a marine protected area in the Western Mediterranean Sea. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems, 32(7), pp.1101-1114

Asnaghi, V., Chindris, A., Leggieri, F., Scolamacchia, M., Brundu, G., Guala, I., Loi, B., Chiantore, M. and Farina, S., 2020. Decreased pH impairs sea urchin resistance to predatory fish: A combined laboratory-field study to understand the fate of top-down processes in future oceans. Marine Environmental Research, 162, p.105194.

Farina, S., Baroli, M., Brundu, R., Conforti, A., Cucco, A., De Falco, G., Guala, I., Guerzoni, S., Massaro, G., Quattrocchi, G. and Romagnoni, G., 2020. The challenge of managing the commercial harvesting of the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus: advanced approaches are required. PeerJ, 8, p.e10093

Brundu G., Farina S. and Domenici P. Going back into the wild: the behavioural effects of raising sea urchins in captivity (2020) Conservation Physiology. In press.

Farina S., Quattrocchi G., Guala I., Cucco A. (2018) Hydrodynamic patterns favouring sea urchin recruitment in coastal areas: A Mediterranean study case. Marine Environmental Research. doi.org/10.1016/j.marenvres.2018.05.013

Boada J., Farina S., Arthur R., Romero J., Prado P., Alcoverro T. (2018) Herbivore control in connected seascapes: habitat determines when population regulation occurs in the life history of a key herbivore. Oikos. doi 10.1111/oik.05060

Farina S., Oltra A., Bartumeus F., Boada J., Romero J., Alcoverro T. (2017) Generation and maintenance of predation hotspots of functionally important herbivore in a patchy habitat mosaic. Functional Ecology. doi 10.1111/1365-2435.12985

Loi B., Guala I., Pires da Silva R., Brundu G., Baroli M., Farina S. (2017) Hard time to be parents? Sea urchin fishery shifts potential reproductive contribution of population onto the shoulders of the youngest. PeerJ 5:e3067; DOI 10.7717/peerj.3067

Farina S., Guala I., Oliva S., Piazzi L., Silva R., Ceccherelli G. (2016) The seagrass effect turned upside down changes the prospective of sea urchin survival and landscape implications. PLoS ONE 11(10): e0164294. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0164294

Farina S., Arthur R., Pages J., Prado P., Romero J., Verges A., Hyden G., Heck jr K.L., Glenos S., Alcoverro T. (2014). Difference in predator composition alters the direction of structure-mediated predation risk in macrophyte communities. Oikos 123(11): 1311-1322. doi: 10.1111/oik.01382