Physiology and ecology of plants and of plant communities

Cluster

Land and Environment (AT)

Description

The members of the research group have specific expertises in plant physiology and ecology, with applications both in natural habitats and in contaminated sites.

There are two main research fields investigated. The first concerns Taxonomy, plant physiology and plant ecology, for which the group adopts a functional approach aimed at connecting the various scales of investigation, from the response of the single plant to that of the ecosystem. The activities concern energy metabolism during biotic and abiotic stress phenomena, the determination and characterization of primary and secondary metabolites, the analysis of phenological and dendroecological aspects related to climate change, the study of biological invasion and the effect of sustainable agronomic techniques on plant communities. In this context, the group has worked on environmental restoration and biodiversity monitoring, also using statistical models and remote sensing tools (multispectral images, LiDAR).

The second reserach line concerns phytomanagement and nanomaterials. Phytomanagement refers the use of plants to remove, reduce or accumulate pollutants extracted by the plant from soil, air or water. It has numerous applications in contaminated sites, but also in wastewater treatment and in the control of soil erosion, thus promoting the maintenance of fertility, the production of biomass usable for energy production, for carbon sequestration and for the creation of habitats for wildlife. The (nano)eco-toxicological approach refers to the use of Nanomaterials, an approach that is based on flows, pathways, transport and impacts of nanoparticles on model organisms, including plants. Nanomaterials also affect agricultural production in the context of sustainable precision agriculture.

Research subjects

Nano-enabled agriculture
Conservation of plant species and threaten habitat
Plant responses to biotic and abiotic stress
Land use change and ecosystem services

ERC panels

LS2_13 Systems biology
LS2_14 Genetic diseases
LS2_4 Gene regulation
LS3_4 Cell junctions, cell adhesion, the extracellular matrix, cell communication
LS3_5 Cell signalling and signal transduction, exosome biology
LS3_6 Organelle biology and trafficking
LS8_1 Ecosystem and community ecology, macroecology
LS8_3 Conservation biology
LS8_4 Population biology, population dynamics, population genetics
LS8_8 Phylogenetics, systematics, comparative biology
LS9_5 Food biotechnology and bioengineering
LS9_8 Applied plant sciences, plant breeding, agroecology and soil biology
PE5_6 New materials: oxides, alloys, composite, organic-inorganic hybrid, nanoparticles